Another Avec Eric recipe today, and another winner. First, the salad. I've always known about butter lettuce that comes in the clamshell plastic case, but never really used it all that often until I got the Momofuku cookbook. The Grilled Lemongrass Pork Sausage Ssäm called for it and it worked wonderfully there. Since then, I've made a few salads with it, with a couple different vinaigrettes, and I'd say that this one was my favorite. The tartness of the citrus along with the sweetness from the honey make this a simple, but delicious dressing that I'm sure will be a staple in my cooking for the near future. This recipe makes enough salad for 4+ people.
Butter Lettuce Salad with Tarragon and Citrus-Honey Vinaigrette
From Avec Eric
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons canola oil
3 heads butter lettuce
½ cup cut fresh tarragon leaves
Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the canola oil while whisking constantly until completely emlusified. Discard the core and the tough outer leaves from the butter lettuce. Separate the individual leaves and give them a wash-and-dry. Toss with the tarragon and dress with the vinaigrette.
The quail were a nice compliment to the salad. I really like fried food with salad, which admittedly sort of defeats the purpose of the salad. Nonetheless, it's a great combination due to the contrasting temperatures and textures. The batter was extremely flavorful, however I did find it a bit thick. The recipe states that excess batter should drip off each quail after dredging, but in my case, the batter was so viscous that it really didnt move after dredging. I did my best to shake off the excess. Don't know if it was the brand of buttermilk that I bought, or if it was meant to be that way. My guess is the buttermilk. Nonetheless, I'll probably use a little less flour next time, for a lighter batter. This recipe says it serves four, but I found two quail per person to be very filling.
Buttermilk-Herb Battered Quail
From Avec Eric
8 cups canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1½ teaspoons cracked black peppercorns
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt plus more for seasoning
8 semiboneless quail, split in half
Heat canola oil in a deep pot over medium heat to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, whisk the buttermilk, egg, cracked peppercorns and herbes de Provence in a large bowl to blend. Sift together the flour, baking soda and ½ teaspoon of salt into a medium bowl. Fold the flour mixture into the buttermilk mixture.
Season the quail halves with salt and pepper. Working two quail at a time, dip them into the batter and let the excess batter drip off, and carefully place the battered quail into the hot oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pot. Fry the quail until they are golden brown and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the fried quail on a tray lined with paper towels.
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