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ROAST QUAIL WITH WILD MUSHROOMS, PUREED BEETS, AND SAUSAGES

In My Kitchen
by Annie Bell
The crimson beet puree, delectable with the wild mushrooms, guarantees a festive edge. This is another good one for when there are two, three, or four of you, and you feel like spoiling yourself .
Serves 4

DRESSING
• 12 oz cooked and peeled beets
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• sea salt, black pepper
• 3 tbsp creme fraiche
• a few drops of lemon juice
• peanut oil
• 12 oz cocktail sausages
• 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• 9 oz girolles, trimmed and halved or sliced if large
• 1 tbsp coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

ROAST QUAIL
• 8 quail, oven-ready
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
 

Directions

Finely chop the beets in a food processor. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, add the beets, and sweat for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally and seasoning it. Stir in the creme fraiche, then return the beet to the food processor, and whiz to a smooth but textured puree. Spoon back into the saucepan. Season to taste with a few drops of lemon juice, and a little more salt if needed.

Heat the oven to 450°F. Arrange the quail in a roasting pan, spaced slightly apart. Dot with the butter, pour over the lemon juice, season, and scatter over the thyme.

Select a small roasting pan that will hold the sausages snugly and brush it with oil. Arrange them in a single layer without pricking them.

Put the quail and sausages in the oven. Roast the quail for 20—25 minutes, basting halfway through, and the sausages for 25-30 minutes, stirring them halfway through, until evenly gold all over. When you remove the quail from the oven, leave them to cool in the roasting pan for 10 minutes.

While the sausages finish cooking and the quail is resting, gently rewarm the beet puree. Heat a tablespoon of oil and the remaining butter in a large skillet over high heat, add the shallots, and saute for 1 minute until they soften. Then add the girolles and saute for a couple of minutes longer, seasoning them at the end. Sharpen with a couple of drops of lemon juice and stir in the parsley. Serve the quail with the pan juices spooned over and accompanied by the girolles, beet puree, and cocktail sausages.