"NY DRESSED"

What a bizzare term. New York Dressed, a/k/a the even stranger "Confucian Slaughter," connotes a young squab, a/k/a pigeon, brought to an unmessy end with head and feet on and entrails in. With no missing parts or broken necks, their demise is rather magical, I suppose. I've shot at pigeon enough but never located them after the feathers cleared. Maybe I need to go to a two-inch shell or a .410.

For what it's worth, squab was big in the Roman world. Caelius Apicius' De Re Coquinaria has several notable recipes for Polteles, a/k/a fowl, many for squab, and almost all of them utilizing guarum, a vile substance best described as rotting fish guts. No thanks. It's said squab was served on the Titanic the night it went down. I'm not sure if the cook used guarum, or if he was even aware of Apicius' DRQ. Probably not.

I set about butchering my squab, removing head and feet and splitting open its cavity and pulling the guts out. The intestines squeaked and popped in my fingers and the heart, gizzard, and liver came stubbornly out with a thick gout of blood. The only bird you can roast guts in is the woodcock/snipe, since they defecate before you fly. I considered cleaning the intestinal track so I could use it but decided against it after a beer. Too much work for a 12" strand of guts. I chopped the viscera and reserved them. Chopped a handful of oyster and enoki mushrooms and rubbed the carcass with olive oil, salt and pepper. A few bacon slices over the breast and into a hot oven for 15 minutes.

Squab cooks quickly, so 15 to 18 minutes is all you need. Any longer and you've got an inedible bird. Remove the squab and let it rest. Reduce the pan drippings. Lea & Perrins, sherry vinegar to the pan. Add the mushrooms and the viscera, a little stout. Reduce. If they do not thicken, make a slurry with stout and flour and add a little of it at a time. Allow it to incorporate and check the thickness. This is not a rib-sticking gravy; it should be a little loose. Brown some sourdough toast. Section the squab breast. Toast to plate. Gravy over toast. Breast over gravy over toast. Another stout. Supper's ready.