Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [70]
To peel peaches, drop them into boiling water for a minute, then transfer to ice water. The skins will slip off.
Grilled Quail with Sage Butter
Quail qualifies as fast food. Farm-raised quail are tender, requiring only a short time in the marinade. If they are spatchcocked, they cook in about fifteen minutes. Ask your butcher to do this, or do it yourself (see page 149). Sage is a good match for any poultry, and especially quail. Fresh sage can be soft and furry, but when you fry the leaves in butter, they crisp right up, improving their texture and flavoring the butter at the same time.
4 quail, about 6 ounces (170 g) each, spatchcocked (see the headnote)
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 fresh sage leaves
4 tablespoons (60 g) cold unsalted butter, diced
½ lemon
4 large slices country-style bread
Fleur de sel
1. Remove the wishbones (see page 153) from the quail, then pat dry. Place on a cutting board, skin side up, and, using your palm, press down on each bird to break the breastbone: you will hear it crack. Fold the neck flap under each bird and secure in position with the wing tips by bending the wings under the bird. Place the birds in a single layer in a shallow dish.
2. Mix the olive oil and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Finely shred 4 of the sage leaves and add them to the oil. Pour the oil mixture over the quail, turning the birds to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
3. While the birds marinate, prepare the sage garnish and butter. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat, when hot, add the remaining 12 sage leaves and the cold butter. Cook the leaves, turning until crisp and dark green, about 4 minutes.
4. Transfer leaves to paper towels to drain, and quickly pour the sage butter into a glass measuring cup to cool. If your butter becomes too cold (it should be liquid), reheat it gently while the quail cook.
5. Preheat the grill to medium. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the quail, place them skin side down on the grill, and cook for 8 minutes, giving the quail a quarter-turn at 4 minutes. Then turn the quail over and cook for another 8 minutes, or until just cooked; they should still have a touch of pink when pierced at the breast.
6. Transfer the quail to a platter, pour 2 tablespoons of the sage butter over them and let them rest for 5 minutes, loosely covered with aluminum foil.
7. While the quail are resting, turn the grill to high. Brush the bread with the remaining flavored butter and grill lightly on both sides.
8. Place a piece of grilled bread on each plate, put the quail on top, and pour over any remaining butter. Garnish with the crispy sage leaves, sprinkle with fleur de sel, and serve.
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Spatchcocking
Small birds require more work to eat, but if they are spatchcocked or the wishbone is removed, it will be easier. To spatchcock a bird means to split and flatten, or butterfly, it. The French call the result en crapaudine, meaning in the form of a toad. Somehow, to the imaginative French eye, the flattened bird resembles a toad. By flattening the bird into a uniform thickness, it cooks more evenly, making it easier to grill. While small birds are most often prepared this way, you can also spatchcock a chicken. The backbone is removed and sometimes the wishbone, then the bird is pressed so that the breastbone snaps and it lies flat.
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Alsatian-Style Pheasant
Like most farm-reared birds, pheasants are not as gamey as their wild brethren. Nonetheless, they are delicious. Roasting can make pheasant dry, so a better method is braising to keep it moist. Sauerkraut is a popular accompaniment for game, especially in Germany, but here it is simply braised cabbage, which doesn’t overpower the pheasant. With the braised cabbage, one bird can feed four people.
1 Savoy cabbage
Kosher salt
1 pheasant, about 3 pounds (1.35 kg), neck and liver reserved
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons duck fat or vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced
1 tablespoon sugar