Stuffed quail on salad

• 4 boned quails
(order from the butcher in good time)

For the filling:
• 1 slice of toast without crust
• 2 mushrooms, finely diced
• Poultry farce (see recipe)
• Butter for brushing
• Salt
• Pepper

For the salad:
• 4 portions of mixed salad
• some cherry tomatoes
• 3 tbsp raspberry vinegar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 pinch of sugar
• ½ tsp mustard
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 1 clove of garlic
• Salt
• Pepper

For the poultry farce:
• approx. 130 g chicken breast
• 1 egg
• 40g butter
• 160 ml cream
• Salt
• White pepper,
freshly ground

Preheat a grill with a lid to approx. 200 °C.
First prepare the poultry stuffing for the filling. To do this, heat the butter in a saucepan at a medium temperature until the whey settles in dark flakes on the bottom. Heat until the butter turns a light brown color. Strain through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl and allow to cool so that the nut butter is still liquid.

Dice the chicken breast and put it in a pan. Add the egg, cooled nut butter, a little salt and white pepper and puree with a blender or hand blender, slowly adding cream until you have a smooth stuffing. (The amount of stuffing is generous. You can scoop out the rest with a spoon and fry it in a pan, or add it to a soup in small dumplings).

Wash and clean the lettuce, wash and halve the cherry tomatoes. For the vinaigrette, mix the vinegar with salt, pepper and sugar until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Stir in the mustard. Then beat in the oil. Dice the shallots and garlic very finely and add to the vinaigrette.

To stuff the quails, remove the crust from the toast and cut into small cubes. Roast gently in a pan. Clean the quails of feathers and small bones. Season the skin side with salt and white pepper. Then lay on the skin side and spread out. Season with salt and pepper. Place a few toasted bread cubes and mushroom cubes on the quails and pour a tablespoon of poultry stuffing over them. Don't use too much stuffing as it will rise a little.

"Close" the quails, if necessary using pins, and place them next to each other in a small dish with the skin side up so that they cannot fall over. Brush with butter.
Grill indirectly at around 200°C for ten minutes with the lid closed. After ten minutes, brush with butter again and add a little more salt and white pepper. Grill indirectly for another ten minutes until the skin is a nice brown color.
To serve, arrange the salad, vinaigrette and cherry tomatoes on the plate. Carefully cut the quail into three or four slices and arrange on the salad.

FIRE&FOOD Issue 1-2019