Roasted Quail with Juniper Berry Glace Viande

Elegant and delicious!
     This is a wonderful quail recipe!  Juniper Berry Glace Viande is a perfect sauce for quail.
     Glace Viande:  (Meat Glaze)  A glace viande is made by slowly simmering a pot of oven roasted, caramelized meat bones, meat scraps and mirepoix vegetables for a few hours.  Strain the broth.  Skim off the fat.  Reduce the meat stock till it coats the back of a spoon.  You can make meat stock or glace viande ahead of time and freeze portions to be used later in recipes.
     Roasted Quail Recipe:  Tuck the wings of 2 quail and pin the legs to the breast using a bamboo skewer.
     Brush the quail with melted unsalted butter.
     Season the quail lightly with sea salt, black pepper and a sprinkle of Herbes Du Provence.
     Place the quail on a roasting rack that is placed on a roasting pan.
     Roast the quail slowly in a 325 degree oven.
     Roast the quail till they are a light golden brown color and fully cooked, yet still moist.
     Juniper Berry Glace Viande:  Boil 2 cups of water in a small sauce pot over medium high heat. 
     Add a handful dried juniper berries.
     Gently boil the juniper berries till they become tender.
     Remove and reserve a few of the soft tender whole juniper berries for later in the recipe.
     Mash the remaining juniper berries in the hot water. 
     Reduce the mashed juniper berry broth till only a few tablespoons are left in the sauce pot.
     Remove the reduced juniper berry broth from the heat and set it aside. 
     Place a second sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add 1 whole garlic clove.
     Add 1 coarsely chopped shallot.
     Saute till the garlic clove becomes golden colored.
     Add a splash of dry white wine.
     Add the mashed juniper berries and their boiling liquid.
     Add a few whole black peppercorns and a pinch of sea salt.
     Add a pinch of thyme.
     Reduce the sauce over medium high heat.
     Before the sauce reduces to a syrup consistency, add almost 1 cup of the glace viande.
     Reduce the temperature to medium heat.
     Simmer the sauce for a few minutes. 
     Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into another small sauce pot. 
     Set the sauce pot on medium heat. 
     Add the reserved whole juniper berries.
     Reduce the glace viande till the sauce coats the back of a spoon. 
     Remove the sauce from the heat.
     Whisk in 2 pats of unsalted butter to finish the Juniper Berry Glace Viande.
     Assembly:  Place the 2 roasted quail on a plate.
     Spoon the juniper berry glace viande over the quail and onto the plate.
     Serve with turned oven roasted bliss potatoes, buttered spaghetti squash, sauteed fluted petite portabella mushroom caps and sauteed pearl onions.  (Or vegetables of your choice!)
     This is a very nice way to cook and present quail.  The juniper berry flavor is infused into the rich glace viande and the flavor is very complimentary to the tender roasted quail.  Delicious!  ...   Shawna