1635. PAN-ROASTED SQUAB with SAVOY CABBAGE, SMOKED BACON and POTATO PUREE

serves four


3 tablespoons canola oil
2 ounces ventrèche cut into small pieces
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1½ cups chicken stock
1 small carrot, cut in ¼-inch dice
1 (1-pound) head Savoy cabbage, outer leaves discarded, cut into ½-inch wide shreds
¼ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Coarse or Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
Potato Purée (recipe follows)
4 squab, 2 wing joints, neck, giblets, and backbones removed and reserved
2 shallots, finely minced
½ cup dry red wine
¾ cup duck and veal demi-glace

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until very lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion and garlic, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until onion softens, about 7 minutes. Drain off any fat. Add stock, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until reduced to 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand for 20 minutes. Strain stock into a medium bowl. Dice and reserve bacon.

Meanwhile, cook carrots in a pot of salted boiling water until barely tender, about 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. Cook cabbage in boiling salted water over high heat until barely tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and shock in ice water. Squeeze out all excess moisture from cabbage with your hands.

Bring chicken-bacon stock and cream to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add cabbage, reserved bacon, and carrots. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Gently stir in 2 tablespoons of the butter and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Begin preparing Potato Purée (below).

Place squab, breast side up, on work surface. Press down on breast with the heal of your hand to crack the breast keel bone. Coarsely chop reserved bones, gizzards and hearts (not livers), and set aside. Blot birds dry.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Season squab with salt and pepper, and place in pan, skin side down, and add the remaining butter. Cook, basting occasionally, until squabs are browned, about 8 minutes. Turn, and continue cooking, basting occasionally, until other side is browned, and breasts are medium-rare, about 4 minutes. Remove to plate, pull out remaining rib bones, and add them to reserved bones. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from skillet. Add reserved bones and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Add shallots and stir until they soften, about 1 minute. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until wine is reduced to ¼ cup, about 5 minutes.

Add stock and collected juices from plate with squab, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer to concentrate flavors, 3 minutes. Strain sauce through a fine strainer, pressing hard on the solids. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon potato purée just off center on 4 warmed plates. Place squab next to potatoes, and spoon cabbage next to it. Spoon sauce around plate and serve.


for Potato Puree
2¼ pounds Idaho or Russet baking potatoes, peeled and quartered
8 to 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut up, (or less, according to personal taste)
½ cup sour cream Coarse or Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Cover potatoes with water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes, then drain well.

Return potatoes to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until excess moisture evaporates, and they begin to stick slightly to the bottom of pan, about 3 minutes. Pass through a potato ricer or food mill into a larger bowl or, using a potato masher, mash potatoes with butter and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. If necessary, keep warm in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Alfred Portale, executive chef-owner, Gotham Bar & Grill, 12 East 12th Street, New York, New York 10003-4498, (212) 620-4020 | D'Artagnan's Glorious Game Cookbook by Ariane Daguin, George Faison, and Joanna Pruess

1434. ROAST SQUAB with BACON and GRAPES

yields eight servings


1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons juniper berries, crushed
salt and freshly ground pepper
vegetable oil, for frying
8 squabs
8 slices of bacon, halved
3 cups red or green seedless grapes

Preheat the oven to 450°. In a small bowl, blend the butter with the juniper and season with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil until shimmering. Season the squabs with salt and pepper. Add 4 of the squabs to the skillet, breast side down, and cook over moderately high heat, turning a few times, until richly browned all over, about 12 minutes. Repeat with the remaining squab, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.

Arrange the squabs breast side up on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Rub the squab cavities with the juniper butter. Arrange two bacon halves on each squab breast in a single layer. Scatter the grapes around the squab and roast in the upper third of the oven for about 15 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the legs registers 125° for medium-rare meat. Transfer the squab to a carving board and let rest for about 5 minutes.

Using a large knife, cut each squab in half, cutting through the breast bone. Transfer the squabs to plates. Spoon the grapes and roasting juices on top and serve.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Florence Daniel Marzotto, Food & Wine

1240. BRAISED SQUAB with TINY PEAS, BACON and ASPARAGUS

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces lean smoked slab bacon, cut into 1/2 inch strips, blanched for 2 minutes in boiling water
16 pearl onions, blanched for 1 minute in boiling water and peeled
4 squabs (3/4 to 1 pound each), rinsed and patted dry
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons Cognac
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth, preferabley homemade
1 pound fresh peas (1-1/2 to 2 cups), shelled
1 pound thinnest asparagus, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh chervil or 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh tarragon

Melt the butter in a large, deep, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and onions; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are light brown and the bacon is crispy, about 7 minutes. Remove the onions and bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Sprinkle the cavities of the squabs with salt and pepper. Saute the squabs in the same skillet over medium heat until browned on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes total. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle the cognac over the squabs. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Pour the white wine and chicken broth into the skillet and deglaze the pan over high heat, scraping up all the brown bits on the bottom with a wooden spoon.

Reduce the heat to low and add the peas, asparagus, onions, and bacon. Arrange the squabs on top of the vegetables. Simmer, partially covered, until the juice runs clear when the bird is pricked with a knife in the thigh joint, 20 to 25 minutes.

Arrange the squabs on a warmed serving platter with the vegetables around them. Reduce the sauce over high heat by one-third, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning and stir in the parsley and chervil. Pour the sauce over the squabs and vegetables and serve immediately.


courtesy of: Recipe Hound, 2008

808. BACON and BARLEY RISOTTO with SQUAB and CURRY-APPLE FOAM

a.k.a Squab Through a Window

yields 2 servings


Barley Risotto:
½ teaspoon shallots, finely diced
10 roasted pearl onions, peeled
1/2 teaspoon garlic, chopped
1 ounce smoked bacon, finely chopped
4 ounces barley, cooked al dente
4 ounces chicken stock
1 ounce heavy cream
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
2 sprigs thyme, picked
salt and pepper
2 squab breasts

Curry-Apple Foam:
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup unfiltered apple cider
½ shallot, finely diced
2 tablespoons tapioca starch


For the Barley: Saute shallots, pearl onions, garlic, smoked bacon and barley, add chicken stock and stir constantly. Add heavy cream and reduce. Finish with butter, thyme, salt and pepper. Pan sear squab breasts on high heat to medium rare and rest for 3 minutes before slicing each one into three pieces.

For the Curry-Apple Foam: Toast curry powder at a very low temperature before adding apple cider and shallots. Reduce by half and strain. Whisk in the tapioca starch, season, and place in iSi foamer in a hot water bath.

To Assemble: Place glass cylinder on plate. Carefully spoon in the barley mixture and add sliced squab breast. Shake iSi foamer and slowly foam 3 inches up the tube. Tableside, remove glass cylinder to allow the foam to fall into the dish.


courtesy of: Chef David Gilbert, Luqa Restaurant, 1217 Main Street, Dallas, Texas 75202, 214-760-9000