Butterflied Squab with Piquillo Pepper Sauce

  • Level: Intermediate
  • Yield: 1 serving
  • Total: 40 min
  • Prep: 10 min
  • Inactive: 5 min
  • Cook: 25 min
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Ingredients

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 squab, butterflied (backbone, ribs and keel bone removed)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped

1 small stalk celery, coarsely chopped

1/4 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup port

1/4 cup red wine

1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons creme fraiche

1 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only

1 piquillo pepper, diced

Directions

  1. Heat the canola oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the squab with salt and black pepper and place in the pan, breast-side down. Add the butter and cook the squab until the skin is golden brown. Flip the squab, and continue to cook until medium rare. Transfer to a plate and let rest. 
  2. Drain off any excess oil from the pan, and then heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook the carrots, celery and onions until lightly browned. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute. Increase the heat to high, and then pour in the port and red wine and cook until reduced by three-quarters, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and cook until reduced by half, then stir in the creme fraiche. Strain the sauce into a bowl, and then heat gently in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once bubbling, remove from the heat and add the parsley, thyme and piquillo peppers. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Let's Get Cooking!

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Anonymous

After watching the show and seeing how easy it looked to Butterfly Squab, I had to give it a try. Before this, I had only served Squab stuffed or roasted. It was so easy! I loved how my version of the recipe turned out, but I know it is difficult to compare to the original when I have to make substitutions for allergies (and when I can eat so little, something this yummy is a real treat! My family loved it. I did leave out dairy products, chicken stock, which all brands have onion in, an the wines which I substituted regular grape juice (but I can only tolerate a small portion of that even, so maybe put in about 1/4 cup total. Still turned out beautifully golden, veggies were so good with the herbs!

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