Cailles farcies au chou chinois, sauce au Porto, pommes grenailles à l’ail et au romarin
Serves : 4 people
Preparation : 1 hour 30
Cooking : 3 hours
Ingredients
For the aromatic base
1carrot
1 strandofcelery
1leeknot too big
1/2onion
2 tbspofdouble-concentrated tomato paste
15 clofred wine
For stuffed quail
4quails
10 clofPorto
4 podsofgarlic
150 gofcooked ham
250 gofChinese cabbagefinely chopped
5 strandsofparsley
60 gofbread
1 bowlofmilk
olive oil
salt and pepper
For support
600 gofbaby potatoes
1 branchofrosemary
6 podsofgarlic
Instructions
The Stuffing
Cut the bread into small cubes and place them in a bowl. Cover with milk and let them soak.
Rinse the Chinese cabbage and remove the toughest parts at the base of the leaves. Chop it coarsely and sauté it in olive oil in a skillet or wok. Add the finely chopped ham.
Chop the parsley and the peeled and degermed garlic cloves, then add them to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, and just before serving, add the bread (which has been drained beforehand).
Quail liver
Debone each quail, starting with the breast. Run the knife along the carcass to avoid cutting the skin, and be sure to cut through the tendons at the joints of the wings and legs.
Prepare the quail stock by "searing" the carcasses in olive oil, in a large pot or a deep skillet (a pan with high sides). Brown them well on each side over fairly high heat; don’t be afraid to let them stick a little, but don’t let a burnt crust form at the bottom of the sauté pan, or your stock won’t taste good. Keep an eye on them while cooking and turn them regularly.
Add the aromatic mixture and stir. Sauté the vegetables for a few minutes, then add the tomato paste and brown it for about ten minutes, along with the carcasses and vegetables. Deglaze with red wine and add one liter of water.
Boil for an hour and a half, adding water if necessary. Strain the resulting stock through a fine-mesh strainer and set aside.
You can remove grease from the bottom by placing a paper towel on the surface while it is cool.
Baking and final assembly
Stuff the boneless quails and sew them up using wooden skewers and kitchen twine. Brown the quails on all sides in a cast-iron casserole dish, season with salt and pepper, then bake in the oven at 220°C for 25 minutes.
Remove the excess fat from the pan, deglaze the pan juices with the port, and reduce until dry.
Keep an eye on the cooking process and be careful not to let the reduction burn.
Next, add the stock and reduce it until the sauce has a creamy consistency. Remove the skewers and string from the quails.
Adjust the seasoning of the sauce and the baby potatoes before plating.
Cut the potatoes in half and place them in the oven pan along with the garlic cloves (cut into quarters) and the rosemary. Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper, and bake for 20 minutes at 220°C.