Squab

[southern girl]

I received a gift of two fresh, boned squab (breasts boned with bone-in legs and wings). I am planning to saute them in a skillet to brown them and crisp the skin and finish them in the oven. Any suggestions on what the oven temp. should be and approximately how long I should leave them in the oven to achieve med. rare?

[eatingwitheddie]

I received a gift of two fresh, boned squab (breasts boned with bone-in legs and wings). I am planning to saute them in a skillet to brown them and crisp the skin and finish them in the oven. Any suggestions on what the oven temp. should be and approximately how long I should leave them in the oven to achieve med. rare?

Try splitting them down the back and 'opening' (butterflying) them. The French call this a la crapaudine (in the shape of a toad). Season them (they react well to overnight brining) and brown them over very high heat, for just a minute or two, in some butter and oil, skin side down in a heavy skillet. Cast iron works well. Put the pan in a preheated 425 degree oven and roast, always skin side down, until cooked through. They should be med/rare in about 20-25 minutes.

[Matt Seeber]

another option would be to follow ed's instructions up until the point where suggests putting the squab in the oven. continue sauteing over low heat until the skin is very crispy. remove from the heat, flip the bird over in the pan and let it sit. the residual heat from the pan will continue to cook the flesh very slowly. this will give an even temperature all the way through the breast.

i'm not going to give a specific cooking time, but rather suggest using your finger to test for doneness. if when you go to eat it, you find it cooked too much, do it less next time. trial and error has been the best instructor i've had.

honestly, no more than 3 minutes after the flip. let the meat rest and slice it to have a look inside.

[southern girl]

Thank you Eddie and Matt...since I am basically a "touch cook" when it comes to meat (I rarely cook birds or poultry)... I think Matt's overall method will work best for me...ovens (especially mine, which seems to be in some kind of sudden mid-life temperature crisis) make me nervous when cooking (relatively) small game birds.

[schaem]

You might find it useful to put a weight (piece of foil & another pan) on top of the bird for the initial sear. This keeps the skin flat and even for crisping. Then take off the weight, add some butter and a sprig of thyme. With skin still down use a spoon to take the now foaming butter and baste the legs only, for a couple of minutes. Then proceed with Mr. Seeber' instructions. The legs should be cooked more than the breasts and a couple of minutes of basting with hot butter should be sufficient.

[Suvir Saran]

And what sauce might you serve this with?

Robert (not Buxbaum, but the sauce) maybe?

[schaem]

Well, I tend to be from the "use the parts to make the sauce" school. Brown the bones, saute the liver and heart, shallots, thyme, peppercorns, a little wine, a little stock....

[Suvir Saran]

Well, I tend to be from the "use the parts to make the sauce" school.  Brown the bones, saute the liver and heart, shallots, thyme, peppercorns, a little wine, a little stock....

Sounds great!