SQUAB a l'ORANGE w/CRYSTALIZED TAMARIND

By BobD

Ingredients

• 6 MAIN COURSE SERVINGS
• SQUAB a l'ORANGE WITH CRYSTALLIZED TAMARIND
• JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN
• FOR BROTH
• 1 cup Japanese rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Shaoxing rice wine or medium-dry Sherry
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped peeled ginger
• 2 tablespoons star anise pieces
• 2 1/3 cups fresh orange juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons Lapsang Souchong tea leaves
• FOR SQUAB
• 5 black peppercorns
• 3 white peppercorns
• 3 whole star anise (or 1 1/2 tsp pieces)
• 1 (1-inch) piece of cinnamon stick
• 1 clove
• 6 (1-lb) boneless squabs, wing tips discarded and squabs halved lengthwise
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-Tbsp pieces
• EQUIPMENT: an electric coffee/spice grinder
• GARNISH: flaky sea salt; slices of peeled Asian pear, cut into diamonds; slivers of crystallized tamarind; sprigs of baby cress

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from gourmet.com

Preparation

Step 1

MAKE BROTH:

Blend together vinegar, soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, and star anise in a blender until smooth.

Transfer to a heavy medium saucepan and bring to a boil with juice and sugar, stirring until sugar has dissolved.

Remove from heat and stir in tea. Let steep, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.

MAKE SQUAB:

Preheat broiler. Line a large (17- by 12-inch) 4-sided sheet pan with foil. Finely grind spices with 1/2 teaspoon salt in grinder.

Pat squab dry, then sprinkle each half all over with 1/2 teaspoon spice mixture.

Arrange, skin side up, in sheet pan and place 1/2 tablespoon butter under each half.

Broil 2 inches from heat until just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 1 minute.

Cut each squab half into 3 pieces and arrange in shallow bowls.

Ladle some of broth around squab (you will have some broth left over), then drizzle some of buttery pan juices over squab.