Commander's Palace Three-Course Quail Dinner for 4

• Dinner ships frozen with ice packs, may thaw in transit
• Upon arrival remove packaging and place in the fridge or freezer (do not freeze the garlic bread)
• Garlic Bread may be kept refrigerated for up to 2 days – do not freeze
• Turtle Soup may be kept refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 6 months
• Quail may be kept refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months
• Pecan Pie may be kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months

Turtle Soup

If Frozen you can leave your turtle soup to defrost in your refrigerator for 2 days and it should be pretty well thawed and ready to reheat by then.

• If it’s still a bit frozen, you have a few options:

Defrost with Cool Tap water and Reheat on Stove

• You can submerge the container in cool tap water and defrost in your sink for a few hours until it’s soft enough to get it out of the container with a spoon and into a small saucepot
• Place the saucepot on the stove over Med-High heat and bring the turtle soup to a rolling boil. Be sure to stir the soup constantly throughout the reheating process so it does not scorch
• Test the temperature of the soup to ensure a temperature of 185*F before consuming
• Pour hot soup into serving dishes, top with a swirl of dry sherry (if you have it) and enjoy!

Defrost and Reheat in a Microwave

• If you’re ready to enjoy it now, simply loosen the lid, but keep it on, and keep the container loosely covered
• Place the soup into the microwave on the defrost setting and follow the instructions on your microwave model for defrosting. *The soup weighs 2 lbs so set your defrost controls accordingly. *During the defrost process, pause the microwave a few times to stir the soup and place back in the microwave to continue defrosting
• Once the soup is defrosted, use a rubber spatula to remove the soup from the container and into a microwave-safe bowl
• Cover the soup with plastic wrap and continue to heat the soup on full power until hot and steaming. About 2-5 minutes depending on your microwave
• Let rest in the microwave for 1 minute to ensure heat is distributed evenly throughout the soup
• Remove from microwave and stir thoroughly
• Test the temperature of the soup to ensure a temperature of 185*F before consuming
• Pour hot soup into serving dishes, top with a swirl of dry sherry (if you have it) and enjoy!

Gumbo

If Frozen you can leave your Seafood Gumbo to defrost in your refrigerator for 2 days and it should be pretty well thawed and ready to reheat by then. If it’s still a bit frozen, you have a few options: Defrost with Cool Tap water and Reheat on Stove

• You can submerge the container in cool tap water and defrost in your sink for a few hours until it’s soft enough to get it out of the container with a spoon and into a small saucepot
• Place the saucepot on the stove over Med-High heat and bring the turtle soup to a rolling boil. Be sure to stir the soup constantly throughout the reheating process so it does not scorch
• Test the temperature of the soup to ensure a temperature of 185*F before consuming
• Pour hot soup into serving dishes, top with a swirl of dry sherry (if you have it) and enjoy!

Quail

If you plan on eating within 1-2 days, store quail in the refrigerator upon arrival. This dish is actually quite easy to cook, but you’ll need to make sure the bird and the boudin filling are thawed all the way through first. Having a thermometer here will be perfect and we’ll use it twice.

• You can thaw the bird in the fridge for up to 2 days. If it’s not thawed by then, simply remove the bird from the packaging and place on a microwave-safe plate and defrost. All microwaves are different, so keep a sharp eye on your prize. Each quail weighs 12oz so adjust your defrost settings accordingly. We recommend defrosting in the fridge over defrosting in the microwave. However, both methods will work.
• Once defrosted fully, the thermometer should pass through the cold boudin filling easily from end to end. If there is any tension, defrost longer.
• Once thawed, pre-heat your oven to 400*F and turn on the fan or convection if it’s available.
• Place the bird on a buttered baking tray skin side up, then bake in the center rack for 20-30 minutes depending on your oven.
• While the bird is baking, tend to the other two ingredients included.
• The nest of vegetables that your bird is shipped with can be reheated in a microwave, a lightly oiled or buttered saucepan, or in the oven on a separate baking pan while the bird cooks. Be sure to heat the vegetables all the way through.
• There is a delicious glaze in the little round portion cup that is made from rum and black pepper spiced molasses. This will need to be warmed to
  98.5F and stirred so it’s not cold and too firm to paint with. You can heat in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave.
• When your bird is golden brown on the outside, use the thermometer to test the internal temperature of the boudin filling. Ensure the internal temperature is 165*F before consuming.
• Remove the bird from the oven, and using a pastry brush or BBQ brush, paint the skin of the bird with the glaze to create a sticky, shiny and brilliant finish for the dish.
• To finish the dish, place the vegetable nest in the center of an entree plate and create a round shape like a doughnut.
• Place the bird skin side up in the middle of the nest to complete the look!
• If there is any sauce left, you can pour it out onto the plate in a circular
  fashion to frame your artwork before it gets to the table.
• We have deboned the quail for you (except for the leg bones) so you can cut right down the center and enjoy!

Pecan Pie

If you plan on eating within 1-3 days, store pie in the refrigerator upon arrival. These pies are delicious and there are several ways to go about reheating them. Remove the pie from the box and fully unwrap the pie so no plastic wrap or bubble wrap remains. Leave the pie in the aluminum baking dish. If your pie is frozen, you have some options:

Defrost in the Microwave:

• As a Chef’s Tip: place the whole pie, including the aluminum baking pan, into the microwave on defrost setting and set the timer accordingly. The pie weighs 2.75lbs so set your defrost setting accordingly. Yup, that’s right, you can microwave aluminum as long as it’s round with no sharp corners.
• Once thawed, you can cut the cold pie more easily by turning the pie upside down on a cutting board and cutting through the bottom crust, through the filling then the edge of the pecan crust last. *This keeps the pecans exactly in place and ensures each one of your pie slices has a crisp sharp point.
• After slicing the pie, you can flip the pie pieces right side up.
• Continue to heat in the microwave on full power for 30 seconds to 1 minute per slice depending on your microwave.
• Or you can place the cut pieces in an oven at 300*F for about 10 minutes, or until they’re warm all the way through. Test for an internal temperature of 145*F before consuming.

Defrost in the Refrigerator:

• You can defrost the whole pie in the fridge for up to 2 days.
• Preheat the oven to 250*F.
• Re-bake the defrosted whole pie at 250*F until it’s hot all the way through and very fragrant. Test for an internal temperature of 145*F before consuming.
• Cut the pie pecan side up from the center out to the crust edge. Be very careful when you get to the crust so you do not break off pieces of the crust edge.

Plating:
Place your pieces of sliced pie onto a serving dish. Whether you used the microwave or the oven, we like a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and suggest you do the same!

Garlic Bread

• Preheat your oven to 400*F and turn on the fan or convection setting if available.
• Simply roll back the tin foil on the garlic bread and ensure that all pieces of bread are crust side down and butter side up.
• Create a little space between each piece so the hot air can circulate and crisp the bread’s crust from every angle.
• If you like your bread extra buttery, feel free to add a small dime-sized piece of unsalted butter to the top of each piece of bread before placing it in the oven.
• When the oven is hot, place the garlic bread and the open foil liner in the oven on a baking sheet on the middle rack
• Toast your bread until the corners and the surface are golden brown and the kitchen is fragrant with brown butter, toasted garlic and melty cheese.
  • As a Chef’s tip, this goes pretty quickly and is done within 3-5 minutes.
  • Do not overcook – it will cause the bread to dry out.
• Remove from the oven and serve at once.
• Try to have everyone at the table at the beginning of the meal before the garlic bread goes in the oven. When it’s fresh out of the oven, it’s spectacular, but as it cools it gets hard and not quite as good.
• You can also toast the pieces of bread in smaller batches to ensure that every bite is perfect throughout your special meal (this is what Aunt Dottie likes to do).

You can easily pass this off as your own homemade pie and your guests won’t feel bad about sitting down to eat the entire thing before getting up from your table to thank you.