- 4
Ingredients
- 4 SERVINGS
- Licorice root might entail a trip to a Chinatown herbalist. It’s worth the effort. However, you may omit it.
- • 3/4 cup duck and veal demi-glace
- • 12 ounces licorice root
- • 1 large bunch thyme
- • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- • 1/4 cup each coriander seeds, cardamom pods, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, aniseed, white peppercorns, and red peppercorns
- • 3 star anise, broken into pieces
- • 4 squab, 2 wing joints, giblets, neck, and excess fat and skin removed
- • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or canola oil
- • 1/2 cup chestnut honey (available and specialty food stores)
- • 1/2 pound porcini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- • 2 ounces Grade B foie gras, cut into cubes
- • 4 teaspoons olive oil
- The subtle bitterness in the sweet chestnut honey adds an exotic dimension. Serve w/ porcini and foie gras for a luxurious meal, or simply pair with sautéed bitter greens.
Preparation
Step 1
1. Bring demi-glace to a gentle boil in a small saucepan and reduce to about ½ cup. Stir in
2. 4 ounces of the licorice root and 4 sprigs of thyme, and steep for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, strain, and keep warm.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Tear 4 (12 x 12-inch) squares of aluminum foil.
4. Place coriander seeds, cardamom pods, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, aniseed, white peppercorns, red peppercorns, and star anise in a flat pan and warm in the oven to 1 to 2 minutes. Remove, pour into spice grinder or clean coffee grinder, and grind until fairly fine. Spread on a flat plate.
5. Season birds inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff each squab with 2 ounces of the licorice root and a few sprigs of thyme. Truss and tie squab, and blot dry. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and quickly brown squab on all sides. Put them in the oven in the same pan to roast. After 10 minutes, remove pan, brush squab with honey, and roll them in spice mixture. Return to oven and roast until squabs are medium rare, 3 minutes longer. Remove and let rest in a warm place.
6. While birds roast, divide mushrooms, foie gras, and olive oil, 4 sprigs of thyme, and salt and pepper among the 4 foil squares. Gather up corners of foil and twist into small bundles. Increase oven temperature to 400°F and roast bundles for 15 minutes.
7. Place 1 squab on each of 4 warm plates. Open mushroom bundles and spoon contents onto plates. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of licorice sauce onto each plate and garnish with a thyme sprig.