Chef McChris Makes Cornish Hens with Orange-Chipotle Glaze....more please!
So with only days to go to my organization's annual fundraising dinner my sweet husband decided to cook up a feast for us to enjoy...and for me to blog about. Now that it is exactly one week later and I've recovered from the big day (the event went better than we could have hoped, by the way) and behold, my brain is back!
I had purchased two cornish game hens awhile back and tucked them into the freezer for a 'rainy day blog project'...and unbeknownst to me Chris had taken them out of the freezer and defrosted them. He chose to work with a recipe from one of our "go-to" books - "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook"...this is sort of the Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking for me. And though I have the latter, I tend to refer to this book more often than not. Two outstanding recipes from this book are the french toast and the banana bread recipes. And then there's the oven fried chicken....and now this.
* There is no chihuahua, or any dog for that matter, in this recipe. No dogs were harmed in the making of this recipe. In fact, one very lucky dog may or may not have enjoyed a snippet of cooked hen in the process of this evening.
I had purchased two cornish game hens awhile back and tucked them into the freezer for a 'rainy day blog project'...and unbeknownst to me Chris had taken them out of the freezer and defrosted them. He chose to work with a recipe from one of our "go-to" books - "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook"...this is sort of the Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking for me. And though I have the latter, I tend to refer to this book more often than not. Two outstanding recipes from this book are the french toast and the banana bread recipes. And then there's the oven fried chicken....and now this.
Thank you, little hens, for living a pampered life to keep your muscles nice and tender...just for me. Thank you!
Before you cook any chicken or hen like this, I recommend you brine it. We didn't take photos but we did brine these little numbers. We soaked them in heavily salted water for about 30 minutes. A good "brine recipe" is taken straight from this cookbook. 2 quarts water, 1/2 cup salt (kosher if possible), 1/2 cup sugar for 1/2 to an hour. That works for a whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds...or in this case, two game hens).
For even more flavaaaah, rub a compound butter under the skin. In this case, Chris mixed up a bunch of softened butter with italian seasoning and garlic powder (maybe even some onion powder). I like to use fresh herbs when available. It really does make a difference.
If you drop some on the floor...there is a little "hoover" waiting to clean up in our kitchen.
All dressed up and ready for the dance....in my belly!
For kicks - a photo of the compound butter.
Recipe called for 1 cup of orange marmalade...turns out the average jar of orange marmalade is exactly one cup!! (Note to self: don't dirty measuring cup next time!)
We put the marmalade, 2 chipotle peppers (recipe called for 1) and 1 TBS water in a food processor and process the bajiminies out of it...then heat up on the stove to reduce.
Meanwhile...roasty roasty.
Add the pan drippings from the hens cooking (with 2 cups of chicken stock under them) into the orange chipotle mess....cook down a little more.
Hay chihuahua!!!*
We do eat greens once in awhile. A little romaine with goat cheese, craisins and italian dressing. Refreshing...but let's be honest, it pales in comparison to....
,,,this delightful little number.
Fenway gives an appropriate "High Five."
Didn't last long. Sooo good. This had a fabulous flavor with a nice heat behind it.
* There is no chihuahua, or any dog for that matter, in this recipe. No dogs were harmed in the making of this recipe. In fact, one very lucky dog may or may not have enjoyed a snippet of cooked hen in the process of this evening.
Comments