Roasted quails
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WITH STAR ANISE AND ROSES
6 GARLIC CLOVES
For 4-6 people
4 STAR ANISE 4 TABLESPOONS BL ACK PEPPERCORNS 2 TABLESPOONS ANISEED 4 TABLESPOONS SUMAC
Blancing meats in hot broth a cooking technique from the far East, where it's used for dishes like Peking duck because it result in tender meat and crispy skin. We dip our quails in a brine containing the same spices as those we coat them with before grilling. Twice as good!
4 TABLESPOONS DRIED ROSE PETALS COARSE SEA SALT 4–6 ORGANIC QUAILS 6 TABLESPOONS MILD OLIVE OIL OR 100 G SOFT BUTTER A FEW SPRIGS OF BAY LEAVES
― Peel the garlic cloves. Crush half of the garlic with half the spices and place in a saucepan with some salt and about 1.5 L of cold water. Bring to the boil on low heat and simmer for at least one hour to several hours. Take care of the salt because, as the liquid boils it can become too salty. Add more water if needed. Wash the quails and pat them dry. Bring the broth to a boil and simmer the quails, one at a time, for 2 minutes in the hot broth. Let the quails rain on a rack and pat them dry with paper towel. ―
Crush the rest of the garlic with the remaining spices and some salt. Massage into the quails, on the skin and in the abdominal cavity. Place, uncovered, in the fridge to dry for a minimum of one hour to a few hours; you should see that the skin will begin to pull tight.
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Heat an oven grill or barbecue grill to medium–high. Coat the quails with some oil or butter and grill on a bed of bay leaves for about 15 minutes until golden brown and crispy on the outside, but still juicy inside. Serve on the fragrant bay leaves.
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