I am a typical American… I have failed to commit to my New Year’s resolutions! One of which is to blog more. Here I am one month in to 2015 with only one blog post. Fail! Truth be told, blogging ain’t cheap… especially when you are cooking for a small crowd. Often times I have to buy obscure ingredients which would be more cost effecient if I cooked for larger quantities. So on that note, I have floated the idea of starting a Sunday Night Supper Club. With the football season ending, the spring approaching with its’ bountiful produce, and the lack of Sunday evening plans most people have, I think it is the perfect time to get this going. So please reach out if you are interested in getting this going, or have friends that may have an interest. For those that do not live in the DMV area, I’ll come cook anywhere… as long as my transportation is paid for :). To business now. Since my passion for food has grown, I have naturally been drawn towards books, articles, shows, etc. that include some aspect of food. My favorite show without a doubt is The Mind of a Chef on PBS. In the second season the show follows Chef Sean Brock, Chef of McGrady’s in Charleston and Husk in Nashville and Charleston, as he attempts to highlight the beauty of simple heirloom ingredients of the South. I was in awe by his love and passion for food, and the beauty he derived from something as simple as rice and beans. By the end of my Netflix binge of the show, I had his cook book Heritage on my lap so I could follow along as he described things on the television. 
After salivating through all of the recipes in his book, I decided to combine two recipes and create my own dish… a dry aged squab prepared in the sous vide with duck confit squab legs, herbed farro and an wild licorice almond sauce.
Ingredients
2 squab (1 per person) 6 wild licorice root 4 inch pieces 2 cups of almonds 2 cups whole milk 1 cup of duck fat 1 cup faro 2-3 cups chicken stock 1 onion 2 bushels of flat leaf parsley 1/2 handful of dill 1 lemon 1 garlic bulb 1 package of thyme
Preparation
3-4 days in advance of serving
1) Squab is a gamey bird that tastes much better after some dry aging. Crown the squabs (remove the legs and wings), and place on a cooling rack over a baking sheet that is covered in a generous amount of salt, and place in your fridge. The salt in the baking sheet will prevent the bird from stinking the place up, and cooling rack will prevent the bird from touching the salt and allow for air circulation around the entire bird.
1 day in advance of serving
2) Confit the squab legs in duck fat (or any kind of fat, I just happened to have duck). Make sure the legs are completely submerged in an oven safe container with herbs (thyme and whatever else is lying around) and a few cloves of garlic. Cook at 250 degrees for 2.5-3 hours. Remove and place in fridge with duck fat. Save duck fat for later use (see step 5).
3) Bring milk, almonds and licorice to an aggressive simmer, and bring back to room temperature. Place in refrigerator overnight to soak.
Day of serving
4) Bring salted water to a boil. Add parsley and dill with stems removed to boiling water for 45 seconds. Remove and place in ice bath. Puree herbs with lemon juice and add water until the puree is smooth. Remove from blender and strain through a fine medal strainer. Save puree/liquid to add to cooked faro.
5) Remove licorice root from milk, and puree for 3 minutes in blender. Once smooth, strain through fine medal strainer removing as much solid as possible.
6) Sautee 1 cup of onion and 1 large clove of garlic in canola oil. Add faro and toast lightly. Gradually ladle a quarter cup of chicken stock (I recommend bringing chicken stock to boil in a separate pot) into faro at a time. Stir constantly and continue to ladle in chicken stock as the pan gets dry. Cook until faro is tender and creamy. Add 2-3 tbsp of duck fat to bring more richness, add herb puree, and season with salt and pepper.
7) Cut the breasts from the dry aged squab and season with salt. Place individual breasts into vacuum bag with a small portion of butter and a few thyme leaves. Submerge in 57 degree sous vide for 35 minutes.
8) Place fat (canola oil, duck fat, lard, etc) into cast iron and bring to high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, place in confit legs. After three minutes, add squab breasts skins side down. Once all are golden and crispy remove.
9) Plate and enjoy. Throw some micro greens on if you have them… I had sunflower shoots.
seizethesupper 