Pan Roasted Squab With Spring Garlic Compote Recipes

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.

PAN SEARED SQUAB WITH RICE DRESSING AND PORT REDUCTION

Steps:

• Sauce: Reduce the port with the shallots and thyme sprigs until 1/4 cup remains. Add the poultry stock and reduce by 1/3. Strain and reserve. Before serving bring to a boil and reduce until thick and glossy, and the last minute mount in the foie gras into the boiling sauce and season.
• Rice: Sweat 1/2 cup onions in melted butter and add rice. Lightly toast rice coating evenly with butter and onions. Add hot stock and 1 bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the rice is tender. Cool on a lined sheet tray. Store until needed. Cut up hearts and gizzards into small pieces, trim off sinew. Place in small sauce pot, cover by 2 inches with cold water with a bay leaf and crushed garlic. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Clean the livers, free from veins and dry on paper towels. In a large saute pan add peanut oil when hot season livers with salt and cayenne and quickly sear them on both sides. Set them aside to cool. Add onions, celery and garlic to the pan. Using a wood spoon, scrape the fond off the pan as the vegetables cook. Season with salt and pepper. When vegetables are tender, deglaze with brandy, allow alcohol to burn off. Scape everything out of the pan and store with the livers. When all ingredients are cooled, hearts, gizzards, livers, and vegetables place them all in a food processor. Puree until smooth paste results. Store dirty rice base under refrigeration at all times. In a sauce pan place 4 tablespoons base with rice and 8 ounces of stock, heat through. Add green onions and chopped parsley.
• Pan seared squab: Remove each side of the squab in one piece. Snip the wing tips off. In a hot saute pan add 2 tablespoons olive oil when oil begins to ripple place squab, skin side down or 6 to 8 minutes or until skin is a nice even golden brown. Turn to sear on other side for 8 to ten minutes. If not cooked through place in oven to finish. Mound rice on preheated plates and lay squab decoratively. Drizzle with port reduction.

OVEN ROASTED SQUAB WITH PIQUILLO-BLACK PEPPER SAUCE WITH CHICKPEA POLENTA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Increase the heat to high. Add the red wine and port and cook until reduced by three-quarters. Add the stock and cook until reduced to 2 cups. Strain the sauce into a bowl and add the piquillo peppers and, cracked pepper and season with salt.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Heat butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Season the squab with salt and pepper to taste and place in the pan, breast side down and cook until golden brown. Turn the squab over, place in the oven and roast for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add the cumin and cook for 2 minutes. Increase the heat to high, add the water and 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil. Whisk in the yellow cornmeal, reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon occasionally until the mixture pulls away from the pan. Add the chickpea puree and cook for 5 minutes. Place the mixture into a buttered 8 by 10 baking dish and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. When ready to serve, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cut the polenta into 2-inch squares or circles, season with salt and pepper and saute on both sides until golden brown. Garnish with parsley and serve with the squab and pepper sauce.

ROASTED FRESH CALIFORNIA SQUAB WITH ROASTED GARLIC CABERNET SAUCE SERVED WITH CELERY ROOT PUREE AND SWISS CHARD LEAVES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
• Remove liver and tie squab with kitchen twine.
• In a copper roasting pan, sear squab in vegetable oil over high heat. Add garlic and transfer to oven and continue roasting until meat is pink.
• Cut stem of swiss chard into 3-inch triangles. Bring pot of water to boil. Add celery root and cook until tender. Remove from heat and puree. In another pot, add 1/2 cup creme fraiche and cook until reduced by 25 percent. Add celery root puree. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• In a separate pot of boiling, salted water, add swiss chard triangles and cook until tender. Set aside and keep warm.
• In saute pan, add 1 tablespoon butter, onions and mushrooms, saute for 3 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup creme fraiche and swiss chard leaves. Cook until reduced and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
• Add liver to roasting squab and leave 1 minute.
• Remove all from oven, separate legs and breast from carcass, reserve liver. Chop carcass using a French knife and return to stove with bones, garlic and wine. Reduce to 1/3, add stock and simmer 5 minutes longer. Add 1 tablespoon butter and press through in a china cap.
• Put dish together by placing puree of celery root in middle of a large plate. Display sliced breast and legs around the puree. Using a round cookie cutter, mound swiss chard leaves and liver in a tower on top of the puree. Place sauce around plate and finish by placing triangles of chard on sauce evenly spaced around the plate.

SQUAB WITH YOUNG MORELS, ROAST GARLIC AND SAGE POLENTA

Steps:

• In small sauce pan saute shallots and chopped garlic in oil. Once they are soft, but not brown, transfer to a one-pint measuring cup. Add wine, bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns. In a nonreactive baking dish place squab, breast down, along bottom. Pour shallot marinade oven squab, cover, and refrigerate overnight. In a preheated 375 degree oven, place squab, breast-side up in baking dish. Discard marinade. Roast squab for 40 - 50 minutes, or until juices of breast meat turn clear when you poke with a fork. Serve with roasted garlic and polenta.
• For the Roast Garlic and Sage Polenta: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In bowl toss garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Wrap loosely in aluminum foil and roast in oven for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool. Peel cloves. In large saucepan add chicken broth and garlic. Bring to a boil and let simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside, preferably overnight. Remove garlic from broth, set aside, and bring broth to a boil. Slowly add the cornmeal, whisking constantly until fully incorporated, and mixture thickens. Lower heat and cook polenta for 20 minutes, stirring periodically. Add butter, creme fraiche, sage, salt, and pepper just before serving. Stir well to incorporate. In large saute pan saute morels in remaining oil over a high heat. Serve with squab.

STEPHEN'S ROAST SQUAB WITH SEVILLE ORANGE CONFIT

Steps:

• To make the squab: Place a squab on a work surface, and with a sharp knife, remove wings and cut each wing into two pieces. Cut neck from body, and cut the body in half. Remove backbone. Split the squab in half through the breastbone. Cut off the first joint of each leg of the squab. Set all squab bones aside. Make a small slit in the excess skin of the breast. Tuck the end of the leg into this slit. Place the halved squabs in a shallow baking dish.
• Add 1/4 cup olive oil, minced shallots, minced garlic, thyme, and orange strips to the baking dish, tossing to combine. Cover and let marinate in refrigerator for 24 hours.
• In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high heat. When just beginning to smoke, add reserved squab bones, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add 5 cloves unpeeled garlic and roughly chopped shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
• Add sherry vinegar and honey, and stir to combine. Cook until pan is dry. Add orange juice, and cook until reduced and syrupy. Transfer to a small saucepan. Add veal stock, and reduce heat to low, simmering very slowly for 40 minutes. Remove from heat, and strain through a fine sieve, pushing hard on the solids. Whisk in 1 tablespoon olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Remove squab from marinade. Season both sides of the squab with salt and pepper. In a large oven-proof skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. Add squab, skin side down, to the skillet. Cook for 1 minute, reduce heat to medium, and cook until squab is brown, about 3 minutes. Turn squab, and place skillet in oven; roast for 8 to 10 minutes.
• While the squab is roasting, make the confit: Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add minced orange, and blanch for 2 minutes; strain. In another small saucepan, bring 1 cup water and sugar to a boil; add blanched orange peel. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Remove squab from oven, and serve with sauce and orange confit drizzled over squab.

ROAST SQUAB WITH APPLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Cut apples into quarters. Peel and core.
• Season the cavities of the squabs with salt and pepper. Inside each, put a sprig of thyme, a bay leaf and a clove of garlic.
• Put squabs in a large, heavy roasting pan, breasts up. Scatter the onions, potatoes and apples around them. Brush the squabs, potatoes and onions with the olive oil. Cook 20 minutes, basting often with pan juices.
• Remove the fat and apples, and set the apples aside, keeping them warm. Add the wine and chicken broth. Cook 10 minutes longer, basting often and scraping the bottom of the pan. Do not overcook: the squabs should be cooked pink in the thigh.
• Lift the squabs with a fork and let the herbs and juices flow into the pan. Put squabs on a serving platter; untruss and keep warm.
• Put the roasting pan on top of the stove. Bring the gravy to a simmer, add the butter, and blend, stirring and scraping. If there is not enough gravy, add some chicken broth or water. Carve the squabs if desired and serve with onions, potatoes, apples and pan gravy.

ROASTED-SQUASH COMPOTE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 3 cookie sheets. Spread the squash evenly on the cookie sheets. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until nearly soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Add the orange zest, rosemary and chili pepper flakes. Toss with the squash. Serve as a side dish, or use in the squash bisque below.

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.