too much, not enough-never satisfied

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Cornish game hens
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 24 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Rub hens with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Lightly season hens with salt and pepper. Place 1 lemon wedge and 1 sprig rosemary in cavity of each hen. Arrange in a large, heavy roasting pan, and arrange garlic cloves around hens. Roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a mixing bowl, whisk together wine, chicken broth, and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil; pour over hens. Continue roasting about 25 minutes longer, or until hens are golden brown and juices run clear. Baste with pan juices every 10 minutes.
4. Transfer hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices into the roasting pan. Tent hens with aluminum foil to keep warm. Transfer pan juices and garlic cloves to a medium saucepan and boil until liquids reduce to a sauce consistency, about 6 minutes. Cut hens in half lengthwise and arrange on plates. Spoon sauce and garlic around hens. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, and serve.

 I made something with meat in it!

I made about half this recipe and kept the sauce about equal-didn’t do the reduction sauce, but it turned out pretty tasty.

I got a couple of Cornish game hens for free, and decided to make them for myself and one of my few friends that also eats meat. I don’t think I’ve ever had Cornish game hen-the absurdity of an entire bird that is supposed to be a single meal seems like a waste of resources and effort.

But these particular birds were frozen. One of the reasons I don’t cook with meat much is because the possibility of getting some weird kind of disease/infection from cross-contamination weighs heavily on my mind. For whatever reason, I’ve gotten my food handler’s permit nearly as many times as I’ve been background-checked, and it’s pretty unusual for me to get paid to do something that isn’t working with children. Regardless, the department of health has it’s own portal into my brain, and so I don’t cook with meat because it makes me nervous.

That being said, I come from a family who left all nature of shit out on the counterspace, most likely because my horde of brothers would descend upon the food in question and inhale it before any question of contamination was really necessary. But I have grown up into a slightly more nervous adult than I was raised to be.

 Anyhow, I made these little chickens, and they were probably a bit more frozen than desirable, though I thawed them for probably ten hours in the fridge (because that’s what you do!) but they were too frozen for me to stick a lemon in their craw. They might have gotten dry but I kept basting and dumping more wine on them.

 And they were-good? tastes like chicken? I’m convinced that if the chickens were more thawed they would’ve been crazy good, as opposed to, y’know, decent, tastes like chicken.

~ by fattuesday on March 6, 2008.