Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Game Poultry
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 Squab or cornish game hens
1 lg Carrot -- diced
2 Celery ribs -- diced
1 md Onion -- diced
2 qt Chicken stock or
- reduced-salt broth
1/4 ts Dried thyme
3 lg Shallots -- diced
1/4 lb Bing cherries -- pits removed
1 c Red wine
Salt and pepper
1/2 lb Salsify -- substitute parsnips
2 tb Lemon juice or white vinegar
5 tb Unsalted butter
1 tb Vegetable oil
3 bn Fresh spinach
Heat oven to 450°F. Cut or have the butcher cut the legs and breast
meat with wings attached from the carcass of each squab. Cut off
wing tips. Cover breast and leg pieces and refrigerate. Place
carcasses and wing tips in a roasting pan and cook in the oven
until well browned.
Add diced carrot, celery, and onion to the pan and continue to
roast until vegetables are soft. Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken stock
and add the remainder to the pan along with the thyme. Lower heat
to 375°F and simmer stock for 2 to 3 hours. Strain through a fine
sieve. There should be about 4 cups of strained stock. If there is
more, pour the stock into a saucepan and boil atop the stove until
reduced to 4 cups.
In a saucepan, cook shallots in 1 tb butter until softened. Add
cherries and cover with red wine. Raise heat and boil wine until
almost completely evaporated. Add strained squab stock and cook at
a brisk simmer until reduced to sauce consistency, about 2 cups.
This will take an hour or more. Season to taste with salt and
pepper.
Recipe may be done ahead to this point. Let sauce cool, cover
surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Return squab and sauce
to room temperature before continuing.
Peel salsify, placing peeled stalks in water with 2 tb lemon juice
or white vinegar. Slice salsify crosswise into thin rounds and dry
on paper towels. Melt 2 tb butter in a large sauce pan. Add salsify
and turn to coat with butter. Add 1/2 cup reserved stock and simmer
until salsify is tender. Keep warm.
Return oven to 450°F. Place remaining 2 tb butter and 1 tb oil in
an oven-proof skillet large enough to hold the squab pieces in a
single layer. If necessary, use 2 skillets. Brown pieces on all
sides, then remove breast pieces. Place skillet in the oven and
cook legs for 5 minutes. Add breast meat and cook for 3 to
5 minutes, or until medium rare. Remove from oven and let meat
rest, loosely covered for about 5 minutes. If using Cornish game
hens, cook until completely done.
Meanwhile, return salsify to the heat. Add spinach and remaining
1/4 cup stock, cover pan and steam, tossing once or twice, until
spinach is completely wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Make a bed of spinach and salsify in the center of each plate. Pour
or spoon cherry sauce around the spinach bed and arrange 2 squab
breasts and 2 legs atop sauce on each plate. Serve with a
sangiovese wine such as Atlas Peak.
