Boneless Quail Stuffed With Poultry Quenelle

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (chilled)
• salt
• fresh ground white pepper
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
• 1 egg white, chilled
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 8 semi-boneless quail
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 cups mixed sliced mushrooms (such as crimini, oyster, shiitake, etc)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth (unsalted or low-sodium)
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 ounces foie gras, terrine

Recipe

• 1 make the poultry mousse.
• 2 cut the chicken into small pieces, season well with salt and white pepper, and place in bowl of food processor fitted with a sharp blade.
• 3 process the chicken, scraping bowl down as necessary, until it is completely broken down into a homogenous paste, about 2 minutes.
• 4 add the egg white and blend to incorporate and loosen paste, about 30 seconds.
• 5 with processor blade running, slowly pour in the heavy cream.
• 6 process until all of the cream is incorporated, the grain of the mousse is very fine, and the mousse is solid enough that a scoop of it will not fall off of a rubber scraper held in the air, about 2 minutes.
• 7 transfer to a bowl and fold in chives and 1 tablespoon of the parsley.
• 8 preheat oven to 375°f stuff the body of each quail with some of the chicken mousse.
• 9 save remaining mousse for another use (make sure to cover it well with plastic wrap to lessen air exposure).
• 10 tie quail legs together with a piece of butcher’s twine.
• 11 season quails with salt and freshly ground white pepper.
• 12 heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat.
• 13 working in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pan, brown quail on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.
• 14 transfer quail to a baking sheet (do not clean skillet) and place in oven. cook until firm and done all the way through, 15-20 minutes.
• 15 meanwhile, add mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until about three-quarters done, about 5 minutes.
• 16 add garlic, season with salt and white pepper, and finish cooking, about 3 minutes more.
• 17 mix in remaining tablespoon of chopped parsley, transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
• 18 add chicken broth and thyme leaves to skillet and boil until reduced by two-thirds, to about 1 cup in volume, about 15 minutes.
• 19 transfer reduced broth to a blender and add foie gras terrine and remaining 2 tablespoons butter.
• 20 blend until smooth and frothy.
• 21 service:.
• 22 remove butcher’s twine from quail and discard.
• 23 divide mushrooms and quail among warm plates.
• 24 spoon foie gras sauce over quail and mushrooms.