Roasted Fresh California Squab With Roasted Garlic Cabernet Sauce Served With Celery Root Puree And Swiss Chard Leaves Recipes

ROASTED GARLIC

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Arrange heads of garlic on a baking sheet. Sprinkle garlic with olive oil. Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour, when the garlic is soft and squeezable, it is ready. Remove, let cool, and serve.

ROASTED SQUAB WITH TEA SOAKED QUINCE AND MATSUAKE TEA CONSOMME

Steps:

• FOR SQUAB: Heat saute pan until almost smoking, and add duck fat. Season squab breast and legs. Saute skin side down until crispy. Flip over and cook until breast are medium rare and leg cooked through. FOR QUINCE: Place quince and peelings in a saucepan and add rosemary, ginger, quince berry tea, vanilla bean and other ingredients. Cook until tender and slice quince into medallions. FOR CONSOMME: Mix tea with squab consomme and soy. Bring to boil. Let steep for 2 minutes. Strain through a fine strainer. Add brunoise vegetables and chives. Reserve warm. FOR GARNISHES: Heat butter in saute pan, add lambs quarters and season with salt and pepper. Add baby carrots and vegetable stock. Cook to glacee. TO SERVE: In a large serving bowl, place lamb quarters and carrots. Top with quince and top with squab. Spoon consomme around. Garnish with chervil.;

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.

FRESH HALIBUT STEAMED IN SWISS CHARD WITH THAI CURRY CREAM

Steps:

• Season halibut lightly with salt, pepper and lime zest and set aside. Blanch chard leaves in lightly salted water for 5 to 10 seconds until softened and then immediately plunge into ice water to stop cooking and set color. Pat dry and wrap halibut pieces completely with leaves.
• To serve: Add mushrooms, scallions and olive oil to an oven-proof saute pan large enough to hold fish in one layer. Saute mushroom mixture until its just beginning to color. Place wrapped fish on top of mushroom mixture, add the wine and stock and cover. Finish cooking fish on top of stove over moderate heat or in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until fish is cooked through. With a spatula, lift fish and its mushroom bed and place attractively on warm plates. Pour sauce around and garnish with cilantro sprigs and deep fried leeks on top of wrapped fish.

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.