Craig Cyr's Moroccan spice-rubbed quail with sweet-onion pistachio spoon pudding, pages 72-73

Those quail that Fred and his dad hunted a month or two ago, we finally got up the nerve to cook them. I've been looking forward to this set up recipes for some time now. Just as some recipes sound on the dark grey side of iffy, so to others sound like they are going to be right up my alley. This is a set of recipes, actually. The quail are coated with cilantro, olive oil and garlic, then rubbed in a mixture of Mococcan spices: cinnamon, cumin, coriander, clove, ginter, paprika, etc. They are butterflied out and grilled flat.

pistachio spoon pudding

As an accompaniment to the quail was another recipe: sweet-onion pistachio spoon pudding. This dish was totally unlike anything I've made before: toast and then grind pistachios, mix with sauted onion and carrots, mix with cream, eggs, cumin and golden raisins and bake. Hard to wrap your head around that one, eh?

We served these two dishes when my folks were up for a visit. Each person got one quail. These, remember, were pen raised quail and quite a bit meatier than the trully wild kind. So, one was enough (Well for everyone but Henry. That boy can put down the food.)

The pistachio spoon pudding was really interesting. It was wonderfully flavored with the cup of ground pistachios. Really I guess it was kind of like a savory custard with lots else in it. All I know is the platter was licked clean on that dish. No need to worry about left overs! The only thing I'd try differently the next time I made these recipes it to add the cilantro to the quail at the end of grilling. I used a whole bunch of cilantro on the quail, but to me it looses all its flavor if cilantro is cooked.

I was happy to offer my parents such a treat of a meal. After all, where else could they have gone for Moroccan spiced quail with pistachio-onion pudding? I don't think that's the #4 meal deal at McDs.