Claridge's roasted quail with celeriac & mushrooms

Claridge's roasted quail with celeriac & mushrooms

Can't get a table at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants? Here's the next best thing - one of his recipes from the menu at Claridge's

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 45 minutes

Method

  1. Put the celeriac in a pan with the thyme and a good knob of butter and cook over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until tender. Add the double cream and chives. Season.
  2. It's quite hard to get a good flavour from mushrooms because of the water they contain. You'll need a smoking hot pan to get a decent colour and flavour - if you don't cook them enough they'll be bitter. Add some oil and the mushrooms to the pan and cook until they are browned, then add a splash of vinaigrette at the end of cooking so the mushrooms absorb it while still warm.
  3. Quail is rather fashionable at the moment and you can get hold of it quite easily. It is easier to roast a quail well with the legs off; leg and breast meat cook at different rates so one or the other is always over- or underdone. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Cut the legs off where they meet the body and trim off the wings. Don't waste them, freeze them until you need to make a stock. Season the quail inside and out. Heat a good amount of olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan and cook the quail breast-side down for about 4-5 minutes or until the skin has a good bit of colour on it. Turn it over to colour the other side, adding the garlic cloves to the pan. Add a large knob of butter to cool the oil down a bit and put the pan in the oven for 7-8 minutes. Baste them inside and out halfway through cooking and again when you take them out. Rest for about 6 minutes.
  4. Set a frying pan over a low heat to warm up and add some oil. Crack in the eggs and cook over a low heat, if they get too hot they will burst. Add a bit of butter for flavour, sliding it in down the side of the pan.
  5. Cut through the meat along each side of the breastbone, ignore the wishbone and cut right through it, it will be easy to pull out afterwards. Let the knife slide down along each side of the carcass to free the breasts. Pull out the bits of wishbone. Drizzle some of the vinaigrette over the breasts.
  6. Use a ring cutter to stack a couple of spoons of celeriac in the centre of the plate, spoon some mushrooms around the edge. Now put a pile of rocket leaves, dressed with vinaigrette, on top and then the 4 quail breasts. If you like, trim the fried eggs using a cutter; chefs would. Add 3 eggs to each plate and dress the lot with vinaigrette.
Try

Quail

'Quail are quite fiddly to eat if you are serving them whole so we make life easier by serving just the breasts, 4 per person, but you can serve the birds whole if you prefer'

Recipe from olive magazine, October 2005.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 10 January 2010

    Freya rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • 15 December 2011

    ayoung commented on this recipe

    I bought some quail because they had been heavily discounted at an upmarket supermarket without knowing how on earth I was going to cook them. I needn't have worried - this recipe was easy to follow and WOW what a sensational dish. It was a bit tricky bringing it all together at the end but with hindsight we would have prepped and cooked the quail first and then during their resting period we would have cooked the celeriac and mushrooms. Good tip about cooking the eggs on a low heat - they don't need long. Excellent recipe for a special meal for two or a small dinner party with practice. I used the legs and wings to make a spiced Christmas gravy by another well known TV cook.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 celeriac , diced
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • butter
  • 1 tbsp double cream
  • 1 tbsp chopped chives
  • olive oil
  • a clump shimeji mushrooms , stalks trimmed (from some supermarkets and don't waste the stalks, use them in a stock) or a few handfuls baby mushrooms
  • hazelnut vinaigrette, made with 2 tbsp sherry vinegar, 2 tbsp hazelnut oil, 2 tbsp grapeseed oil and 1 tsp Dijon mustard, whisked together
  • 8 quails
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 12 quail eggs
  • a couple of handfuls rocket
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