Quails

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy rimmed metal roasting pan, about 13 by 18 inches (33 by 46 cm)
• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Pastry brush
• •Kitchen twine
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Small warmed sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the fierce oven

   Set a rack in the upper-middle of the oven and heat it to 500°F (260°C), or 475°F (245°C) in a convection oven. Put a heavy rimmed metal roasting pan inside for at least twenty minutes. The hot metal and strong radiant heat are the home equivalent of roasting before a fierce open fire; a merely warm oven cooks the birds slowly and dries them before their bacon can bronze.

2. 2

   Prepare leaves and birds

   If the vine leaves are fresh, lower them into boiling water for fifteen seconds, then cool and dry them thoroughly. Rinse brined leaves well and dry those too. Pat the quails dry inside and out, then season them evenly with the salt and pepper. Wet leaves or wet birds create trapped moisture, and trapped moisture steams the skin instead of roasting it.

3. 3

   Wrap the quails

   Spread each vine leaf vein-side up and coat it lightly with 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the softened butter. Set a quail breast-side down on the buttered face, fold the leaf around the breast and sides, then wrap one thin bacon slice over the leaf. Tie gently with kitchen twine, using only enough pressure to hold the covering in place. The vine leaf must sit beneath the bacon, where it protects the bird while the melting pork fat bastes through it.

4. 4

   Fry the croûtons

   Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Fry the croûtons, pieces of bread browned in butter, in batches until crisp and deep gold on both sides, about two minutes per side. Hold them on a wire rack so their undersides remain crisp. If the butter turns black or smells bitter before the bread is ready, stop and wipe the pan clean. Ça se rattrape: begin again with fresh butter rather than asking scorched fat to behave.

   These are broad croûtons made to support a whole bird, not little cubes for soup. Trim each piece slightly larger than a quail so it catches the resting juices.
5. 5

   Roast ten minutes

   Working carefully, set the wrapped quails breast-side up in the blazing hot roasting pan, leaving space between them. Roast for ten minutes, then check the thickest part of a thigh without touching bone. Continue only until the bacon is bronzed and the birds register 165°F (74°C), usually ten to twelve minutes in all. If the bacon darkens before the meat reaches temperature, cover the breasts loosely with foil and give the birds another minute or two. If they reach temperature early, pull them at once. Small birds do not reward hesitation.

6. 6

   Build the short jus

   Snip away the twine and place each quail on a warm croûton, then rest them loosely covered for five minutes. Tilt the roasting pan and spoon away the clear surface fat, leaving the dark roasting deposits behind. Add the resting juices and only enough boiling water to loosen the fond, scrape thoroughly, and pour everything into a small saucepan. Boil for a few seconds until the jus de rôti (roasting juices) is glossy and concentrated, yielding only three or four tablespoons. If it tastes too salty, don't reduce it further; whisk in boiling water one teaspoon at a time. Ça se rattrape. No stock, wine, flour, or cream belongs here.

7. 7

   Serve without delay

   Arrange the quails on their croûtons across a warm platter, with the four lemon halves tucked around them. Pour the short jus into a warmed sauceboat and serve it separately, exactly as the dish requires. Each diner gets two birds and one lemon half. The croûton should be crisp at its edges and soaked with butter and roasting juice at its centre. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose the birds by touch and sight. The breasts should feel rounded rather than sharp over the bone, and any visible fat should be white and firm. Dark, soft fat or dry, slack skin points to a bird that has waited too long.
• •Fresh vine leaves are splendid when they are young and unsprayed, but good brined leaves are the classical pantry's honest answer outside the season. Rinse them thoroughly, then dry them completely so their brine doesn't season the birds for you.
• •Use mild, thin bacon. Heavy smoke buries quail's delicate flavour, while a thick slice prevents the leaf from warming quickly enough to protect and baste the breast.
• •Serve the birds the moment the jus is ready. Reheating cooks them twice, and quail has very little margin for such nonsense. A light red Burgundy or a cru Beaujolais, served slightly cool, has enough freshness for the butter without bullying the bird.

Advance Preparation

• •The quails may be seasoned, wrapped in vine leaves and bacon, and refrigerated for up to four hours. Bring them out twenty minutes before roasting so the fierce heat cooks them evenly.
• •Trim the bread and prepare the leaves earlier in the day, but fry the croûtons shortly before roasting. Once fried, hold them uncovered on a wire rack rather than stacking them.
• •Do not roast the birds ahead. Their pleasure lies in the narrow moment between cooked and overcooked, and reheating spends that moment twice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 260g)