10.04.2010

tonight's dinner - cornish hen and scalloped potatoes


my friend rebecca has never made cornish hen so i promised to try out a recipe for her to make later in the week and this is what i came up with.

the basis for this recipe is found here but as is usual for me i messed around with it a bit. and i did this with 2 hens, but you could do more, just up the amount of the other ingredients as needed.

balsamic/maple glazed cornish game hens

2 cornish game hens, thawed and cut in half

Marinade:
1/2 cup good aged balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup real maple syrup (no corn syrup kind!)
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and smooshed with a knife
1-2 large shallots, diced
salt/pepper to taste


Cut the hens in half and place in a roomy ziplock bag along with the other ingredients. Zip this closed and let it marinate overnight.

(i did not have time to do this today so instead i vacuum sealed everything which knocked the marinading time down to a few hours)

Preheat oven to 350F. An hour before serving, dump the entire bag, marinade and all, out into a small roasting pan or casserole dish. Arrange the halves so that the wings are facing up. Roast uncovered for 1 hour. Set the roasted hens on a serving platter. Strain the juices and return them to the pan. Simmer until reduced almost by half (if you want to add some more maple syrup at this point you will not hear me complaining). Tilt the pan so you can remove most of the grease which is clear and easy to remove with a large spoon. Cook until just thickened and has the appearance of a glaze. Pour the glaze over the hens and serve with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper and a bit of seasoning salt. Serves 2.


and i paired this with some scalloped potatoes which used blue potatoes, celeriac and about 6 ounces of goat cheese. scalloped potatoes are basically thin sliced potatoes arranged in a casserole dish in layers with butter between layers and enough cream to come up to the top. bake at 350degF for an hour covered, then uncover an turn the oven up to 400degF for about 10 minutes or until browned.

the added goat cheese and celeriac layered with the potatoes makes them a bit less ordinary.

2 comments:

linwood avenue said...

is your hen missing a leg?

todd said...

no its been cut in half