In my opinion this dish is the symbol of the comfort food! I think It’s an absolutely winter dish and it’s able to satisfy the most demanding palates; for this reason I propose it during the Christmas holidays, because it is ideal to serve to “carnivorous” friends and relatives. Also I’m sure wich isn’t a trivial dish. If you want, you can add a little dried cranberries or sultanas, they can flavor the meat more. Generally you have to cook quails briefly, that is around 10 minutes. But I’ve chosen a longer cooking because I prefer that this kind of meat is a little more cooked. I’ve avoided that the meat would dried excessively, so I’ve sprinkled it with butter under the skin. Follow the method below and you will see what a result!
Serves: 4
For the quails:
- 4 quails
- 60 grams butter
- 80 ml red wine
- Hawaiian red salt to taste
- 8 tangerines juice
- Thyme leaves
- Sage leaves
- Some rosemary needle
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
For mashed potatoes:
- 800 grams yellow potatoes
- 1 knob of butter
- 150 ml warm milk
- 50 grams grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- Nutmeg to taste
- Salt to taste
Method
Put the potatoes in a pot with a lot of cold water. Cook until they are tender. In the meantime, remove the feathers quails using a pincer like that one to remove the fish bones. Remove the neck. After prepare the flavored butter with chopped sage and thyme. Open a small gap between the meat and skin next to the breast and pipe in a generous amount of the herb butter. Massage a little. Don’t puncture the skin! Then tie the quails to keep the shape in cooking: you have to use a kitchen string. Place the birds inside a non-stick baking tin. Sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, flavor with rosemary and season with the Hawaiian red salt and black pepper. First bake for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 200° Celsius degrees. Then pour the red wine and cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the quails on a plate. Put the same baking tin over low heat. Pour a little water and the tangerines juice, stir continuously until the sauce has thickened a bit . Salt if necessary.
Remove the peel from the potatoes and crush them. Put in a saucepan with milk, butter and the Parmigiano Reggiano. Season with salt and nutmeg and whisk it over low heat for a few seconds. Stir often.
Plating
First pour some spoonfuls of mashed potatoes on a flat plate. Then place the birds on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of tangerines reduction and decorate with aromatic herbs.