Assiette of Squab with Wild Mushrooms ►
Squab seared in butter is accompanied by lightly sauteed herbed vegetables and sauteed mixed wild mushrooms. The sauce is created from the squab trimmings, reduced with cognac and wine. The same basic preparation could be applied to quail, chicken, or other small birds.
Ingredients
- Squab and Sauce
- Squabs - 4 Whole (1 pound each)w
- Clarified Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon, fresh
- Mushrooms - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Shallots - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Garlic - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Celery - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Carrot - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Thyme - 1 teaspoon
- Cognac - 1 ounce
- Dry White Wine - 2 ounces
- Duck Stock - 2 cups (alt. veal stock)
- Unsalted Butter - 2 teaspoons, fresh
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Mixed Vegetable Garnish
- Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
- Eggplant - 1/2 small, peeled and finely diced
- Garlic - 1/2 clove, minced
- Red Pepper - 1 small, finely diced
- Zucchini - 1 small, finely diced
- Shallot - 1, minced
- Rosemary - pinch
- Salt to taste
- Mushroom Garnish
- Shiitake Mushrooms - 3, stemmed and halved
- Hedgehog Mushrooms - 3, halved (alt. morels)
- Pleurotte Mushrooms - 3, halved (alt. other wild mushrooms)
- Clarified Butter - 1 tablespoon
- Salt to taste
Instructions
To prepare the squab and sauce: Preheat the oven to 450 F. Remove and debone the squab breast and legs. Season with salt and pepper. Chop the remaining carcass and reserve. Heat 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter over high heat in an ovenproof saute pan. Sear the breasts and legs, skin-side down. Add fresh butter and quickly brown both sides; do not overcook. Place the pan in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes. When the meat is medium-rare, remove from the oven and set aside, keeping warm.
Place the remaining tablespoon of clarified butter in a saucepan over high heat. Add the reserved chopped carcass and brown on all sides. When the bones are well browned, reduce the heat to medium-high and add the mushroom, shallot, garlic, celery, and carrot. Saute the vegetables until lightly browned, then add the thyme. When a glaze forms on the bottom of the pan, add the cognac and stir up the glaze. Add the wine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to reduce. Add the stock, reduce the heat to medium, and gently simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the sauce; bring back to a boil and reduce until thick enough to coat a spoon. Skim occasionally as the sauce reduces. Stir in 2 teaspoons of fresh butter, off the heat. Set aside and keep warm.
To prepare the vegetables: Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the vegetables and saute briefly with the rosemary until al dente. Season to taste with salt. Set aside.
To prepare the mushrooms: Saute the mushrooms in the clarified butter until tender. Season to taste with salt. Set aside.
To serve: Divide the mixed vegetable garnish and mushroom garnish among four warmed serving plates. Divide the leg pieces among the plates, placing them in the centers. Slice the squab breasts and arrange in a pinwheel around the leg pieces on each plate. Spoon sauce over the squab.
