Squab, with accompaniments

Ed went to Savenor's today. They're a meat shop, and can apparently order you anything you want, with enough warning. I want wooly mammoth! Lets see how easily they get that, muahahaha. Anyway, he walked away much lighter in his pockets with some frozen rabbit, duck legs (not eggs), and a squab. We're having the duck tomorrow, but tonight we had the squab. A squab is a pigeon. Its not very big. really, two squabs would have been more appropriate, but apparently they only had one at the time. We decided to make a pretty substantial meal to go along with it, since really the squab was only there for looks. I mean, two bites and it'd be gone. We ended up with a pretty eclectic pile o' stuff on our plates, it all sort of worked together, but not quite perfectly. Alas, another weeknight dinner that is... awesome.



The squab was cooked using the oven, first Ed cut it in half (he is in charge of the meat 'round here), then rubbed some butter on the skin, and stuck it under the broiler for 5 minutes. Once the skin was nice and crispy, he basted it with some blood orange glaze he'd cooked up, and cooked it for another 10 minutes, ish. The recipe for the glaze is below.



The bird cooked up pretty tasty, sort of like a gamey chicken. After an abortive attempt at using knives and forks we settled for picking it up and gnawing, things were much more enjoyable after that. The sides (or main course, if you like, by size or weight the squab was definitely one of the sides...) were cooked endive, fresh fava beans and an Asian-inspired risotto. The risotto stole the show, in my opinion, although the endives were a close second. I could have done with just the risotto and you can keep your pricey pigeon thank you very much. So, here is my recipe for the Asian-inspired risotto.



Ginger-cilantro-pea risotto.
Serves 3-4 as a side dish

3/4C short-grain rice (sushi rice or arborio)
1 tbs olive oil (peanut oil or sesame oil would be good in this case, though)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, diced finely
2" cube of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 scallion
1C peas (frozen is fine)
1/4-1/2C chopped cilantro
zest of a quarter of a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1C white wine
4C chicken stock, broth, or water

Have everything ready to go. Although risotto requires a lot of stirring, its pretty easy. Chop all your veggies and stuff, and heat the wine and the chicken broth (separately). You need to add warm liquid to the rice, otherwise it shocks the kernels and it doesn't absorb water properly.

Mise en place.

Heat the oil in a wok or big frying pan, over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and cook until sweated through. Add the garlic and cook until just golden. Add the rice, and stir it around for about 1-2 minutes, making sure to get all the grains coated. Add the wine, and stir the rice. (I might be repeating this instruction a lot...). Keep stirring and cooking until most of the liquid has been absorbed, and then start add the chicken broth one cup at a time. Wait for the liquid to get absorbed before adding more. Add the ginger and lemon after 1-2 additions of chicken broth. Once the grains taste about done, add the cilantro and stir it around. You have to keep adding liquid and stirring until the rice tastes done. The cilantro should cook for about 3-4 minutes, then take the rice off the heat and add the peas. Garnish with the scallion.



Cooked endives
~2 tsp olive oil
~1 tsp salt
2 endives

Cut the endives in half lengthwise. Heat a frying pan over medium to low heat. Add some olive oil, then add the endives flat size down and cover. Cook for 10 minutes or so, and when the bottoms look nice and toasty, flip them over and cook them uncovered on their backs for a minute or so. Serve warm.



Blood orange maple glaze
juice of one blood orange
water
brown sugar
maple syrup
coriander
lemon juice
red chili flakes

Put all these things in a pot in a ratio that tastes good to you (taste it). Cook it until it reduces to something sweet and sticky, and then strain it to get out all the chili flakes. Can you tell this is an Ed-recipe? There aren't any measurements...