CookEat Recipe
White Quails with Almonds and Mushrooms
Quail roasted on whole mushrooms with an almond-walnut butter rub, then topped with separately broiled lean country ham.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Use six raw, skin-on, bone-in farm-raised quail, professionally cleaned, headless and footless. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator. Pat dry, split each through the back without separating it, lightly crack the main bones and gently flatten. Keep refrigerated while preparing the nut mixture.
Step 2
Remove all shells, shell fragments and fibres from six sound walnuts. Pound their edible kernels with fifteen peeled roasted unsalted almonds and one very small peeled, finely chopped shallot until a fine pulp. Add half an ounce of fresh unsalted butter, one light teaspoon of prepared Dijon mustard, one light teaspoon of the salt, two saltspoons of paprika, one saltspoon of curry powder and the strained juice of a quarter lemon. Pound briskly for a minute and a half.
Step 3
Rub all six quail evenly with the nut butter. Refrigerate for thirty minutes, rubbing the mixture over the birds repeatedly during this time.
Step 4
Peel and carefully clean twelve good-sized fresh mushrooms and drain thoroughly. Mix the remaining one light teaspoon of salt with three saltspoons of ground black pepper, one tablespoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of sherry. Turn the whole mushrooms repeatedly in this seasoning and arrange them side by side in a baking dish large enough for all the mushrooms and birds.
Step 5
Preheat a conventional oven to 200°C. Set the quail cut side down on the mushrooms and spread all remaining nut butter from their dish over the birds. Roast uncovered for about twenty minutes, basting frequently with their own cooking juices, and continue as needed until every quail reaches at least 82°C in the thickest breast and thigh without touching bone. The mushrooms must be tender and their bed of cooking juices must reach at least 74°C.
Step 6
Separately preheat the grill or broiler. Broil six exceedingly thin, lean slices of uncooked country ham for about a minute and a half on each side, extending the cooking as needed until each slice reaches at least 71°C. Do not use the time alone to judge doneness.
Step 7
Remove the quail dish from the oven. Lay one hot broiled ham slice over each bird and serve immediately in the same baking dish with the mushrooms and cooking juices.
Cooked it? Rate it.
Cooked 0 times