Ideas for Cornish hens

[Dave the Cook]

We're teaching a private class in a couple of weeks. This is our third go-round with these folks. They're a lot of fun, and eager to learn (as long as it doesn't interfere too much with socializing).

 

For past classes, they've simply chosen lessons from our public classes, but this time they've asked for a custom menu comprising dishes taken from a few different classes. I mention this because we don't have much freedom to change things up, with one exception, which I'll get to in a minute. Here's the menu:

 

Crab Louis
Pan-roasted Scallops with Chive Oil and Scallop Jus
Filet Mignon with Sauce Béarnaise
Wild-rice Stuffed Tomato Gratinée
Brownie "Cheesecake" Sundaes with Raspberry Coulis
Bellini

 

So, sort of a surf-n-turf thing going on, and it's pretty much set in stone (though we talked them out of crab/shrimp mousse sliders as a first course). But here's the problem: one of their party doesn't eat fish, shellfish or any red meat. They offered to disinvite this guy, but honestly, he's the life of the party, and no one (us included) really wanted to do that.

 

So we're left with chicken, or he twiddles his thumbs and throws bread at everybody while they scarf down their entree(s). We could just roast a chicken thigh or breast, then sauce it with Bearnaise or chive oil, but it seemed to us that maybe we could do something more fun and educational with a whole game hen, either intact or spatchcocked. 

 

Here's the setup:

• We'll have two SV setups going, set at 136°F for the filets.
• We'll also have two deep fryers at ~400°F to put some crust on the filets.
• Lots of oven space, since the ovens are only needed to bake the brownies (at the start of class) and roast the tomatoes (requires two ovens, but we have four at our disposal)
• Open burner if we want to finish (or start) the bird in a pan

 

We want to give this guy a nice dish, without creating huge excursions in the teaching plan, and also without having everybody saying "Ooh, I want some of that, too!"

 

This seems like a problem for the eG crowd to help us solve. Any ideas?

[gfweb]

Ignoring the cost for purposes of discussion, you can do a lot here with duck breast or confit.  Good stuff to teach too. Maybe put the confit over risotto with a nice glaze on the duck.  Pan roasting the breast...or SV. 

 

 

[Lisa Shock]

You could do a demo about roasting chickens and moistness, a variation on something we did in class when I was in school. You're going to roast two birds, three if you want to make a plain one as a control. Butterfly both of them, mostly just to increase the top surface area. Sprinkle the undersides of both with salt & pepper. On one of them, sprinkle with a little salt & pepper, then lay raw bacon on the top surface. (weaving it may be a good idea) With the other one, lift the skin and season under it, then place raw bacon underneath as well -finish with a little salt. (you could add other spices, just make sure that one is spiced over the skin, the other, under the skin. Place in the oven together, take out at the same time, rest the same, then remove the bacon (temporarily) and have people taste slices of the white meat and see which is juicier and/or more flavorful. (the bacon underneath the skin doesn't become as crispy, but the white meat is definitely basted in the bacon fat and has a stronger smoky flavor) Serve your special diner all 4 dark quarters with the bacon that hasn't been nibbled at, and maybe a sauce.

 

Or, pan-roast and demonstrate making a gastrique.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Lisa Shock (log)

[HungryChris]

My vote goes for baked, stuffed RCGH's that have been marinated in Korean BBQ sauce and stuffed with a hot sausage stuffing.

HC

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I would make this recipe from my old Betty Crocker Cookbook. I made the rice and pineapple stuffing once, but it sucked. You definitely want to make the glaze with soy, ground ginger and sugar that's basted on at the end. I always double the recipe for the glaze, because it's that good. It's pretty easy too, but wow is it good! I use the MSG called for, cuz I'm not skeered.

 

P.S. About an hour at 350F is plenty to cook through a small chicken instead of the recommended time in the recipe. The glaze sounds stupid simple, but it is stupid good too.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Thanks for the Crepes
P.S. (log)

[lindag]

I picked up a couple game hens on a whim one day a month or so ago.  Decided yesterday to thaw one and have it for dinner.

I just removed the backbone, flattened and seasoned it.  Roasted approximately 40 min. in the CSO.  Ate half.

[Ann_T]

What about boning out and stuffing a game hen with a wild rice stuffing?

 

Recipe Link

[blue_dolphin]

I've never cooked a Cornish hen and I suspect many others are in that situation so it might be fun for your class.

I picked up one recently to make a recipe for Brick Hens with Charred Lemon from Smitten Kitchen Every Day.  Simple spatchcocked bird pan roasted under a weight.  The given cooking time is 15 min or less so very quick.  

My bird is thawing and will experience this treatment later today.

[Martin Fisher]

How about Jacques Pépin's Quick-Roasted Chicken method where he splits the bird and cuts into the joints—to ensure thorough cooking—before giving the bird a head start in a skillet over high heat.

Also detailed in the following video starting at about 5:18.......

 

 

[Dave the Cook]

19 hours ago, gfweb said:

Ignoring the cost for purposes of discussion, you can do a lot here with duck breast or confit.  Good stuff to teach too. Maybe put the confit over risotto with a nice glaze on the duck.  Pan roasting the breast...or SV. 

 

 

Yeah, money isn't really an issue, especially since whatever we do will sub for an ounce of lump crab, half of a beef filet steak, and three or four large scallops. We hadn't considered duck, but breast is an especially good idea (if it's not on our student's lengthy list of Things I Will Not Eat), since it can S-V at the same time/temp as the steaks. 

 

12 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

You could do a demo about roasting chickens and moistness, a variation on something we did in class when I was in school. You're going to roast two birds, three if you want to make a plain one as a control. Butterfly both of them, mostly just to increase the top surface area. Sprinkle the undersides of both with salt & pepper. On one of them, sprinkle with a little salt & pepper, then lay raw bacon on the top surface. (weaving it may be a good idea) With the other one, lift the skin and season under it, then place raw bacon underneath as well -finish with a little salt. (you could add other spices, just make sure that one is spiced over the skin, the other, under the skin. Place in the oven together, take out at the same time, rest the same, then remove the bacon (temporarily) and have people taste slices of the white meat and see which is juicier and/or more flavorful. (the bacon underneath the skin doesn't become as crispy, but the white meat is definitely basted in the bacon fat and has a stronger smoky flavor) Serve your special diner all 4 dark quarters with the bacon that hasn't been nibbled at, and maybe a sauce.

 

 

This is a really great idea, but I'm sure the dude is not gonna eat bacon. It's also pretty expensive in terms of time. We can probably add a small lesson to the agenda, but to do what you're suggesting would require us to rethink the entire schedule -- not something we can afford to do. Having said all that, we might steal this idea for a class TBD.

 

9 hours ago, HungryChris said:

My vote goes for baked, stuffed RCGH's that have been marinated in Korean BBQ sauce and stuffed with a hot sausage stuffing.

HC

 

Sounds delicious, but sausage is a no-no. The last time we taught this group, we jiggered our lasagna recipe (which includes sausage) to accommodate this requirement.

 

9 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I would make this recipe from my old Betty Crocker Cookbook. I made the rice and pineapple stuffing once, but it sucked. You definitely want to make the glaze with soy, ground ginger and sugar that's basted on at the end. I always double the recipe for the glaze, because it's that good. It's pretty easy too, but wow is it good! I use the MSG called for, cuz I'm not skeered.

 

P.S. About an hour at 350F is plenty to cook through a small chicken instead of the recommended time in the recipe. The glaze sounds stupid simple, but it is stupid good too.

 

 

This is a maybe. Nice that it would allow us to talk a bit about MSG, and why you shouldn't be skeered of it.

 

8 hours ago, lindag said:

I picked up a couple game hens on a whim one day a month or so ago.  Decided yesterday to thaw one and have it for dinner.

I just removed the backbone, flattened and seasoned it.  Roasted approximately 40 min. in the CSO.  Ate half.

 

Hmm. There is a steam oven at the venue, maybe even a CSO in the scullery.

 

7 hours ago, Ann_T said:

What about boning out and stuffing a game hen with a wild rice stuffing?

 

Recipe Link

 

I like this, but like @Lisa Shock's idea, it's probably not going to work with our timing. Getting the bones out of a baby chicken isn't all that time consuming, but we're already on a pretty tight schedule.

 

3 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

I've never cooked a Cornish hen and I suspect many others are in that situation so it might be fun for your class.

I picked up one recently to make a recipe for Brick Hens with Charred Lemon from Smitten Kitchen Every Day.  Simple spatchcocked bird pan roasted under a weight.  The given cooking time is 15 min or less so very quick.  

My bird is thawing and will experience this treatment later today.

 

I suspect you're right about people's experiences, and the weight thing is kind of fun, too.

 

1 hour ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

How about Jacques Pépin's Quick-Roasted Chicken method where he splits the bird and cuts into the joints—to ensure thorough cooking—before giving the bird a head start in a skillet over high heat.

Also detailed in the following video starting at about 5:18.......

 

 

 

Definite possibility, especially if the duck thing doesn't work out.

 

These are all great ideas -- thanks, and keep them coming! 

 

To be clear, we're not looking to replace their entire menu, or serve this poultry-based exception to everyone. We just want to give this one guy something good to eat, and if we can sneak in some education along with it, that's a bonus.

[Shelby]

@Norm Matthews made this Cornish Game Hens With Orange and Honey the other day and it's been on my list to make ever since.  It says to marinate over night, though.  Could you do that at home and then bring in the list of marinade items and just go over it?

 

I've made CGH's before...they are fun....each person gets their own mini chicken to eat

 

I will say that I do mine to an internal temp of 165F and then pull them.  IMO 180F is a bit high......

[heidih]

I played with Cornish hens alot as a young cook. Usually roasted and basted with butter and  fruity elements. But my favorite prep was steamed. Cavity stuffed with ginger, scallion, and rubbed inside & out with soy and sichuan peppercorn. The hen skin is nothing to write home about on a good day - think we peeled it off. Dipped the succulent meat in a tarted up plum sauce. Steaming fowl is an under-utiized method in the West I think.

Edited April 2, 2018 by heidih (log)

[Martin Fisher]

5 minutes ago, heidih said:

I played with Cornish hens alot as a young cook.

 

Yeah, I used to raise them. 

Prepared them in various ways.

Relatively expensive now. 

I buy a couple a year.

[Lisa Shock]

How about butterflying one and pan-frying with the KFC recipe breading? More discussion HERE. I've been doing it in clarified butter with good results. IMO, the pan can also go into the oven for much of the time.

[Norm Matthews]

@Shelby, You could made the marinade and baste it with a small amount as they bake, then thicken it into a sauce and pour some of it over the hens before serving and serve the rest on the side.

[blue_dolphin]

On 4/2/2018 at 10:44 AM, blue_dolphin said:

I've never cooked a Cornish hen and I suspect many others are in that situation so it might be fun for your class.

I picked up one recently to make a recipe for Brick Hens with Charred Lemon from Smitten Kitchen Every Day.  Simple spatchcocked bird pan roasted under a weight.  The given cooking time is 15 min or less so very quick.  

My bird is thawing and will experience this treatment later today.

 

Replying to myself to report that I tried the recipe I mentioned above and in my inexperienced hands, it resulted in a rather unevenly browned bird.  

Satisfactory, but it would have been easier and less messy to just put it into the CSO.   The charred lemon was a nice touch.