- 4
Ingredients
- For the Barley:
- Yields 4 entrée servings
- Serve with a fresh, tossed salad of baby spring greens, some crusty bread and a medium- to full-bodied red wine.
- To help save time in the kitchen, D’Artagnan recommends using Fresh, Boneless Whole Squab with this recipe, accompanied by our Duck and Veal Demi-Glace .
- INGREDIENTS
- 2 fresh, boneless whole squab
- 1 container D’Artagnan Duck and Veal Demi-Glace
- 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup carrot, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup leek, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup Black Barley (available at IndianHarvest.com)
- water, as needed
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 thyme stems
- For the Morel Puree:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup cream
- 1 cup fresh morel mushrooms *
- 1 oz. white wine or champagne
- chicken stock, as needed
- black pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste
- *Note: to substitute dried morel mushrooms , reconstitute about 1/4 c of dried morels in warm water half an hour before use; for added flavor, add a little Brandy to the water. The resulting juice is
- For the Sauteed Morels:
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter.
- 12 fresh morels (whole and as perfect-looking as possible)
Preparation
Step 1
DIRECTIONS
To create this dish, start by prepping the squab, then make the morel puree, followed by the barley. Reheat all components and the demi-glace for the sauce while cooking the squab and sautéing the whole morels. Plate together following the directions below and enjoy!
Prepare the Squab:
Cut each breast off the body similar to cutting a whole chicken, down the keel (the cartilage between the breasts). Cut through the shoulder wing joint to detach the breast with the wing attached. Cut through each wing at the first joint to leave a beautifully cut breast with one wing bone attached. Scrape the meat from the end of the wing towards the breast with the tip of the knife to expose the bone clean around the end. This step is called “Frenching.” What results is a perfect “airline” squab breast, where the first digit of the wing is still attached and Frenched.
Remove the legs by popping them out of the joints. To do this, bend them backwards, then cut through the joint and around the thigh, leaving as much meat as possible on the leg.
If cooking with D’Artagnan’s New York Dressed Whole Squab , remove the feet if desired, or leave them on for presentation.
The prepared squab may be placed in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
For the Morel Puree:
If using fresh morels, be sure to clean them thoroughly. Different chefs use different methods: some simply brush the dirt from the mushrooms; others wash and spin them dry. Chef Auchter prefers to soak the morels in very hot salted water for about 10-15 minutes, changing the water twice in the process. The morels may then be dried on paper towels and shaken to release any excess water that might be caught in the folds or hollow middle.
For the morel puree, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan over med-high heat until it is frothy and bubbling. Add the cup of mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook the mushrooms through, about two minutes per side, until they are soft and slightly carmelized, then, keeping the mushrooms in the pan, deglaze it with the white wine or champagne. Reduce any liquid in the pan until it is almost dry, (should happen very quickly) and then toss the cooked mushrooms and liquid into a blender and add the cream while the mushroom mixture is still hot. Puree the mushrooms and cream, adding a little chicken stock if necessary to liquefy until a smooth puree results.
The puree may be set aside in an airtight container and refrigerated until ready to reheat.
For the Barley:
Start the vegetables in a 2-3 quart saucepot in a little olive or vegetable oil medium heat. Sweat the vegetables without browning them. Add in the black barley to toast it for a minute or so then add in the chicken stock, a little salt and pepper and the herbs and cook until tender, about 20-30 minutes, adding a little water to cover if necessary. Season fully with a little more salt and pepper; optionally you can add a little butter at this point to enrich the barley. Remove the herb stems and bay leaf.
To cook the squab:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place a large, oven-proof sauté pan over a med-high flame with some olive or vegetable oil. Season the pieces of squab on both sides with salt and black pepper. Starting with the leg pieces first, sear on both sides until nicely browned.
Place the seared legs on a small baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 8-12 minutes until cooked through.
After the legs go in the oven, start the breasts in the sauté pan. Sear the skin side of the breasts first until golden brown, then flip them over and put the entire pan in the oven for only 3 minutes or so minutes to roast until medium rare.
To sauté the 12 whole morels:
While the squab roasts, sauté the 12 whole morels in butter in another small sauté pan until just cooked through. Season with salt and pepper, then drain on a paper towel.
To plate:
Pull the breasts and legs out of the oven and allow them to rest for 2-3 minutes while reheating the other items. Note: the morel puree may be reheated in the microwave. The barley and demi-glace may be reheated on the stovetop, in separate sauté pans or sauce pots. The whole morels should be cooked at the same time as the squab itself.
When ready, slice each breast into 3-4 pieces, one of which will contain the wing piece. Place about 1-2 tablespoons of morel puree on each plate and smear it across with the spoon.
Mound a little less than ½ cup of the black barley, then lean the leg against it. Layer the sliced breast over the leg and place the sautéed, whole morels around the pile, 3 per plate. Drizzle with a little of the heated demi-glace .
Garnish with a little chervil, or a few leaves of flat leaf parsley, or some ramp chiffonade or a sprig of thyme.