Quail to be on the menu
Toolbox
By Susan Smallheer STAFF WRITER - Published: December 5, 2009
SPRINGFIELD – You usually think of old-fashioned comfort food when you think of church suppers: meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, pot roast.
But those with refined tastes will have a chance to sample Cavendish Game Birds' newest gourmet offering this evening, during a benefit supper at St. Mary's Catholic Church.
The Springfield-raised quail are usually featured in the country's four-star restaurants, from Las Vegas to San Francisco to New York City, and also in Vermont's finest restaurants as well.
But this evening, the benefit dinner will feature the Springfield-based game bird firm's new boned stuffed quail, along with other Vermont-based foods, according to Rick Thompson, a member of St. Mary's, and one of the two brothers who own Cavendish Game Birds.
Thompson, along with Mindy Waterman and other employees at the company, are putting on the supper, which will include the Springfield-raised quail, a Vermont-based stuffing, maple glazed candied carrots, string beans, leek and potato soup, and apple crisp. And quail eggs, he added.
Thompson said he had put on dinners to benefit the church for about three years, but that tonight's dinner was the first time he offered stuffed quail, which will be filled with stuffing made by Olivia's, a New Haven maker of gourmet croutons.
The stuffing is made with other Vermont ingredients including butter and smoked maple syrup.
"We wanted a Vermont product and we wanted it to be simple. It's what you'd make at home," William Thompson said.
"It's just a way to contribute," Rick Thompson said Thursday afternoon. "We do a dinner once a year and donate it to one cause or another. It's really a family affair, with the kids serving."
The kitchen at St. Mary's is used for many community suppers, he said, estimating that the kitchen renovation cost about $25,000.
In the farm's processing center Thursday, thousands of the small game birds were being readied for market, and the brothers made final arrangements with a state inspector for their new product line.
"Ours are big," said Bill Thompson, who said that the Cavendish quail are about 30 percent bigger than the industry average. "We grow them until they have a nice finish on them," said the former chef. The quail are boned with a special method devised by the Thompsons.
"We actually use a butter knife," Bill Thompson said.
The farm processes about 3,000 to 6,000 birds a week, or a total of 400,000 a year. This year's benefit dinner will help defray the cost of the church's renovation to its kitchen at the Nolin-Murray Center, which is used for many community suppers, including last week's community Thanksgiving dinner.
Thompson and his brother have been raising quail in this part of Vermont for more than 20 years, first in Cavendish (hence its name) and then in the Dutton District of Springfield and finally at the farm on Woodbury Road and the processing facilities at the former Paddock Restaurant on Paddock Road.
The Thompsons' quail are much bigger than the industry standard, as they have devised their own meatier strain of the Coturnix breed.
William Thompson, who was trained as a chef and used to cook at The Inn at Weathersfield, said years of selective breeding had produced the "jumbo" quail.
The birds reach maturity in seven weeks, unlike the pheasants the brothers also used to raise. Currently, Cavendish Game Birds process pheasants for another Vermont grower.
Cost for the benefit supper is $12 for adults, with children under 10 free, Rick Thompson said. They will be serving from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
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