Pan-roasted quail, herbs and fried egg
- 4
- 2 hours 45 minutes
This stunning recipe from Paul Welburn uses a number of creative cooking methods to prepare the quail. Transglutaminase, also known as 'meat glue', is used to fuse the flesh of the quail breasts together to create a neat finish. Both legs and breasts are cooked sous vide to ensure a fantastically tender texture, perfectly paired by rich, earthy ceps and a tasty fried egg.
First published in 2015
discover more:
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Quail
- 4 quails
- transglutaminase, for dusting
Herb brine
- 4kg water
- 400g of salt
- 40g of rosemary
- 25g of thyme
- 4 bay leaves
- 25g of garlic
- 8g of black peppercorns
To confit the legs
- 8 quail legs
- flour, seasoned with salt
- 1 egg, beaten to make eggwash
- 1 handful of Panko breadcrumbs
Quail eggs
- 4 quail eggs
- 1 dash of oil
To serve
SAVE RECIPE
Equipment
- Water bath
- Vacuum bags
- Chamber sealer
- Blender
- Deep-fryer
Method
1
To begin, prepare the quails. Remove the quail legs and set aside. Remove the breasts but leave them attached to the skin in one piece – this is tricky but once mastered it makes cooking easier later in the recipe
- 4 quails
2
Add all of the brine ingredients to a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and chill the brine
- 4kg water
- 400g of salt
- 40g of rosemary
- 25g of thyme
- 4 bay leaves
- 25g of garlic
- 8g of black peppercorns
3
Brine the breasts for 40 minutes and the legs for 1 hour
4
Wash the breasts and legs under cold water and lay out the breasts skin-side down on a work surface. Dust with the transglutaminase and roll up in cling film tightly to create neat cylinders. Allow to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours (ideally longer if possible)
- transglutaminase, for dusting
5
Remove the thigh bones from the quail legs and French-trim the leg bones. Fold the thigh over the bone and pierce the skin to create a lollipop shape
6
Preheat a water bath to 85°C
7
Roll and tie the legs in cling film so they keep their shape. Place in a vacuum bag, seal in a chamber sealer and cook in the water bath for 2 hours. Plunge into iced water to set
8
Preheat a water bath to 65°C
9
Once set, place the quail breasts in a small vacuum bag, seal, and cook for 20 minutes
11
Transfer the mixture to a blender, blitz until smooth and pass through a fine sieve
12
Preheat the deep fryer to 150°C
13
Remove the quail legs from the bag and cling film. Dust them first in flour, then dredge in egg wash and finally roll in the breadcrumbs to coat. Deep-fry until golden
- flour, seasoned with salt
- 1 egg, beaten to make eggwash
- 1 handful of Panko breadcrumbs
14
Remove the breasts from the bag and roast in a hot pan until golden-brown. Allow to rest before carving and serving
15
Fry the halved ceps in butter until golden brown. In a separate pan, fry the quail eggs in a dash of oil
- 2 ceps, cut in half
- 1 knob of butter
- 4 quail eggs
- 1 dash of oil
16
To plate, carve the quails and arrange on the plate with the legs. Place the egg on top of a piece of quail and a piece of cep to the side. Pipe dots of the cep purée around the plate, garnish with leaves and drizzle over the pan juices from roasting the quail
Get in touch
Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.
You may also like
SITES
© Great British Chefs 2024