Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time 2 hours (leg confit may be cooked in advance. Allow 10 minutes for finishing)
 

1. Bone the quails, taking care not to separate the two halves of the breast. For the leg, keep in only the drumstick bone.
2. Cook the legs in duck fat over low heat for 2 hours.
3. Form the boned breast into a “ballotine”: in the center place some prunes that have been plumped in Port; season with salt and pepper and close up into a little bundle.
4. Wrap the ballotines in plastic wrap. Cook for about 8 minutes in a steam cooker or using a steamer basket. Cool and refrigerate.
5. Cook the quail eggs for 5 minutes in boiling water to which a spoonful of white vinegar has been added. Refresh in cold water and shell.
6. With a melon baller, cut out 7-8 cantaloupe balls per person.
7. Scrape out the remaining flesh of the cantaloupe and liquefy it in a blender with the honey and vinegar. Slowly blend in the olive oil to create an emulsion.
8. Slice the ballotine; just before serving, warm up the legs and halve the eggs.
9. Arrange the ballotine slices, leg and egg on a plate with a little mesclun and cantaloupe balls. Pour a ribbon of the emulsion around the perimeter.