My favorite recipe for flattened pan-grilled quail is from  reflects my normally pretty minimal approach to preparing good ingredients.  I’ve prepared it many times in the past, but I wanted to try something different this time, and I also wanted the entrée to incorporate other ingredients that were at their peak on the day I pulled the birds out of the refrigerator.   I found this Neil Perry recipe on line, which searching for something which used quail and tomato, and his somewhat maximalist approach also left me room for serving a fresh wilted green and a contorno on the side (the vegetables’ usual roles reversed here, for aesthetic reasons)

• partially-boned Georgia quail from O. Ottomanelli & Sons Prime Meat Market on Bleecker Street, rubbed with the spices, lemon and oil indicated in Perry’s recipe, mixed with chopped garlic from Norwich Meadows Farm, a chopped red onion from Hawthorne Valley Farm, parsley from Paffenroth Gardens, basil from Gotham Greens  and lovage from Windfall Farms, left to marinate for about an hour, cooked on both sides for a total of 7 or 8 minutes, set to rest for 5 minutes before being placed on the plate over a bed of sliced heirloom tomatoes from Central Valley Farm which had been seasoned and sprinkled with olive oil and a bit of Jerez vinegar, the quail then finished with a squeeze of lemon
• minutina from Bodhitree Farm, barely wilted, then seasoned and finished with olive oil
• red radishes from Paffenroth Gardens, halved, tossed with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, then spread, undisturbed, on a small Pampered Chef stoneware* baking pan in a hot oven for about 15 minutes
• the wine, to honor Neil Perry, and because it seemed right, was an Australian red, Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache Barossa 2012

* crazy about those pans; I have this small one, and two large