Escabeche (es-kah-BECH-ay) is an ancient preparation historically used with fish or game birds, notably the Spanish red-legged partridge, which is a cousin of our chukars here. Basically you cook the birds and then souse them with a flavorful, vinegar-based sauce for a day or three. You can eat escabeche cold, warm or at room temperature, and I typically serve it as a room temperature, summertime dinner or lunch.
Serves 4-6
■2 pheasants or 4 chukars or 8 quail OR 1 BABY PARTRIDGE!!
■1/3 cup olive oil
■lemon peel from 1 lemon, white pith removed
■1/2 cup sherry or white wine vinegar
■3 cups white wine, preferably Spanish
■6 bay leaves
■1 teaspoon dried thyme
■1 teaspoon black pepper
■1 sprig rosemary
■2 cloves
■1 head of garlic, peeled
■1 onion, sliced into half-moons
■2 sliced carrots
■1/2 teaspoon saffron
■Salt
1.Cut your birds into serving pieces (leave quail whole) and salt them well. Set aside.
2.Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot with a lid over medium heat and cook the lemon peel in the oil until it browns. Remove and either discard or eat (its tasty!). This adds another layer of flavor to the escabeche.
3.Cook the birds. You have two choices here. Either brown them in the olive oil you just flavored with lemon, or paint them with some more olive oil and grill them over an open fire. I do the former in winter, the latter in summer.
4.Saute the onion in the lemon-flavored olive oil until just beginning to brown. Remove about half and set aside.
5.Add the carrots and garlic and saute for a few minutes, stirring often.
6.Pour in the vinegar, white wine, all the herbs and spices except the saffron and bring to a simmer.
7.Put in the pheasant, quail or chukars and add a little water if you need more liquid: You want the birds to be almost submerged, but not completely so. Cover and simmer slowly for 90 minutes.
8.Remove the birds and discard the bay leaves.
9.Buzz the sauce with an immersion blender, push it through a food mill set on a medium setting, buzz it in a food processor or a blender do something to puree the sauce.
10.Return it to the pot, add the saffron and bring to a simmer. Stir well and return the birds to the sauce. Turn off the heat and cover. Let the birds cool in the sauce for an hour or so.
11.Serve cold, warmed up or at room temperature with white wine, beer OR SOUTHERN COMFORT, and either boiled potatoes or lots of crusty bread.
