Roast Quail in Beet, Apricot & Tomato Chutney
Yield
4
RECIPE Ingredients
- 2 medium yellow beets
- 12 dried apricots
- ½ cup mint leaves, packed
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely grated
- 4 teaspoons garam masala
- 2 teaspoons crushed coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon saffron
- 4 whole star anise
- 1 hot green chile pepper, such as serrano, split and seeded
- 8 plum tomatoes, blanched and peeled, if desired, seeded and chopped
- 2 juice of oranges, freshly squeezed
- sea salt or kosher salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil, plus additional
- 2 red apples, such as Rome, peeled, cored and quartered
- 8 Whole Quails
- Pepper
- 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
Recipe notes
In this quail recipe, Chef Daniel Boulud pairs the plump birds with a colorful beet-and-apricot chutney fragrant with Indian spices.
RECIPE Preparation
- Put a rack in the lower third of the oven and Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash the beets and wrap in aluminum foil. Place in a baking pan and roast until they are easily pierced with a paring knife, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the beets from the oven. When they are cool enough to handle, peel and cut them into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Meanwhile, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add the apricots and mint leaves, remove the pan from the heat, and let cool to room temperature. Puree mixture in blender or food processor.
- Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. In a large roasting pan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the onions, gingerroot, garam masala, coriander seeds, turmeric, saffron, star anise, and chile pepper and sweat until the onions are lightly colored, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, toss, and cook 4 minutes more. Pour the orange juice and apricot purée into the pan, and stir to combine. Add the diced beets, bring to a simmer, and season to taste with salt. Bake for 60 minutes.
- While the sauce is cooking, in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat, melt the remaining1 tablespoon of butter. Add the apples and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. When the apples are cool enough to handle, stuff each quail with an apple piece, and run a skewer through both legs, just below the knee, fitting two quails to a skewer. Alternatively, you can skip the skewers; if a piece of apple pops out of a quail cavity, simply pop it back in.
- In a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat warm the vegetable oil. Season the quail with salt and pepper and press the mustard seeds evenly all over each quail. Add 4 quails to the pan and sear on all sides until golden brown, about 7 to 8 minutes. Repeat with the remaining 4 quails, adding more oil to the pan if needed.
- Put the quails, skin-side down, over the tomato-beet chutney, pressing them into the mixture. Return the pan to the oven and braise, uncovered, for 60 minutes. Serve with the salad.
