The 'Frontier Red' meal is not intended for the faint at heart. Notice the whole cornish game hen served straight to the dinner plate. Much like the original Frontiers men of the old west, eat it straight from the bone.
Recipe below is intended for 2 persons. Carnivores can handle one cornish game hen alone. If you are not a regular meat eater, then split the game hen with another friend.
Meat:2 Whole Cornish Game Hens
Cornish Game Hens are generally found in the frozen meat section of your local grocery store.
If you can get it organic or not frozen, then get after it.
Best way to defrost is to soak the hen in the packaging in a large bowl of hot water, atleast 2 hours before roasting to allow ample time for hen to completely defrost.
Keep adding warm water periodically while flushing out the cold water until the hen is defrosted.
Rinse hen in water inside and out, pat down with a paper towel.
Cut yourself a generous length of cooking twine
Preheat oven to 425 deg. F with roasting pan in the oven to pre-heat. Leave tray out of the pan for now.
Seasonings:
Fresh basil, handful
Fresh thyme, handful
Fresh marjoram, handful
Fresh Rosemary, 2-4 large sprigs or sticks
Lemon, cut in half
Sea salt, grinded
Pepper, grinded
Garlic, 2 cloves atleast, crushed
Olive Oil
Hen Preparation:
Cooking Twine
Tootpicks
With a very sharp knife, slice thru skin and breast to leave little scars. Slice thru skin between breast area and legs to loosen the legs from the main body. This is where the rosemary sprigs will be stuffed. One scar in each of the legs may help as well.
Chop all the fresh herbs together and set aside in a bowl.
Drizzle and rub the inside of the hen with olive oil, crushed garlic and sea salt.
Stuff the inside of the hen with fresh herbs, pack it in. Not too tight, but enough to fill the entire cavity with herbs while leaving room for the half lemon. Add half lemon. Close the cavity with loose skin and secure with a toothpick. Stuff 1-2 rosemary sprigs between leg and breast area.
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture to demonstrate how to properly tie the hen, so I will do my best to explain. With breast side up, tuck twine underneath headed area of bird on the wing side of the hen. Cross twine over the breasted area. While squeezing the hen and twine together with the twine overlapping the legs, flip hen over and tie know. Legs shall be tight against the hen with rosemary securely clamped between the leg and breast. Tie knot tie so its secure.
Drizzle olive oil over the hen. Liberally, sprinkle sea salt and over all areas. Stuff chopped rosemary into the scars. Sprinkle ground pepper as desired. There really is no such thing as too much salt as the salt with form a crusted layer and preserve the flavorful juices. After a couple times cooking this roast, you will naturally figure out how much salt and pepper to add to suite your specific pallet.
Remove roasting pan, dont forget its hot. Drizzle bottom of pan with olive oil. Place hen, breast side down in the olive oil. Slide the hen around to make meat does not stick to hot pan. Place in oven for 10 minutes to sear the top side. Remove from, place hen on plate, and add roasting tray to pan. Place hen back on the roasting tray and continue to cook. Two hens should cook for 45-50 minutes. Or just check to your recommended cooking temperatures for poultry. After properly cooked, remove from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Cut twine, remove lemon and herbs from the cavity, and serve the hen straight to the plate.
Potatoes
Boil 4 Red Potatoes in salted water with one sprig of Rosemary
Bake 1 Garlic Head in Olive Oil
Mash it all together with
1 Tablespoon of Butter
1 Tablespoon of Sour Cream
2 Tablespoons of Whole Milk
Cabbage
1/4 head of shredded Red Cabbage
2 T Red Wine Vinegar
1.5 T Olive Oil
Sea Salt grounded in a mortar and pestle
Ground Pepper
Wine
Frontier Red "Anniversary Edition"
Fess Parker Winery
Los Olivos
