Roasted quail with stuffing, potatoes, lardons and mushrooms
Serves eight as a light lunch course
Step 1. Cranberry Stuffing
Ingredients:
150gms bacon (fine dice)
1 cup celery (fine dice)
2 cups onion (fine dice)
1 cup carrot (fine dice)
1/2 Tbl garlic (minced)
1 Tbl dried sage
1 1/2 Tbl fresh thyme (Finely Chopped)
2 fresh bay leaves
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
Pinch chili flakes
1 cup apple (Peeled cored and diced into small cubes)
2 cups chicken stock
50gms butter
3 cups day old bread - cm dice (something like a
baguette)
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Method:
In a good sized saucepan add a little cooking oil and place on
medium heat. Once hot add the bacon and cook until golden. Now add
the celery, onion and carrots along with the sage thyme and bay
leaves.
Sweat the vegetables and herbs for 10 - 15 minutes then add the
dried cranberries, brown sugar and chili flakes.
Cook for another five minutes then add the chicken stock and
butter. Stir and cook for another few minutes before folding in the
day old bread and bread crumbs.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, remove from the pan and cool
before refrigerating.
Step 2. Duck Fat Potatoes
Ingredients:
3 cups rendered duck fat
1.5 kg potatoes - Victoria/Agria or similar
Method:
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Heat the fat up in a saucepan to hot then pour into a roasting
pan.
Peel the potatoes then cut into discs about one cm
thick.
Submerge the potato rounds in the duck fat, them cover the roasting
tray with tin foil and place in the oven. Cook for 30 - 40 minutes
until soft through.
Remove the pan from the oven and carefully remove the duck fat
potatoes. Keep refrigerated until required.
* Keep duck fat in the fridge to use again and again.
Step 3. Lardons and Wild Mushrooms
Ingredients:
Cooking oil
400gms cured and smoked bacon belly (or bacon)
500gms wild mushrooms
Method:
In a sauté pan or similar add a little cooking oil then cook
the lardons until golden. Remove from the pan then cook the
mushrooms in the rendered bacon fat. Add back the lardons once the
mushrooms are cooked and toss together.
Step 4 Cooking, Plating and Serving.
Ingredients:
16 x quail
Cranberry stuffing
Duck fat potatoes
Lardons and wild mushrooms
Mizuna, rocket or similar
Walnut oil
Apple syrup
Method:
For the quail, it's up to you. Three options: One, cook them
whole as they come. Two, take some scissors and split them down the
centre and butterfly them, bone in. Finally three, split them down
the centre, carefully remove the bones, mold them around the
stuffing and stitch them up with a toothpick. Whatever way they
will be great.
Roast them in a hot oven until cooked, about 15 minutes max as they
are very small.
Heat the stuffing up in an oven proof dish until hot through...
hold.
For the potatoes, sauté them in a hot pan until
golden.
Warm through the lardons and mushrooms.
To plate, place some potato rounds in the centre of each plate and
top with some of the stuffing. Next add your quail. Take the
lardons and mushrooms and disperse them around each plate. Add a
few mizuna or rocket leaves, drizzle a little walnut oil and apple
syrup over and you're all set! Serve!
