Quail in Morel Sauce

Goes well with a strong red wine, e. g. a Rioja

Preparation time around 1.5 hours

Preparation You'll need: A small pot with lid A fine sieve A large pan A casserole dish A medium ceramic bowl Several small bowls
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 4 quails (= approx. 1 kg) Morels: 20 g dried morels 200 mL milk For the stuffing: 50 g chestnuts (precooked) 2 Tbsp. Créme Fraîche (ca. 80 g) 1-2 twigs of thyme 2 apricots, half dried ¼ tsp. Piment d'Espelette or cayenne pepper 2 dashes of lemon juice 2 cloves of garlic For the sauce: 30 g chopped shallots 1 Tbsp. butter 2½ Tbsp. Cognac 250 mL white wine (dry) 5 Tbsp. Créme Fraîche (ca. 170 g) 1½ Tbsp. gravy thickener for dark sauces (in Germany I'd buy Mondamin Fix Soßenbinder) Further side dishes: 100 to 150 g chestnuts 4 Rösti (McCain) - Hash browns for you ;-)
Preparation Morels First put 20 g dried morels (for filling and sauce) into a not too fine sieve and rinse vigorously. Then let them simmer for 15 minutes in a small pot (covered) with 250 mL milk. In the meantime.... Chestnuts Prepare 150 bis 200 g Maronen according to instructions - usually, they only have to simmer weakly in water in their plastic packaging for about 5 minutes. Quails If necessary, chop off the head of the quails at the base of the neck. Rinse them, check the inside, that it's clean, dry them off with kitchen paper and fry them on high heat in oil. Let them cool down in a plate. Morels After the morels have simmered for 15 minutes, pass them through a fine sieve, catch the milk in a ceramic bowl, it will be needed for the sauce. Take around 20 g of the morels and cut them into small pieces (I seek for the not so nice pieces), they will be needed for the stuffing, set aside for a moment. The remaining morels can be put back with the milk. Stuffing Mash 50 g chestnuts with a fork in a medium bowl. Add: 2 Tbsp. Créme Fraîche, the chopped morels, 2 apricots (cut small), leaves of thyme (of 1 or 2 twigs), 2 dashes of lemon juice, 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) and ¼ tsp. Piment d'Espelette or cayenne pepper. Mix well. Put the rest of the chestnuts on the side. Quails Preheat the oven at 200℃. Fill the quails with the stuffing, you could either use a pastry bag, or simply do it with your hands. Bake the quails in a greased casserole dish for 20 to 25 minutes (convection), brush them once or twice with the sauce collecting in the dish. Just before the quails are done, add the plates to heat them up. In the meantime... Rösti Slowly fry 4 Rösti in a good deal of sunflower oil (2 to 3 mm) in a small pan at medium heat. That will take its time and they should be ready around the time the rest is done, too. In the meantime continue with the sauce... Sauce Chop 2 or 3 shallots finely; 30 g are needed. Sauté them in 1 Tbsp. butter in a pan, add 1½ Tbsp. Mondamin, mix well. Deglaze with 250 mL white wine, stir well, let it simmer for 3 minutes. Add 2½ Tbsp. Cognac and let it simmer for another 3 minutes. Add 5 Tbsp. Créme Fraîche (ca. 170 g), mix well. Pour the morels with the milk into the pan, season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce warm (but don't let it simmer). Arrange the plates Since there are 2 quails per person, I usually serve in two courses. Therefore, arrange 1 quail, 1 Rösti and 1/4 of the sauce each on 1 preheated plate. Place the chestnuts separately in a bowl on the table. Keep the remaining quails and Rösti warm in the oven (switched off), the remaining sauce in the pan (set to lowest heat, bring to boil before serving).