Best Lacquered Squab W Gingered Cabbage And Fennel Pear Puree Recipes

PAN-ROASTED SQUAB WITH SPRING GARLIC COMPOTE

Steps:

• Remove the breasts, thighs, and drumsticks from the squab and reserve. Using a large chef's knife, chop the bodies and wings into 3 or 4 pieces. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the squab bones and parts and sauté until well browned. Add the carrots, onion, and garlic cloves. Cook until softened and lightly colored, 6 to 8 minutes in all, then add 2 cups of the wine. Continue to cook until reduced by three-quarters, 6 to 8 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract all the liquid. You should end up with about 2 cups liquid. Discard the solids. Put the liquid in a clean saucepan and reduce until syrupy, or 1/4 cup total; the timing will vary depending on your stove and pan, but will be about 15 minutes.
• To make the compote, cut the spring garlic bulbs from the stems, then slice crosswise 1/8 inch thick. Film a sauté pan with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and heat over high heat. Fry the garlic until crisp and lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour off the oil. Add the remaining 1 cup wine to the pan and cook over medium heat until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Add the honey and cook until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes. Reserve at room temperature.
• In a large sauté pan over high heat, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil on high heat and fry the squab breasts, thighs, and drumsticks skin-side down first, putting a light weight on the breasts or pressing with a spatula, for about 3 minutes. Turn the pieces and cook for 2 minutes longer, then turn once more to crisp the skin and finish cooking. Breasts should be served medium-rare, while thighs and drumsticks are cooked through. Allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
• When ready to serve, reheat the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Divide the compote among 4 plates and place the squab pieces on top. Spoon the sauce around the squab and serve.

ROASTED SQUAB WITH SICHUAN-PEPPERCORN MARINADE

Steps:

• Rinse the squabs and pat them dry. Use shears or a sharp knife to cut away the extra neck portions and back fat.
• Heat a small heavy skillet over medium-low heat and add the salt and peppercorns. Roast the mixture, shaking the pan, until the peppercorns turn dark brown. Transfer to a bowl and cool. Rub each squab inside and out with the mixture. Place the birds in a dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the oil, add the shallots and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the shallots are soft, about 5 minutes. Pour in the port and cook until the sauce thickens and reduces by about two-thirds, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
• When ready to cook the squabs, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and vinegar. Place the squabs breast side down on the rack of a broiler pan. Brush generously with the honey mixture and roast for 5 minutes. Brush again and roast for 10 minutes more. Turn the birds over, brush again and roast for 5 minutes more. Brush again and roast for a final 10 minutes, until the squabs are nicely browned. Use poultry shears to split the birds down the middle; remove the backbone. Place the squab halves on a platter. Reheat the port sauce if necessary and spoon it around the birds. Garnish with rosemary sprigs.

ROAST SQUABS WITH PORCINI AND COUNTRY BREAD SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Bring 2 cups water, garlic, and 1 teaspoon sea salt to a boil, then drain in a colander. Blanch garlic in same manner 2 more times.
• Cut bread into 1/4-inch-thick sticks and toast on a baking sheet in middle of oven until pale golden, about 6 minutes. Leave oven on.
• Peel stems of porcini with a sharp small knife just until white flesh is exposed, then quarter mushrooms lengthwise.
• Pat squabs dry and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Put a sprig of thyme in cavity of each squab and divide garlic confit among cavities. Tie legs of squabs together with kitchen string and fold wings back.
• Heat 2 tablespoons duck fat in a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown squabs in 2 batches, turning, about 5 minutes, transferring to a plate and reserving skillet.
• Add 1 1/2 more tablespoons duck fat to skillet and sauté porcini in 2 batches over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes (add another 1 1/2 tablespoons duck fat to skillet for second batch). Stir in blanched garlic, toasted bread, and salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
• Put a 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan on bottom rack of oven (to catch drips) and arrange squabs, breast sides up, in a small circle (without touching) on middle rack of oven directly above baking pan. Roast squabs, carefully basting once with remaining tablespoon duck fat, 15 minutes. Replace baking pan with skillet of bread salad, positioning it directly under birds. Roast squabs and bread salad until an instant-read thermometer inserted in fleshy part of a thigh (avoid bone) registers 155°F for medium meat and mushrooms in bread salad are tender, about 5 minutes. (If mushrooms are not tender, roast bread salad 5 to 8 minutes more.) Transfer squabs to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes, then halve lengthwise with poultry shears or a sharp knife.
• Toss bread salad with parsley and lemon juice and serve with squabs.

GRILLED RARE SQUAB WITH FOIE GRAS FRIED RICE AND POMEGRANATE MOLASSES SYRUP

Steps:

• For the squab: In a baking dish large enough to hold the squab, combine the soy sauce, molasses, wine, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, black pepper, and oil. Add the squab, turn to coat, and marinate, covered, about 1 hour.
• Prepare a medium-hot grill and season the squab with salt and pepper. Place the squab skin side down on the grill and cook until brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn and cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes for medium-rare. Be sure to cook the legs an extra 2 minutes on each side. Remove the squab and keep warm.
• For the fried rice: In a medium sautee pan coated with oil, sweat the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic over medium heat for five minutes. Add the rice and the oil and saute for 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, add the chicken stock, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. When the mixture begins to boil, turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until done, then set aside. Prepare a medium saute pan over high heat. Season the foie gras with the salt and pepper, and then sear each side for about 1 minute each. Add the rice mixture to the foie gras and mix in the chives. Keep warm.
• For the syrup: In a medium saute pan, over high heat, add the oil and cook the shallots, and garlic until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the squab bones and continue cooking until brown. Deglaze the pan with the wine, then add the molasses, thyme, bay leaf and chicken stock. Cook the mixture until the liquid is reduced by 1/2, and then strain to remove the bones. Return the strained liquid to the pan, reduce by half again and set aside. Garnish: 1 teaspoon truffle oil 1 teaspoon lemon juice Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 cup pea tendrils.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the truffle oil and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat the pea tendrils.
• Plating: Right before serving, whisk the butter and lemon juice into the sauce and correct the seasonings. Mound the rice at one end of a large oval platter. Place the squab breast and legs crisscrossed along the platter and place the pea tendril salad near the squab. Drizzle over the sauce.

LACQUERED SQUAB W/ GINGERED CABBAGE AND FENNEL-PEAR PUREE

Steps:

• For the Sichuan pepper-salt:.
• In a small heavy-bottomed pot, slowly roast the salt and peppercorns over low-medium heat until very aromatic, about 20 minutes.
• Cool; grind in a spice grinder and sift through fine sieve and set aside.
• For the Fennel-Pear Purée:.
• Combine the fennel, pears, verjus, anise, sugar and salt in a heavy-bottom pot.
• Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until everything is very tender, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the star anise and purée in a high-speed blender until smooth.
• Adjust the seasoning and pass through a fine sieve and keep warm until ready to serve (should be about i cup of puree).
• For the Gingered Napa Cabbage.
• Chop the cabbage and radicchio into 1-inch dice.
• Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium skillet over low heat.
• Sauté the cabbage, spinach and radicchio separately until tender, about 5 to 6 minutes each.
• While the cabbage and radicchio are sautéing, use a mortar and pestle to reduce the ginger, garlic and scallions to a paste.
• Return all the sautéed greens to the pan.
• Add the ginger, garlic and scallion paste to the greens and cook until aromatic, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add the raisins, vinegar, salt and sugar. Remove from the stove and dress with sesame oil (should be about 2 cups of the cabbage mixture).
• For the Squab and assembly.
• One hour before cooking, season the squab on both sides with the Sichuan pepper-salt (use as much as you like--at least 1/2 teaspoon).
• Put the honey in a heavy-bottomed sauce pot and cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes until it becomes reduced and thick. Set aside.
• Grill the squabs, skin side down over high heat until golden brown and crispy, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Turn; sear the other sides for 1 to 2 minutes and then rest the squab on a plate for 5 minutes (the squab will be medium-rare).
• Brush the skin sides with a thin coat of warm honey.
• Return it to the hot grill before serving to lightly caramelize the skin for 1 minute on each side.
• Carve the squabs, slicing the breast meat.
• On a serving platter, make a line of the hot fennel-pear purée from one end to the other. Arrange the gingered cabbage in the center and the carved squabs around it.
• Arrange the legs standing up against the cabbage.
• Sprinkle Sichuan pepper-salt on the sliced breast.
• Dust the plate with Chinese 5-spice powder.