Stewed quail with a sauce of vegetables, apples and mushrooms

Stewed quail with a vegetable sauce. This summer we have discovered paradise: Asturias , it looks very much like a TV commercial but it is a pure and simple reality. Escaping to the north is always a success, due to its landscape, gastronomy, hospitality … the weather, good or bad, does not matter to me.

Although it is best to arrive after a long trip to a small hotel in a spectacular setting and you will be greeted with a Hello handsome !. This is the greeting with which they receive you at Amada Carlota , the hotel that Yolanda and Carlos made after leaving Madrid to fulfill a dream, and that it was that of all of us who have passed (and will pass) by their house. Be sure to visit it now that in autumn the beech and oak forests are full of color.

In addition to views of the mountains  from the rooms that leave you breathless in Amada Carlota, they take care of the details and the gastronomy is one of their strengths, lunch and dinner on request are a memorable experience.

During breakfast Carlos asks you what you like and for dinner they prepare a menu for you as if you were in your own home.

These stewed quail, Yolanda’s family recipe, was one of the  meat recipes  that we could try in her restaurant. Very much to the taste of this Galician woman from the Grove, who adds a sweet touch with a wise combination: leek, carrot and apple, simply delicious.

They were so good that we had to ask for the recipe, and the next day they had sent it to us by email with the step-by-step preparation, which we will certainly share.

Now that we are in hunting and mushroom season, it is a dish that will not be painted for the entrance of Autumn and that you will certainly like. Encourage you with recipes with this type of meat, as well as healthy it is very tasty, at home we like it a lot and you can find other recipes just as good, the classic pickled   quail or  quail with apples, pumpkin and mushrooms .

Preparation of a good vegetable and chicken broth

In any supermarket you can find a lot of prepared broths, meat, fish, seafood … and vegetables, of course. This option is quick and easy but obviously it is not the best, although I have used them once and they are not bad (it depends on the brand and especially the price).

If you have some time, and you want this recipe to be the best, I recommend that you prepare a homemade broth of vegetables and chicken in quantity. The amounts that I give you of each ingredient are for more than 2 liters of broth, which you can then keep in the fridge for a maximum of 5 days or freeze for when you prepare this recipe, a broth, a soup, a rice or some lentils. This vegetable stock or broth is very easy to prepare and you can use the vegetables you have in your fridge, I advise you a few more or less neutral ones that you can vary as you like.

1. You need water, a chicken’s hull or several pieces of chicken, 3 carrots, 1 onion, 1 leek, a piece of pumpkin (we are in season), 1 red pepper, 2 whole tomatoes, 1 bay leaf, coriander or fresh parsley (with a corsage arrives), a little chive and extra virgin olive oil. I do not add salt to it, because if I go to cook with it later it can screw up the recipe, I prefer to add it later.
2. We clean all the ingredients very well, we pass them in water and then we dry them. We cut into Brunoise-style cubes or what is the same, into small cubes of 1 or 2 mm in size, except the bay leaf and parsley.
3. Pour a large jet of extra virgin olive oil in a large saucepan and heat at medium temperature, pass the chicken until it is golden brown, remove and in that oil, fry the onion and leeks. First for 5 minutes and then we add the rest of the ingredients, we fry again for another 5 minutes adding the chicken that we have removed. You could make the broth directly but with the sofrito of the vegetables and the chicken you will get a more intense flavor.
4. We add 3 liters of water. We let it boil only for 5 minutes (if we leave it longer we will lose aromas of what we are cooking) and then lower it to a low heat for another 15 minutes. During cooking, and so that the minimum liquid evaporates, we partially cover the pot with a lid, always leaving a little space so that the lid does not dance and the kitchen gets lost.
5. Once the cooking is finished, we lift the lid and add the fresh aromatics (parsley, coriander, bay leaf, chive …). We remove, cover the casserole again and leave out of the fire. With this trick we will be able to finish infusing the broth with these aromas.
6. Strain and store in the fridge. Of these two and a half liters that we have left after cooking we are going to reserve half for quail.
7. There are people who defat the broth but with that little extra virgin olive oil and the chicken’s hull that we have added, I think it is not necessary, it will even give substance to the recipe that we are going to prepare. In the fat that usually remains on the surface, the aromatic particles are fixed, if you remove it you are losing a large amount of aromas and part of the flavor. If you make the broth with a very fatty meat or bacon, logically the advice is to remove part (not all), although it depends on the recipe.

Do not stop enjoying all the recipes with meat that we have on the blog, I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier.

Preparation of the quail

Carlos told me in his email:

Here I send you the recipe for “the chicks”, well, the process described by Yolanda of how she makes quail. You see that it is not too orthodox a detail, although the fundamental is described. She makes them for 4 people, or what is the same, 6 quail.

We are in the middle of the hunting season and this recipe is a great option to cook these little wild birds or “chicks”. Although we have used farm and frozen quail for this dish, if you can get them fresh the recipe will gain in flavor and power.

1. The quails that we can find in supermarkets are already plucked and gutted, although there are always remains inside. We must see if there is anything between the wings and legs, also I always wash them just in case. If you find them in a hunting butcher shop, much better, although they are much more laborious to clean. In this case we remove the viscera, heart, livers, etc. With great care not to break them, many times they usually bring the shot or lead, do not forget to remove it, lest you run out of a tooth. We dry them with absorbent paper and reserve.
2. Season with salt and pepper and flour. We gild in a saucepan with about 100 ml of extra virgin olive oil, not too much, just to seal them and that they do not leak liquid since we want it inside not outside. We remove from the casserole.
3. We wash and chop all the vegetables and apples. In that same casserole add the rest of the oil and sauté everything until golden brown, it will not be more than 10 minutes but it depends on the temperature of the fire. Little by little we add the vegetable and poultry stock (half, half a liter), stirring and after half an hour over medium heat, crush the sauce with the mash or the mixer (it is much lighter in color).
4. Add the quail, the rest of the poultry stock until covered, the bay leaf and three generous pinches of salt to the saucepan with the sauce. We cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour and a quarter if they are hunting quail, until the meat is tender (the breast is the hardest part). If the quail are from the farm with half an hour- 40 minutes it will be more than enough.
5. Peel the garlic cloves and crush them with a garlic masher. We clean the mushrooms and cut into strips. While we are cooking the quail, in a frying pan add a little oil and sauté the garlic, add the mushrooms and sauté for 10 minutes over high heat.
6. We remove the quail and cut in half, serve with the sauce of the vegetables and top with the garlic mushrooms. Do not forget a good bread to dip the sauce, it is glorious! Jimena says that it is a most entertaining recipe to eat, you have to leave the bones very clean.

About Amada Carlota

• This rural hotel was opened in 2006 with the ambition of creating a rural hotel that combines peace and tranquility. The building itself is modern, though what really makes it exceptional are the views you can see from every window. You can take a shower and see the cows grazing in the middle of the meadow and you can see in the distance the mountains that will become the Picos de Europa.
• Amada Carlota is located in the council of Cabranes  (La Cotariella – Torazo – 33310 Cabranes – Comarca de La Sidra – Asturias), 47 kilometers from Oviedo. Surrounded by green and lush valleys, it is ideal for hiking and perfect for a small getaway on this next Pilar bridge . Carlos will advise you on various routes, both inland and in the coastal area, to enjoy in harmony with nature. You can see in the photos that I present below that I am not lying and that they are impressive routes.

The route that you can see in the photos is between Sobrefoz and Beleño, passing through Abiegos. In Sobrefoz you can go up to Mount Porquera in one go, all in the Asturian council of Ponga and its natural park. The most amazing thing is the vegetation, some centuries-old beech forests, yew, oak, birch and ash populations. In addition to some maple and alder. Wild fruits such as morodos or wild strawberries, hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts and pear trees. A little complicated routine to enjoy those lands.

They told us that in Monte Peloño there is a large beech forest of about 15 km². of great ecological importance. And in Taranes, Beleños and Abiegos you will find extensive chestnut plantations. We have left these last two destinations for the next vacation, so we will make you a graphic document of all this. Puxa Asturies!