Ingredients

4 oven-ready quail
4 sprigs thyme or lemon thyme
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Jazz apples
4 slices black pudding
1 glass white wine or dry sherry
2 tbsp crème fraiche

Preheat oven to 200C, 400F or gas mark 6 and put a roasting tin in to heat. Place a sprig of thyme in each quail, brush with half of lemon juice, rub with a little butter and season with salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan and fry each quail for 5 minutes, turning, to brown. Place quail in roasting tin with black pudding and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until juices run clear when pierced in thigh with a skewer. Remove from oven and cover tin loosely with foil. Leave to rest for 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, cut tops and bottoms from apples then slice horizontally through cores to make each apple into 2 thick slices. Remove cores. Dip slices in lemon juice and rub with a little butter. Pan fry until browned and soften a little. 

Cut legs and wings from each quail and remove breasts. Stack apple and black pudding slices onto hot plates and top with quail meat. Place roasting pan over heat, add wine or sherry and bubble quickly to reduce. Stir in crème fraiche. Spoon sauce around quail stacks.

(Serves 4)

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