Quail with Autumn Vegetable Stuffing

Ingredients

• 4 quails (ready to cook, exsanguinated)
• Salt
• black pepper (ground)
• 1 onion
• 1 small apple
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 slices toast bread
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• fat (for the roasting pan)
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil (for brushing)
• 250 g mixed forest mushrooms (e.g., porcini, chanterelles, brown caps, chestnuts, button mushrooms, etc.)
• 250 g cooked firm potatoes
• 150 g Swiss chard
• 3 tbsp rosehips
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 200 ml dry red wine
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 300 ml meat broth
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) with top and bottom heat.

2. 2.

   Wash the quails, pat them dry, season inside and out with salt and pepper.

3. 3.

   For the stuffing, peel the onion and apple, halve the apple, remove the core. Dice the apple and onion, sauté in 1 tbsp butter until translucent, then let cool. Toast the bread cubes in the remaining butter until golden, mix with the apple-onion mixture, season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stuff the quails, tie if desired, brush with oil, place in a greased roasting pan, bake for 25–30 minutes, basting with oil or butter several times.

4. 4.

   Meanwhile clean the mushrooms, wipe them dry, cut larger ones into small pieces. Peel and cube the potatoes. Wash, trim, and dry the Swiss chard.

5. 5.

   Sauté the potatoes in a hot skillet with oil until browned all around, add the mushrooms and cook briefly. Add the chard, rosehips, and thyme, season, and simmer for another 5 minutes.

6. 6.

   Remove the quails from the oven, keep warm, deglaze the pan with red wine, reduce slightly, stir in tomato paste, then pour in meat broth and let it thicken a bit. Finish with a beurre manié (equal parts flour and butter kneaded together) to thicken, season with salt and pepper.

7. 7.

   Arrange the vegetables on plates, place the quails on top, drizzle with sauce, and serve.