BREAST OF QUAIL w/WILD MUSHROOMS

By BobD

Ingredients

• 4 fresh quail
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 ounces dry vermouth
• 1 cup veal stock
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 ounces heavy cream, boiled for 1 minute
• 4 ounces wild mushrooms, washed, dried and diced
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped shallots
• 8 quail eggs, boiled and peeled
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 pieces puff pastry, about 3 by 2 inches
• 1 teaspoon chopped chives
• 2 ounces tender young green beans, cooked al dente
• 2 tablespoons diced tomatoes, peeled and seeded

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from events.nytimes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove legs and thighs from quail. Reserve the breast on the carcass for roasting later. Brown the legs and thighs in the butter.

Pour off the cooking fat and add an ounce of dry vermouth, veal and chicken stock. Reduce for five minutes or until the consistency is thick and syrupy.

Strain the sauce. Pour half the sauce into a saucepan and add the boiled cream. Reserve remaining sauce.

Dice the mushrooms. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and saute the mushrooms with the shallots. Add the remaining ounce of vermouth and the heavy cream. Bring to a boil. Add half the chopped chives and set aside.

Roast the quail laying the breast side down and cook for five minutes on each side, turning once. Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle, bone the breasts.

Place the bottom halves of the puff pastry rectangles in the center of two dinner plates. Spoon the mushroom mixture on top. Arrange the four quail breast around to form four corners of a square. Carefully pour the two sauces (one light, one dark) around to form a pattern, without mixing the sauces together.

Arrange the quail eggs on the dark sauce and garnish the light sauce with the beans, remaining chives and diced tomatoes. Put the caps of puff pastry on top of the mushroom mixture and serve.