Shrimp and Quail Pie

This recipe appears in the Make it From Scratch carnival at the carnival's homepage. If you came from the carnival - welcome! I hope you will consider subscribing via RSS feed or e-mail.


(My very poor food stylings. Don't hold it against the pie - it was delicious!)

Generally I polish and practice a recipe before I publish it. In this case, several people have asked so, with some hesitation, I’m going to go ahead and publish this recipe for the shrimp and quail pie I made for Christmas dinner. I did it on the fly, with no recipe, which is the way I usually cook, so, if you are a precise cook, you may want to look elsewhere! If, on the other hand, you are easy with using a recipe for “inspiration”, give this one a whirl! It was absolutely delicious. Just don't dwell too long on how much butter is in it!

I make my own pastry but you can certainly use a store-bought one from the refrigerator section. If you make your own, do it in advance so it has time to chill for at least an hour before you have to roll it out. If you’d like my pastry recipe, leave me a comment or send me an e-mail and I’ll be happy to share it. I use Julia Child’s recipe and it is always perfect.

½ lb large (30-40 ct size) shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut in half
7 quail breasts, boned and diced
(You could easily substitute a full chicken breast, boned, diced and pre-cooked)
1 8oz package of white mushrooms, sliced
1 large, sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 Thai bird chili, or other small red dried chili like chili de arbol
Black peppercorns
Olive oil

For the beurre blanc –

1 -2 shallots, diced fine
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup white wine vinegar (you can substitute 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
1 tablespoon heavy cream (optional but it will make the sauce more stable)
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 cup chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Crush chili along with 8 or 9 black peppercorns. Heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan, add the chili and pepper and sauté for 30 seconds, add diced sweet onion and sauté until slightly translucent. (If you are using diced chicken, you could throw it in here to cook it. It might cook completely during the alloted baking time but I wouldn't want to risk it.) Add the garlic, sauté until fragrant; about 1 minute. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté until soft and their liquid is reabsorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Set out two individual oven proof bowls, I used two of those individual CorningWare French White large ramekins. They are about the size of a soup or cereal bowl. Put ½ the shrimp and quail in each dish, divide the mushroom and onion mixture between the two bowls.

Make the beurre blanc –

Put the shallots, wine and vinegar in a small saucepan over high heat and reduce until syrupy, you should end up with about 2 or 3 tablespoons. Add cream, when mixture bubbles, remove from heat. Start whisking in the butter, one cube at a time, add the next cube just before the prior cube is melted, keep whisking! If you must return it to the heat, make sure it is a low heat, if your sauce gets too hot, it will break. Once all the butter is melted, you will have a rich, creamy beurre blanc sauce. Add the chicken stock to thin it and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour the sauce into your two bowls containing the quail, shrimp, mushroom and onion mixture. Give each a stir to evenly distribute the contents.

Quickly roll out your pastry and cut to cover your bowls, with a 1” overhang. Cover each bowl with the pastry, pinch to seal around the sides and score the top to allow steam to escape.

Chances are these pies will bubble over so put them on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or foil or something to catch the drips. Pop them in your preheated 450° oven for 15 minutes. Do not overcook or the quail will become stringy. At this high heat your pastry should cook and brown in that amount of time. If it doesn’t, run it under the broiler for a minute or two just to brown it.

That’s it. I think it’s correct. It was delicious! If you just can’t stomach all that butter, you could use a well-flavored chicken stock for the liquid. It won’t be as creamy but you also won’t have to feel as guilty!

Bon appetit!