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Squab in Casserole

A casserole of squabs baked with bread crumbs, eggs, stock, red pepper, mushrooms, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Chicken and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓

Squab in Casserole

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the squabs

  1. Prepare the squabs for broiling.

  2. Stuff each squab with bread crumbs moistened with butter and mixed with chopped hard-boiled eggs.

  3. Fry the squabs until browned.

Casserole and finish

  1. Place the squabs in a casserole and pour the stock over them.

  2. Sprinkle minced red pepper on top, cover, and cook slowly on the stove for 1 hour.

  3. Just before serving, add the drained mushrooms.

  4. Remove the squabs and keep them hot.

  5. Mix 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of flour and add to the casserole liquid.

  6. Garnish with parsley and bits of red jelly. Season to taste.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,172 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Squab + chickentop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Bread + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Squabs
Form the main body of the dish, cooked gently until tender in the stock.
Hard-boiled eggs
Add body and richness to the bread crumb stuffing.
Bread crumbs
Soak up butter and juices, giving the stuffing a moist, soft texture.
Chicken or veal stock
Provides the cooking liquid that gives the casserole its savory flavor.
Butter and flour
Flour mixed with butter thickens the casserole liquid into a light sauce.

The step that matters

Cooking slowly with the lid on. Gentle, covered simmering keeps the squab meat moist and tender; a hard boil toughens the protein and dries out the liquid, so keep the heat low and steady for the full hour.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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