Cornish Hen Stew

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Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's March 2010 Issue - 'Cornish Hen Stew w/ Lemongrass & Chiles'

2 Cornish hens
salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8-10 dried red chiles
2 shallots, smashed and peeled
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
2 lemongrass stalks, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
4 cups water
2 turnips, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 scallions, sliced
juice from 1 lime

You want to start by breaking down both of the hens. Remove the wing tips and backbone. Separate the legs into drumsticks and thighs. Then remove the rib bones from the breasts.

Season the hen pieces with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a dutch oven under medium high heat. Add the cornish hen pieces (I did 2 batches) and brown on both sides, about 4-6 minutes. Once browned, transfer the pieces to a plate.

Add the dried chiles, shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and tumeric to the pot and stir until fragrant. This will be a whole lot of aromatics that will just smell AWESOME!

Add in the water and turnips. Return the hen pieces to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to a simmer for about 15 minutes, until breasts are cooked through. Remove the breasts and cover with foil. Cook the remaining hen pieces for another 10 minutes.

Return the breasts pieces and stir in fish sauce, scallions, and lime juice. Adjust seasoning to taste and then ladle into soup bowls!

I served this with some basmati rice and mixed it into the stew and it was marvelous. You can decrease the amount of chili peppers if you want it less spicy, but I thought this was a great balance of spice. Enjoy!

Tropical Fruit Stuffed Cornish Hens

With an epic fail behind me, I was determined to execute a great dish for my final meal of the week. However, I had a predicament. I was planning on making cornish hens and I had to work until 9:30 on Thursday night. I didn't want to be up all night long just making this, considering I also had to be at work at 8am then following day. So, "lightbulb!" Andy can do it. I made sure to carefully set everything out that he would need and left the directions plain as day on the table. And plus, if it didn't turn out, I could blame it on him, hehe. Anyway, things went accordingly, and the only somewhat funny question he asked me was... "so we're using this rice to fill up this bird instead of stuffing right?" I know he just pictures a box of StoveTop or something when he thinks of stuffing but I had to explain to him that all of those ingredients combined WERE the actual stuffing. Lightbulbs went off in his head and he understood.

Ingredients:

2 Cornish Hens (about 1-1&1/2 lbs each)
Brandy
8 oz. bag of tropical dried fruit (or any dried fruit you like)
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz. Baby Bella mushrooms, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
3 cups jasmine rice, cooked
1/4 teaspoon Herb de Provence
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon peppercorns (can use any variety, I used black & pink)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Empty the tropical fruit mix into a medium bowl and cover with brandy, maybe about 1/2 cup or so. Let sit for about 45 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat your olive oil in a large skillet under medium high heat and add the onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute for about 10 minutes, or until onions are soft and translucent.

Add in the dried fruits and mix well. Take off heat and cool mixture to room temperature.

Mix in remaining stuffing ingredients and stuff the Cornish Hens. You can place your remaining stuffing in a baking dish and bake alongside the hens.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place hens on roasting rack, sprinkle skin with salt and pepper, and cover the exposed stuffing with aluminum foil. Roast for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until internal temperature is 180 F.

Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.


Let me tell you, this dish was a big sigh of relief. I was almost on the verge of diving off the deep end if it wasn't going to work. I mean, it was great. The stuffing was "interesting," but interesting in a good way. The flavors were complex and the hens were done perfectly. The skin was just amazing, and that's my favorite part! enjoy!

Cornish Hens w/ Plum & Leek Stuffing and Braised Parsnips

This was my first experience cooking with cornish hens. I've definitely pined to work with these babies for quite a while. So when I saw this recipe in Food & Wine's November 2009 issue, I knew I had to go for the gold. And gold is what it turned out to be! This was extremely an amazing experience for my mouth.


Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's November 2009 issue

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
6 oz. sliced pancetta, finely chopped
1 large leek, chopped (light green and white parts only)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chardonnay or dry white wine
1 15 oz. can of plums, drained, pitted, and chopped
2 cups day-old baguette, diced
1/2 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
4 cornish hens
6 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Cook pancetta until crispy, about 6 minutes. Add in leeks and garlic and cook until soft and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.


Add the wine and reduce by about 1/3, about 5 minutes. Add in plums, cover, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Stir it once or twice in between.

Then place mixture in large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Stir in the bread cubes, thyme, and 1/4 cup of parsley. Season with salt and pepper. This will yield way more stuffing than is required for the 4 birds. It was pretty tasty so you could even cook it in a separate pan alongside the birds if you wanted extra stuffing.


Fill the cavities of the hens with the stuffing. Tie the legs together with some kitchen string. Spread the parsnips in an even layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Use the remaining 1/4 cup of oil to coat the parsnips. Season with salt and pepper. Place hens, breast side up, on top of parsnips, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Then turn hens over, breast side down.

Pour chicken stock into baking sheet. Cover everything with foil and roast in oven for 45 minutes. Be careful, this is kinda heavy, and if you wanted to, you could even split it into 2 baking sheets, but I managed to put all 4 hens and everything in 1.

After the 45 minutes, remove foil, turn over hens (breast side up) and roast for another 30 minutes. The hens will be a nice golden brown to let you know they're done.


Let the hens rest on a work surface for 10 minutes.


Using a slotted spoon, scoop up the parsnips and place them in a platter. Garnish with remaining 1/4 cup of parsley.

Transfer the pan juices from the baking sheet into a small bowl. Skim off any excess fat and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer hens to a plate and serve with parsnips, stuffing, and pan juices. I also made an acorn squash puree that went well with the birds also (roast 2 halves of an acorn squash for 1 hour, scoop out filling, season with parmesan cheese, butter, salt and pepper, and puree with immersion blender, voila... acorn squash puree).

This was an exceptional meal. It was like pre-Thanksgiving. Definitely felt like I had some cooking chops after making this. Enjoy!