Hyacinth and Stuffed Roasted Quail

I once read a story where one of the characters was called Hyacinth. My dictionary told me it was a bulbous flower.

Exactly one week ago, I was walking in Hamra with Hala and passed by the flower shops. In that small stretch of road, there's at least half a dozen flower shops, all named Ta'oush. Now that spring is upon us, their shelves, and half the sidewalk too, were bursting with the many different kinds of seasonal flowers. Multicolored Petunias, Geraniums, and Cyclamens. And while the florists boast rather large and ostentatious Cyclamen flowers, my quite possibly most favorite flower remains the wild Cyclamen that grows everywhere in AUB during spring. With it's bowed upside down head, white petals tinted with a redish purple at the center, it has a subtle sweet scent that permeates the air around sunset.

I wanted to get some flower pots, as mine will likely take many weeks, if not months, before they start to flower. In the end I chose a pretty looking flower growing out of a bulb in a pot. I wasn't sure how long it would last, so I chose one which still had its flower buds closed. One day later, it goes into a full-on gorgeous bloom. What's interesting is that it sometimes it appears purple, and sometimes when the sunlight hits it, it looks blue. Since I forgot to ask the florist for its name, I looked through dozens of pictures of bulbous flowers till I found its name. Hyacinth.




From flowers to food.
From Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I made stuffed roasted Quail. It was so good that 24 hours after the meal, Dad, sitting watching tv, looks at me and sighs, "That was a really great dish last night!" Then he proceeded to tell me how he was planning on altering our traditional stuffed chicken recipe and using ideas and flavors from this one.

Need I say how often Dad has exclaimed on the quality of food a day after the fact before? Exactly.

First you cook up the stuffing made up from sautéed mushrooms, green onions, minced liver, couple of tbsp bread crumbs, cream cheese, lots of butter, a little reduced cranberry sauce and seasonings. The recipe called for reduced red wine, but since I had some cranberry juice in the fridge, I decided to get creative. It was a good call. I was initially wary of using liver at all, and thought for sure it'll ruin the taste. But I decided to trust a world renowned chef, and follow the recipe to the letter as much as possible. Boy am I glad I did.
Then you season, butter, stuff, and truss the quails. Brown them in butter and olive oil in a casserole on all sides. Remove and sauté some carrots and onions in fresh butter. Place the quail on top of the vegetables, cover, and bake in a 350F (180C) preheated oven until done, basting once or twice with the juices in the pan. Once it's done, remove the quail and vegetables to a serving dish, and use the juices to make a sauce.

The stuffing was amazing!!!