Serves: 4 - 12 oz portions
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 medium onion, peeled, quartered
- coarse salt, to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 8 quail, cleaned, patted dry (4 cornish hens can be substituted)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp anise seed, ground
- 12 organic roses, red or pink, petals only
- 2 prickly pears, (cactus fruit) peeled, chopped
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 cup walnuts
1. In a soup pot combine broth, 5 garlic cloves, and onion and bring to a boil. Season the quail liberally with salt and pepper. Add quail to boiling broth, bring back to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer quail 12-15 minutes, remove from broth to an oven proof casserole and cover. Reserve broth.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter and add remaining cloves of garlic, minced and salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sauté briefly over low heat and add anise, cooking a minute more.
3. In a blender, combine prickly pears, rose petals (reserving a few for the final garnish), and walnuts and add just enough reserved broth to cover, blend until smooth. Add blended mixture to saucepan with garlic and anise and cook 10 minutes gently stirring to mix thoroughly.
4. If sauce is very thick, add more reserved broth. Taste for seasoning and add honey, salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour hot sauce over warm quail in casserole and serve immediately with white rice and sprinkle a few rose petals on each plate.
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