A California Flight of Fancy

There is a California touch about the grilled dishes created by young executive chef Joe Venezia of the Hotel Bel-Air. Consider his definitely out-of-the-ordinary grilled squab. The breasts of these tiny birds are brushed with honey, grilled until golden brown and served with splashes of color from corn-and-red-pepper relish over greens. It has the effect of a salad, the impact of an elegantly light meal--exactly the way Californians love to dine. PRODUCED BY ROBIN TUCKER / PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE CHESSER / STYLIST: JANET MILLER / TABLEWARE: BULLOCKS WILSHIRE JOE VENEZIA’S SQUAB WITH CORN-AND-RED-PEPPER RELISH 2 squab Honey Dash walnut oil 2 cups mixed baby-lettuce leaves Corn-and-Red-Pepper Relish 2 sage leaves

Remove bones from squab breasts; cut breasts in halves. Brush meat with honey. Grill over medium coals until meat is golden brown outside and pink inside. Sprinkle oil on baby-lettuce leaves and arrange greens on platter. Place grilled breast halves on greens and spoon Corn-and-Red-Pepper Relish between halves as pictured. Garnish with sage leaves. Makes 2 servings.

Corn-and-Red-Pepper Relish 1 small red pepper 1 medium ear of corn 4 sage leaves 2 strips bacon cup butter

Grill or broil red pepper until charred. Plunge into ice water. Remove skin with towel and dice pepper. Grill or broil corn cob until well browned. Remove kernels with knife. Chop sage leaves. Cook bacon until crisp and chop. Mix corn kernels, sage, red pepper and bacon. Melt butter in saucepan. Add red pepper mixture and stir to heat ingredients, 2 minutes. Makes about 1 cup.