|
In this recipe, you will notice
that the quail are cooked medium-rare. It is not at all unusual for game birds
such as quail, duck, and pheasant to be cooked to medium-rare or medium, which
many chefs claim will yield a more tender, flavorful product. If you are squeamish
about eating what many people would call "an underdone bird", you can still enjoy
this dish. Just heat your oven to 350ºF, and once you have seared the quail in
the pan, pop them in the oven to continue cooking until they are almost cooked
to your liking. Then finish them by basting as described below. By finishing them
in the oven, you will prevent them from burning in the hot pan.
Suggested
Wine Pairing: Chambertin, Clos de Beze, Domaine Pierre Damoy, France 1996
Yield:
2 servings
- Salt
- Black Pepper, crushed
Quail
Sauce: - quail bones (from deboned quail)
- 4 ounces veal
demi-glace (available in gourmet food markets)
- 15 cherries, halved and
pitted
Sunchoke Puree: - 8 sunchokes, (sometimes
also called Jerusalem artichokes)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 garlic
cloves
Artichokes & Potatoes: - 2 artichokes
- 4
garlic cloves
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups white wine
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 8- 10 fingerling
potatoes
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Quail: - 4
Quail
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1
shallot, minced
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, for garnish
For
the quail sauce: Debone quail and cut into 4 parts each. Season meat with
salt and crushed pepper, set aside. Brown the quail bones in a medium pan over
medium-high heat. Add the veal demi-glace, a few thyme sprigs, and simmer to infuse
flavors. Strain. Add cherry halves to sauce and reserve.
For the sunchoke
purée: Peel the sunchokes and cut into ½ inch slices. In a small pot, combine
sunchokes, garlic, and heavy cream. Cook at a slow simmer until the sunchokes
become fork tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain and reserve heavy
cream. In a blender, purée sunchokes, slowly adding cream, just until smooth,
but not watery.
For the artichokes and potatoes: Cut artichokes
down to the hearts and remove the prickly chokes. Cut hearts into ½ inch slices.
In a medium saucepan, lightly brown garlic cloves in olive oil. Add the artichoke
hearts and fresh thyme, and cook until lightly browned. Cover with white wine
and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover saucepan with lid
and cook hearts until tender. Remove from the cooking liquid and set aside.
In
a medium pot of salted water, simmer the fingerling potatoes until tender. Remove
and cut the potatoes into halves. In a medium pot, reheat the potatoes and artichokes
in chicken stock with 1 tablespoon butter and thyme. Reduce until the stock has
become a thick glaze and keep warm.
For the quail: In a medium pan,
heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add quail skin side down and sear to golden
brown. Add 1 tablespoon butter, thyme and shallots, and baste until breast is
medium-rare and the legs are cooked through.
To serve: In separate
pans, reheat the quail sauce and sunchoke purée. In the center of the plate, ladle
a pool of the warmed sunchoke purée. Arrange the potatoes and artichoke slices
in the pool. Place the quail on top and spoon the strained quail sauce over the
top. Garnish with cherry halves and thyme sprigs. | 
