CookEat Recipe
Quails en Cocotte
Six stuffed whole quails with pork-fat breast coverings, golden potato noisettes and green peas, finished in a covered cocotte with white wine, broth and demi-glace.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Preheat a conventional oven to 375°F. Choose an oven-safe cocotte with a tight-fitting oven-safe lid, with room for all six birds and the potatoes and peas without crowding or pressing the lid onto the food. Have the prepared American stuffing cold at 4°C or below, the cooked potato noisettes ready, and the broth and demi-glace ready for use. Drain the canned peas well and measure half a pint. Wash the parsley. Keep raw poultry and stuffing separate from ready-to-eat food and use clean tools.
Step 2
Have six fresh whole bone-in quails plucked and cleaned, with the interiors completely drawn. Remove the necks, wings and feet and neatly wipe the birds. Loosely fill their cavities with the cold American stuffing, without packing it tightly, and tie the birds all around with food-safe cooking twine. Fill them only immediately before cooking; do not store the uncooked stuffed birds for later.
Step 3
Season the six birds with the teaspoon of salt and half teaspoon of ground black pepper. Lay one thin slice of raw plain pork backfat on each breast. Lightly butter the cocotte, arrange the birds in it, add the finely chopped onion and teaspoon of crushed allspice, and baste the birds with a little melted butter.
Step 4
Roast uncovered for about twenty minutes as a guide, basting occasionally with the cooking juices. Watch the browning and prevent the butter and breast coverings from burning. This is the first cooking phase; keep the birds hot and continue directly with the next phase.
Step 5
Lower the oven to 180°C. Lift the same six birds promptly onto a clean hot heatproof plate. Empty all the initial contents from the cocotte, including the spent onion, allspice and cooking fat and juices, then return the same birds with their breast coverings to the cocotte. Work promptly without cooling or storing the partly cooked birds.
Step 6
Arrange the required portion of cooked potato noisettes and the half pint of well-drained canned green peas around the quails. Finely chop the one-third clove of garlic and the two branches of parsley and sprinkle them over the cocotte.
Step 7
Measure half a gill of finished demi-glace before loosening it with a little hot unsalted veal broth. If the demi-glace was refrigerated or thawed, bring the loosened portion to a full rolling boil while stirring and check that it reaches at least 165°F. Pour the quarter gill of white wine, the separate half gill of hot veal broth and all the loosened measured portion of demi-glace into the cocotte, then cover tightly.
Step 8
Cook covered at 180°C for about twenty-five minutes as a guide, continuing as needed until the birds, pork coverings and stuffing are thoroughly cooked. Use a clean food thermometer to check the thickest meat away from bone and the centre of the stuffing in every bird: each must reach at least 75°C. Do not judge safety by colour or the timer. Check that the potatoes and peas are hot throughout.
Step 9
Remove the cocotte from the oven with oven gloves. Carefully remove the cooking twine without discarding the breast coverings and serve promptly in the same cocotte with the potatoes, peas and cooking juices.
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