Crispy Skinned Jumbo Quail

Ingredients

6 de-boned whole quails

Risotto:

200g Arborio rice
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
50g dried porcini mushroom
100g button mushrooms
100g Swiss brown mushrooms
100g oyster mushrooms
100g unsalted butter
100g grated parmesan
2L chicken stock
1 small bottle truffle oil
Seasoning

Method

Soak porcini mushrooms in the chicken stock and bring the liquid to simmer; allowing for up to 5 minutes.

Slice all the mushrooms and set aside in a bowl.

In a medium-sized saucepan, sweat off the chopped onion and garlic in a little olive oil until they appear translucent.
Add in the mushrooms, season to taste and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.

Now add the Arborio rice. Strain the porcini mushrooms from the chicken stock; finely chop and add to the rice, onion and garlic. Add the chicken stock slowly in moderate amounts until the rice is almost cooked (this should take approximately 15-20 minutes).

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and parmesan until the texture of ingredients appears silky and smooth (if too gluggy just add more of the stock liquid and season to taste).

To cook quails, first season with salt and pepper on both sides. Pour a little olive oil into a hot, heavy-based pan and place quails skin-side down to cook for approximately 3-4 minutes (try not to turn the quails over). Once skin has reached a golden brown colour, then turn over and complete the cooking process in a fan-forced oven at 220° for approximately another 3-4 minutes.

To serve, place a spoonful of the risotto mix into the middle of a plate; arrange the cooked quail on top and drizzle over a touch of truffle oil.

Quick note:

Don’t be too heavy-handed as the truffle oil is quite pungent and strong in flavour. Garnish with some crisp pancetta or a sprig of chervil and ENJOY!