Something about eating quail always makes me feel like a giant. I like picking up one of the tiny little drumsticks and thinking, "Fee, fi, fo fum..." in my head.

Another great thing about quail? They're delicious. They may look like miniature chickens or a cornish game hen, but the flavor present in quail is unlike any other. It's equivalent to comparing the flavor of duck to chicken. Worlds apart.

Plus, they're incredibly impressive to serve at a dinner party and done right, just as easy to prepare.

The best way to buy quail is already deboned. This means that the only bones left in the little guy are the drumsticks and the wings. They're simple (and civilized) to eat and require no navigating around tiny little bones.

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If you've never tried cognac creamed mushrooms before, I suggest you do so soon. It's easily one of the world's best flavor combinations.

I happened to catch an episode of Jacque Pepin's show on PBS while TA and I were staying in temp lodging when we first moved to North Carolina. As he was putting together the creamed mushrooms I decided that it looked delicious and that I absolutely had to try this out.

Then I realized that I already had.

I had made a pasta sauce from scratch to enter in the Buitoni pasta contest - it's exactly the same ingredients. If you try the eggs and enjoy, you'll definitely love my wild mushroom agnolotti with cognac-cream sauce and baby pea shoots.

Even if I had already discovered this medley of deliciousness on my own, I still had to try Jacque Pepin's eggs. He's easily one of my favorite chefs - a pillar of the French culinary community - and definitely worth learning from. If culinary prowess could be measured (and I think it can) he would be worth approximately three Rachel's, 4 Paula's, both the Neely's, and about 14 Guy Fieri's.

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