Roasted Cornish Game Hen

With only two of us at Thanksgiving, cooking a turkey, or even just a turkey breast, seems like a waste of food. However, Cornish game hens are just the right size. We generally only eat half of the chicken, so splitting one between the two of us is just right.

Wine-brined Cornish Game Hen

2 Cornish Game Hens
375ml bottle of chardonnay
1/2 inch fresh ginger root peeled
5 cloves garlic
1/3 cup coarse kosher salt
~500 ml water

Peel both the ginger and garlic. Microplane both spices into a large non-reactive bowl or pan that is large enough to hold both game hens. I used a 5-quart stainless steel pan.

Add salt, wine, and 375 ml of water to pan. Heat while stirring until salt has dissolved and the scents of ginger and garlic begin to waft from the pan. Remove from heat and cool.

Wash game hens under running water, removing any giblets and excess fat on the flaps of skin at the body cavity. Once the brine is cooled, add the game hens. Add remaining water until game hens are covered. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). Remove game hens from brine and rinse. Pat dry. Place flat on roasting rack in roaster. Roast in oven until internal temperature of the game hen reaches 180°F (82°C) or until desired doneness. This will take approximately an hour to an hour and a half.

This was my first attempt to brine a bird. I declare it a success -- the meat was tender and juicy, slightly sweetened by the wine and enhanced by the ginger and garlic. I had expected a slightly heavier spicing, but this was nice as the spices highlighted the natural flavor of the meat instead of overpowering it.

Cornish Game Hen

One of our local grocery chains (local to the area) every two weeks or so has a themed "13 Hour Sale." Some weeks the theme is baking supplies; others it is wine and cheese; and yet others it is candy. A little while ago, the chain had a 13-Hour Meat Sale.

For the most part, I buy meats as we plan to eat them. Not as economical as it might be, but the meat is fresh, not frozen. I didn't buy much meat this year as the sales weren't as good as they've been in the past, but I did pick up a few Cornish game hens for two dollars each. They were already frozen, so I didn't have to worry about reducing their quality by freezing them.

Not long after the sale, the weather turned colder. When the weather gets cold, I turn on my oven. So I roasted a Cornish game hen for dinner.

As most of you know, roasting meat is basically a balancing game of trying to get the internal temperature to a certain point before the meat dries out. The easiest way to do this is to roast at a relatively high temperature. The standard 350°F (176°C) oven that most people leave their ovens set at just doesn't cut it. The meat gets dry, especially for birds, while the bottom gets greasy. Not terribly appetizing.

The solution is simple: turn that oven UP! Roasting at anything less than 425°F (218°C) is not going to give great results, whether you are cooking a hunk of beef, a turkey, or a meatloaf.

I like to cook my poultry at about 450°F (232°C). The skin of the bird gets nice and crispy and the interior cooks faster than the moisture can evaporate. Yum!

Anyway, back to my Cornish game hen:

Cornish Game Hen

1 Cornish game hen
1/4 large onion, chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped finely
1 teaspoon of one of the following fresh green herbs chopped finely: sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon (2 teaspoons of the dried version will work)
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C).

Melt the butter.

Clean the interior of the cavity of the bird, removing any giblet packets and any stringy material. Spread the salt along the interior of the cavity. Put the chopped onion, garlic and green herb. Place Cornish game hen on its back in a roasting pan.

Drizzle butter over the skin of the bird.

Roast until the internal temperature reaches 180°F (82°C). Let rest for 10 minutes, remove the stuffing (discard the stuffing), then serve.

Serves 2

I can go either way regarding buttering the skin of the bird. If the bird is particularly thin-skinned, then it really does help keep the breast meat moist (as does roasting the bird on its breast, but then it doesn't look nearly as pretty). I am more likely to butter the skin if I melt the butter, simmer some herbs in it, then strain before applying to the bird. If you do butter the skin, it is more important to get the roasting temperature up so the skin crisps nicely.

If you don't want an herb-y chicken, use zest from and orange or lemon, apple, peach, or nectarine.

The stuffing in the cavity of the bird perfumes the meat wonderfully and leaves no bitterness behind.

Stuffing

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought that talking about stuffings for poultry would be a nice idea. See, I'm not overly into bread stuffings. I like stuffing to help flavor my birds.

Last week, I stuffed a duck with rosemary and nectarine. The fruit helped keep the duck moist and perfumed the meat with rosemary.

I've also roasted chickens stuffed with onion, rosemary, sage, and tarragon. Other stuffings I've used are:

• Parsley and onion


• Leeks


• Onions, mushrooms, sage


• Whole sprigs of rosemary, sage, and thyme


• Apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg


• Apricots, and sage


• Grapes, currants, and rosemary

The keys to using this type of stuffing are to pack the cavity loosely and to not try to fill the cavity. Some air flow within the bird is desirable and helps with the perfuming of the meat. Fruits help the meat stay moist and the acids help cut the fat (especially for game birds like ducks and geese).

Make sure you take the temperature of the stuffing as well as the bird to ensure it is done. Rest the bird, then remove the stuffing; generally, you won't want to eat it.

This Thanksgiving, have fun with non-traditional stuffing. They can really add flavor to your bird without adding the calories (and carbs) of a traditional stuffing.