The quail and the beer

I’ve used Birra Moretti Grand Cru for this dish because it has a complexity that is finely matched by the quail. I cooked the legs in beer and then I used it also in the sauce, to tie the other ingredients together, that is to say courgettes, cardamom and prawns. Birra Moretti Grand Cru is also the perfect beer-food match because it is structured and at the same time it is delicate, thus cleaning the palate and leaving a final freshness.

Quail, Birra Moretti Grand Cru, red prawns and courgettes with cardamom

Recipe for 4 people

INGREDIENTS
4 medium sized quails
8 fresh red prawns
500 ml Birra Moretti Grand Cru
10 g cardamom
400 g courgettes
200 ml extra virgin olive oil
unrefined sea salt
long pepper
8 blue edible flowers
30 g soy sauce
orange zest
30 g celery
2 scallions
1 carrot

METHOD
Debone the quail, marinate it in soy sauce and orange zest. Toast the carcasses in the oven and then boil them in cold water with celery, carrot and scallion. Remove the foam and then reduce for about 4 hours and strain.
Clean the courgettes, slice 200g very thin and then blanch them in boiling water for a minute then marinate them in oil, salt and cardamom. Cut the green part of the remaining courgettes, blanch them and blend them with oil, salt and cardamom in order to obtain a liquid cream. Clean the red prawns leaving the tails on and season them with salt and oil.

Brown the quail legs, add 200g of Birra Moretti and cook slowly together with the previously prepared gravy. Brown the breasts only on the skin side and season with unrefined sea salt and some grated long pepper. Place the courgette cream on the base of the plate, put the rolled vegetables on top, and then the breast and legs, finish with the marinated red prawns, the beer sauce, some oil and the edible flowers.