RECIPES   (back)

SNAIL STUFFED QUAIL
quinoa, braised chanterelle mushrooms, parsley-confit, garlic jus

Ingrediants
6 semi boneless quails
1 small can snails
1/4 onion
4 ribs of celery
1 carrots
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 bunch italian parsley
4 oz fresh chanterelles
minced shallots, as needed
1/4# quinoa
olive oil (as needed)
garlic confit (recipe follows)
game jus

PREPARATION:
for the snails:
Remove the protective membrane at the opening. Wash thoroughly. Soak for two
hours in salted water with some vinegar and a pinch of flour. Wash again and
blanch for 5-6 minutes. Add 2 heads worth of garlic confit to snails with enough
of the oil to confit (loosely packed). Cook for two hours.

for the quails:
Remove front legs by inverting the leg and pulling out the meat without ripping the
skin. Remove the meat from the leg carefully with a paring knife and reserve each
two legs separately. Take balls of stuffing and combine with the leg meat.
With toothpicks, close first, the front part of bird "sewing" it closed. Stuff the
bird with the balls and sew the back up.

for the stuffing:
Cut the celery, onions and carrots into 3 mm dice. There should be about
3/4 of a quart when finished (50% onion, 25% carrot, 25% celery). Sweat onion,
carrots and celery in olive oil until soft, with no color for about two minutes.
hold on the side. Remove snails from garlic and oil. Smash garlic into a course
paste. add back snails to paste. Add mirepoix. Add enough bread crumbs so
that you can form balls. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

for the mushrooms:
Brush clean and trim any hard ends. On very high heat with a good
amount of oil quickly stir fry the mushrooms with salt by pushing down on them
and move them with a spoon until they are soft. add the shallots and continue
to sweat them for 30 seconds. Add a little lemon and pepper.

for the quinoa:
In a medium size pot toast the quinoa a little bit on the stove top.
Cover with 1.5 times of water to the amount of quinoa. Bring to simmer for
and cover. Place of the direct heat to finish cooking. 10 to 15 minutes.

for the parsley confit:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Pick the stems off the parsley.
Wash parsley. Blanch for about 45 seconds to a minute. Have a bowl of salted
ice bath ready. remove parsley from pot and shock it in ice bath. Squeeze it out
with your hands, place in blender and purée with a bit of the ice,
and a drizzle (1 TBS.) of olive oil.

for the garlic confit:
Clean garlic completely. put in small pot. Add olive oil to cover.
Cook very slowly for a half hour. Cool.

Service:
Sear and baste quails with some butter. Place in oven. Reheat quinoa
with little game jus. Re-warm mushrooms. Remove quails, cut in half.
Make a small pile of quinoa on each plate and place half a quail on top.
Place a little mushroom next to each quail. bring a little water to a boil.
Add purée and beurre whisk to emulsify. Make a cordon around each bird.