Cailles Lucullus

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 2-quart / 2-liter saucepan
• •12-inch / 30 cm heavy ovenproof skillet
• •Quarter sheet pan fitted with a wire rack
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Kitchen string
• •14-inch / 36 cm round serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the chicken glaze

   Pour the chicken stock into a wide saucepan and bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to a lively simmer. Reduce it uncovered to 1/2 cup (120 ml / 120 g), skimming any foam from the surface, until it tastes concentrated and lightly coats a cold spoon. This is glace de volaille, chicken glaze, made on a home stove instead of drawn from the brigade stockpot. Watch closely near the end, when reduction accelerates. If it drops below 1/2 cup or turns tacky, whisk in enough hot water to restore the measure; ça se rattrape.

   Begin with unsalted stock. A properly reduced glaze magnifies everything in the pan, including salt, and a heavily salted carton becomes harsh before it gains enough body.
2. 2

   Prepare the birds

   Season each quail inside and out with 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) of the salt and all the pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips underneath so the birds hold a neat, compact shape and cook evenly. Keep them chilled until twenty minutes before cooking. Shape each slice of pain de mie into an oval or rectangle slightly larger than the footprint of one quail. These will become the Croûtons, and their size is structural rather than decorative.

3. 3

   Fry the Croûtons

   Melt 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g) of the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Fry the Croûtons in two batches, turning once, until both faces are evenly golden and crisp, about two minutes per side. Add the second half of the butter as needed rather than crowding the skillet. Transfer them to a wire rack, not paper, which traps moisture and softens the underside. If a Croûton tastes bitter rather than nutty, replace it. Burnt bread has no useful rescue, and the rest of this dish is too good to set upon it.

   The centre should remain just tender beneath the crust. A dry biscuit cannot absorb the quail juices with any grace.
4. 4

   Cook the truffles

   Combine the Champagne and the chicken glaze in the cleaned saucepan. Bring them to a bare simmer, set the whole truffles in one layer, and cover with a lid set slightly ajar. Cook fresh truffles at the gentlest tremble for eight to ten minutes, turning them once; preserved whole truffles need only three to four minutes. Lift the truffles out and cover them loosely. Reduce their cooking liquor until it leaves a translucent amber coat on a spoon, about eight minutes. It should flow, not pull into threads. If it tightens too far, whisk in Champagne or hot water one tablespoon at a time. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Brown the quails

   Heat the oven to 425°F / 220°C. Melt 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) of the remaining butter in the ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, set in four quails and brown them breast-side down for two minutes, then give each side about one minute. Move them to the sheet pan and repeat with the remaining quails and butter. Keep the heat lively but controlled. If the milk solids turn black or smell acrid, lift the birds out immediately, wipe the skillet, and continue in fresh butter; the birds are unharmed if moved promptly, but scorched butter must go.

6. 6

   Roast and rest

   Arrange all eight browned quails breast-side up on the sheet pan and spoon the clean butter from the skillet over them. Roast for six to ten minutes, basting once, until the skin is burnished and an instant-read thermometer reaches 165°F / 74°C in the thickest part of the thigh without touching bone. Smaller birds will finish first, so remove them as they are ready. Rest the quails for five minutes while you warm the platter and finish the glaze. Quail is lean and fast; another five careless minutes turns it from succulent to string.

7. 7

   Finish the glaze

   Pour the quails' resting juices into the Champagne and chicken glaze, then warm it gently and taste. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) salt only if the glaze needs it. Return the whole truffles for one minute, rolling them through the liquid until their surfaces shine. Don't boil them now; hard heat drives away the perfume you paid for.

8. 8

   Build the circle

   Arrange the eight warm Croûtons in a circle on the round platter and set one quail breast-side up on each. Between every two quails, set one whole truffle, using all eight so the circle alternates bird and truffle. Spoon the Champagne and chicken glaze over the truffles and around the bases of the birds, leaving the outer edges of the Croûtons crisp. Bring the platter straight to the table. The bread will catch what runs out, exactly as it should. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This specific Cailles Lucullus is severe in its luxury: quail, butter, Croûtons, whole truffles, Champagne, and chicken glaze. Don't add foie gras, mushrooms, herbs, or a decorative salad. Other Lucullus preparations may carry them, but this entry does not.
• •Fresh black Périgord truffles are magnificent when the season is right. Outside it, good whole preserved black truffles are the classical pantry's honest answer. Their perfume is gentler, so warm them briefly in the Champagne and glaze rather than simmering them for the full fresh-truffle time.
• •Order quails of equal size and insist that they are oven-ready. Two small birds per person make a generous main course; if your quails weigh closer to 5 1/2 ounces / 155 g each, allow several extra minutes in the oven and trust the thermometer rather than the clock.
• •Use a brut Champagne with enough body to survive reduction, then pour the same bottle at the table. Sweet wine becomes cloying in the glaze, and aggressively acidic sparkling wine grows sharp as it concentrates.
• •A 12-inch / 30 cm skillet won't brown eight quails properly at once. Two quick batches give each bird contact with the butter and keep the pan hot. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken glaze can be reduced up to three days ahead, cooled promptly, covered, and refrigerated. Warm it gently before adding the Champagne.
• •The quails can be seasoned and trussed up to six hours ahead. Refrigerate them uncovered so their skin dries, then take them out twenty minutes before cooking.
• •Shape the Croûtons earlier in the day. They may be fried up to two hours before service and held on a rack; refresh them for two minutes in the hot oven while the quails rest.
• •The truffles can be cooked in the Champagne and chicken glaze up to two hours ahead. Keep them covered in a little of their liquor and rewarm gently at the finish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)