Roasted Quail with Juniper Berry Glace Viande

Elegant and delicious!

    
     This is a wonderful quail recipe!  Juniper Berry Glace Viande is a tasty sauce for roasted quail.
    
     Glace Viande Recipe:
     Place 4 pounds of mixed veal bones, lamb bones, beef bones, pork bones and meat scraps into a roasting pan.
     Add 5 ounces of tomato paste.
     Add 8 to 10 ounces of rustic un-peeled mirepoix of carrot, celery and onion.
     Stir the mixture together.
     Roast the mixture in a 350 degree oven, till the bones and vegetables caramelize to a deep brown color.  (Stir the ingredients occasionally.)
     Place the roasted bones and mirepoix into a stock pot.
     Deglaze the roast pan with water and add the jus to the stock pot.
     Cover the bones with water and bring to a boil over high heat.
     Turn the temperature to medium low heat and simmer for 4 hours.
     Add water occasionally to cover the bones.
     Strain the stock through a fine sieve.
     Discard the bones and vegetables.
     Skim off the grease.
     Reduce the meat stock by a little more than half.
     This is a very rich unseasoned stock that can be frozen in portions for later use.
     The glace should be able to thinly coat and glaze the back of a spoon.
     When the glace viande is used in recipes, it will be reduced to a slightly thicker glaze to order.    
    
     Roasted Quail Recipe:
     Tuck the wings of 2 quail against the breast of the quail.
     Pin the legs to the lower breast with a short bamboo skewer.
     Brush the quail with melted unsalted butter.
     Season the quail lightly with sea salt and black pepper.
     Sprinkle 1 pinch of of Herbes Du Provence on each quail.
     Place the quail on a roasting rack that is placed on a roasting pan.
     Roast the quail slowly in a 325 degree oven.
     Roast the quail till they become a light golden brown color and fully cooked, yet still moist.
     The juniper glace viande can be prepared while the quail roast!
    
     Juniper Berry Glace Viande:
     Gently boil 1 cup of water in a small sauce pot over medium heat. 
     Add 20 dried juniper berries.
     Gently boil the juniper berries, till they become tender.
     Remove the juniper berries from the water and leave the sauce pot of juniper berry flavored water on the heat.
     Set half of of the soft whole juniper berries aside for later in the recipe.
     Mash the remaining 10 juniper berries.
     Return the 10 mashed juniper berries to the hot water in the sauce pot. 
     Reduce the mashed juniper berry broth, till only a few tablespoons are left in the sauce pot.
     Remove the reduced juniper berry broth from the heat and set it aside. 
     Place a second sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add 1 whole garlic clove.
     Add 1 coarsely chopped shallot.
     Saute till the garlic clove becomes a golden color.
     Add 1/2 cup of dry white wine.
     Add the mashed juniper berries and the reduced juniper berry flavored water.
     Add 5 whole black peppercorns and 1 pinch of sea salt.
     Add 1 pinch of thyme.
     Simmer and reduce the sauce over medium heat.
     Just before the sauce reduces to a syrup consistency, add 3/4 cup of the thin glace viande.
     Reduce the temperature to medium low heat.
     Simmer the sauce for 4 to 5 minutes. 
     Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into another small sauce pot. 
     Place the sauce pot over medium heat. 
     Add the reserved whole juniper berries.
     Simmer and reduce the juniper berry glace viande, till the sauce can coat the back of a spoon. 
     Remove the sauce from the heat.
     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter, while whisking, to finish the Juniper Berry Glace Viande.
     Keep the sauce warm over a very low temperature or on a stove top.
    
     Roasted Quail with Juniper Berry Glace Viande: 
     Place the 2 roasted quail on a plate.
     Spoon the juniper berry glace viande over the quail and onto the plate.
     Serve with a vegetable of your choice.
     The quail with juniper berry glace viande in the photographs was served with turned oven roasted bliss potatoes, buttered spaghetti squash, sauteed fluted petite portabella mushroom caps and sauteed pearl onions. 
    
     This is a very nice classic way to cook and present quail.  The juniper berry flavor is infused into the rich glace viande and the flavor is complimentary for tender roasted quail.  Delicious!  ...   Shawna