Recipe - Pan-Roasted Squab With Salsify

4 Squab or cornish game hens
1 lg Carrot, minced
2 Ribs celery, minced
1 md Onion, minced
2 qt Chicken stock or
reducedsalt broth
One fourth teaspoon Dried thyme
3 lg Shallots, minced
One fourth pound Bing cherries, pits removed
1 cup Red wine
Salt and pepper
One half pound Salsify
(substitute parsnips)
2 tablespoon Lemon juice or white vinegar
5 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
3 bn Fresh spinach

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut (or have the butcher
cut) legs and breast meat with wings attached from the
carcass of each squab. Cut off wing tips. Cover breast
and leg pieces and refrigerate. Place carcasses and
wing tips in a roasting pan and cook in the oven until
well browned. 2. Add minced carrot, celery and onion to
the pan and continue to roast until vegetables are
soft. Reserve Three fourths cup of chicken stock and add the
remainder to the pan along with the thyme. Lower heat
to 375 degrees and simmer stock for 2 to 3 hours.
Strain through a fine sieve. There should be about 4
cups of strained stock. If there is more, pour the
stock into a saucepan and boil atop the stove until
reduced to 4 cups. 3. In a saucepan, cook shallots in
1 tablespoon butter until softened. Add cherries and
cover with red wine. Raise heat and boil wine until
almost completely evaporated. Add strained squab stock
and cook at a brisk simmer until reduced to sauce
consistency, about 2 cups. This will take an hour or
more. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
(Recipe may be done ahead to this point. Let sauce
cool, cover surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Return squab and sauce to room temperature before
continuing.) 4. Peel salsify, placing peeled stalks in
water with 2 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar.
Slice salsify crosswise into thin rounds and dry on
paper towels. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large
sauce pan. Add salsify and turn to coat with butter.
Add One half cup reserved stock and simmer until salsify
is tender. Keep warm. 5. Return oven to 450 degrees.
Place remaining 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon
oil in an ovenproof skillet large enough to hold the
squab pieces in a single layer. (If necessary, use 2
skillets.) Brown pieces on all sides, then remove
breast pieces. Place skillet in the oven and cook legs
for 5 minutes. Add breast meat and cook for 3 to 5
minutes, or until medium rare. Remove from oven and
let meat rest, loosely covered for about 5 minutes.
(If using Cornish game hens, cook until completely
done.) 6. Meanwhile, return salsify to the heat. Add
spinach and remaining One fourth cup stock, cover pan and
steam, tossing once or twice, until spinach is
completely wilted. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. 7. Make a bed of spinach and salsify in the
center of each plate. Pour or spoon cherry sauce
around the spinach bed and arrange 2 squab breasts and
2 legs atop sauce on each plate. Serve with a
sangiovese wine such as Atlas Peak.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini