Cailles aux Petits Pois à la Romaine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy lidded skillet for the quails
• •10-inch (25 cm) lidded sauté pan for the peas
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Kitchen twine
• •Two 1-quart (950 ml) covered serving dishes or lidded timbales

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare both pans

   Bring the quails from the cold about 20 minutes before cooking. Pat them thoroughly dry inside and out, tie the legs together if they splay, and season with 1/2 teaspoon of the measured salt. Chop the onions and ham, then shell the peas only now. Set a 12-inch (30 cm) lidded skillet and a 10-inch (25 cm) lidded sauté pan on adjacent burners, with two covered serving dishes ready for warming.

   Dry skin browns; damp skin steams. Pay particular attention beneath the wings and around the cavities.
2. 2

   Poêler the quails

   Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in the larger skillet over medium heat. When it foams and smells nutty but remains golden, lay in the quails breast-side down. Brown for about 2 minutes, then turn them onto each side and finally onto their backs, allowing 6 to 8 minutes in all. Leave space between the birds so they brown rather than stew. If the butter turns black or smells acrid, lift out the quails, pour away only the burnt butter, wipe the pan, and return the birds with the reserved tablespoon of quail butter. Keep any bronze fond that tastes toasted rather than bitter. Ça se rattrape.

   The butter may reach hazelnut brown. That is welcome. Black milk solids are bitter and must go.
3. 3

   Finish under cover

   Lower the quail pan to medium-low, add 1 more tablespoon butter, and cover. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the birds once, while you begin the peas immediately. Check the thickest part of a thigh without touching bone; each quail must reach 165°F (74°C). If the skin softens beneath the lid, uncover for the final minute and turn the birds through the bronzed butter until they gleam again.

4. 4

   Cook peas without water

   As soon as the quails are covered, melt 3 tablespoons of the remaining butter in the second pan over medium-low heat. Add the chopped new onions and ham together, exactly as the entry directs, and fry gently for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the onion softens and the ham releases its aroma without becoming crisp. Fold in the freshly shelled peas and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then cover at once. Cook over low heat for 8 to 12 minutes, shaking the closed pan every 2 minutes. Add no water, stock, or wine whatsoever; the sealed pan keeps the moisture from the peas, onion, and ham where it belongs.

   A tight lid is part of the technique. A loose lid lets the small amount of natural moisture escape before the peas become tender.
5. 5

   Rescue and synchronize

   Listen to the pea pan. A soft sizzle is right; a sharp frying sound means the heat is too high. Lift the pan from the burner, add the final tablespoon of butter, shake it closed, and leave it off the heat for 1 minute before returning it to the lowest flame. If black specks appear, transfer the unscorched peas to a bowl without scraping the bottom, wipe the pan clean, then return the peas and finish them gently. Ça se rattrape. The peas are ready when tender but still round, with a spoonful of concentrated buttery juice beneath them. If they finish first, hold them covered off the heat. If the quails finish first, rest them in their covered serving dish. Taste the peas only after the ham has cooked through, then use the final 1/4 teaspoon salt only if needed.

6. 6

   Serve in two dishes

   Warm both covered serving dishes with hot water, then empty and dry them well. Place the quails in one and spoon over their clean bronzed butter and fond. Put the peas, onion, ham, and every drop of their juices in the other. Cover both and carry them to the table together. Each diner takes a quail, spoons the peas alongside, and makes the final mixture on the plate. No added sauce and no decorative garnish. À table!

Chef Tips

• •For fresh peas, buy roughly 3 pounds (1.4 kg) in their pods to yield 4 cups (950 ml / 600 g) shelled. Taste one raw: it should be sweet and juicy, not starchy. Shelling at the last moment protects both flavor and the moisture this method needs.
• •Out of season, use 4 cups (950 ml / 600 g) frozen peas straight from the freezer and shorten their covered cooking to about 6 to 8 minutes. The result loses the tender snap of spring peas, but a good frozen pea is more honest than an old fresh one.
• •Choose unsmoked jambon cru or prosciutto crudo with a little fat attached. Cooked deli ham contributes too much water, while smoky bacon overwhelms the quail and changes the Roman-style garnish.
• •The timing is the discipline here. Brown the birds first, cover them, and start the peas immediately. Two pans finish together without requiring two cooks.
• •Pour a dry white with firm acidity or a light red with little tannin. Heavy oak and powerful reds flatten the sweetness of the peas and make the small birds taste smaller.

Advance Preparation

• •Clean, dry, and tie the quails up to 8 hours ahead. Refrigerate them uncovered so the skin stays dry, then bring them out 20 minutes before cooking and season just before they meet the pan.
• •The onions and ham can be chopped up to 4 hours ahead and kept separately in the cold. Leave the peas in their pods until the pans are ready; cooking them ahead sacrifices the dish's timing, color, and concentrated juices.
• •Set the two pans, lids, butter portions, and serving dishes in place before guests sit down. From the moment the quails meet the butter, the dish needs about 20 attentive minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 330g)