Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

4 Squab or cornish game hens
1 lg Carrot, diced
2 Ribs celery, diced
1 md Onion, diced
2 qt Chicken stock or
-reduced-salt broth
1/4 ts Dried thyme
3 lg Shallots, diced
1/4 lb Bing cherries, pits removed
1 c Red wine
Salt and pepper
1/2 lb Salsify
-(substitute parsnips)
2 tb Lemon juice or white vinegar
5 tb Unsalted butter
1 tb Vegetable oil
3 bn Fresh spinach

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut (or have the butcher cut) legs and
breast meat with wings attached from the carcass of each squab. Cut
off wing tips. Cover breast and leg pieces and refrigerate. Place
carcasses and wing tips in a roasting pan and cook in the oven until
well browned. 2. Add diced carrot, celery and onion to the pan and
continue to roast until vegetables are soft. Reserve 3/4 cup of
chicken stock and add the remainder to the pan along with the thyme.
Lower heat to 375 degrees and simmer stock for 2 to 3 hours. Strain
through a fine sieve. There should be about 4 cups of strained stock.
If there is more, pour the stock into a saucepan and boil atop the
stove until reduced to 4 cups. 3. In a saucepan, cook shallots in 1
tablespoon butter until softened. Add cherries and cover with red
wine. Raise heat and boil wine until almost completely evaporated.
Add strained squab stock and cook at a brisk simmer until reduced to
sauce consistency, about 2 cups. This will take an hour or more.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Recipe may be done ahead to
this point. Let sauce cool, cover surface with plastic wrap and
refrigerate. Return squab and sauce to room temperature before
continuing.) 4. Peel salsify, placing peeled stalks in water with 2
tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar. Slice salsify crosswise
into thin rounds and dry on paper towels. Melt 2 tablespoons butter
in a large sauce pan. Add salsify and turn to coat with butter. Add
1/2 cup reserved stock and simmer until salsify is tender. Keep warm.
5. Return oven to 450 degrees. Place remaining 2 tablespoons butter
and 1 tablespoon oil in an oven-proof skillet large enough to hold
the squab pieces in a single layer. (If necessary, use 2 skillets.)
Brown pieces on all sides, then remove breast pieces. Place skillet
in the oven and cook legs for 5 minutes. Add breast meat and cook for
3 to 5 minutes, or until medium rare. Remove from oven and let meat
rest, loosely covered for about 5 minutes. (If using Cornish game
hens, cook until completely done.) 6. Meanwhile, return salsify to
the heat. Add spinach and remaining 1/4 cup stock, cover pan and
steam, tossing once or twice, until spinach is completely wilted.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. 7. Make a bed of spinach and
salsify in the center of each plate. Pour or spoon cherry sauce
around the spinach bed and arrange 2 squab breasts and 2 legs atop
sauce on each plate. Serve with a sangiovese wine such as Atlas Peak.

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