Cornish Game Hens with Roasted Garlic Sauce

OMG! Don't ever make this again!

Well that's what the wife said when I made this chicken and sauce for the first time. I hung my head thinking that I had burned my fingers for nothing.  But then she clarified that the sauce was like crack. It is now called "Crack Sauce" around here.

So here's the deal.  This is a superior roasting technique for chicken but I apply it to the smaller game hens because it is cooler to serve everyone their own little bird.  Plus it reminds me of the "Tiny Chickens" skit from SNL.

The chicken trick is great on its own but the dipping sauce just takes it to the next level. You can cook these birds at 400F but the skin might not totally crisp up.  Try 425F if you want crispy skin.  Use 400F and convection if you can.


You'll need:

• 2 Cornish Game Hens (approx 1.5 lbs each)
• 1 lemon
• some fresh herbs (Rosemary and something else)
• 2 cloves of garlic (peeled and smashed)
• kosher salt
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 small shallot (chopped fine)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 dashes worcestershire

Preheat to 425F.  Set up a roasting pan with wire rack and spray the rack with cooking spray.  (My only dislike of this method is that the wire rack leaves indentations in the breast side.  Foil over the rack or one of those square hole racks might fix this.)

Prep: Cut the lemon in half.  Chop the shallot.  Lay out your herbs (I used rosemary and oregano this time but thyme is my usual).  Peel and smash the 2 cloves of garlic.  Take as much paper off the clove as you can and cut the top off.

Chicken: Thaw the game hens and remove any innards. Trim off as much of the neck as you can and I take off that tail flap. (Pope's Nose?)  Pat dry, salt the cavity and put your garlic clove, herbs and half a lemon in the cavity.  I use the lemon as a door across Jesus' tomb -- so to speak. 

Now salt all sides with kosher salt.  If your salt won't stick you could rub a tiny amount of olive oil on the skin.  You could also do some pepper and other herbs, but I don't.  I just use lots of salt.

Lay the garlic clove in a square of foil, drizzle in some olive oil and seal this up.  Put this package in a corner of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes.

Put the birds breast side down on the rack and bake for 30 minutes.  40 minutes if you are cooking full size birds.

Remove the garlic and let it cool.

Take out the birds and flip them over.  Re-salt a bit if you can't see any salt on the breast side.

Bake for 30 more minutes.  40 for the bigger boids. Since breast side is up at the end you could switch to broil for the last 10min.

Remove the birds and check that the breast got up to 160F to 165F.  Tilt them "legs up" (you may need to prop them somehow) and let them rest for 10 - 15 minutes.

Sweat the shallots in 1 Tbsp butter.

Squeeze the roasted garlic into the pan and smash with a fork if necessary.  It will burn your fingers if you aren't careful.

Add the thyme, Worcestershire and the cream and stir.

Simmer gently for 5 minutes and then add the 2 Tbsp of remaining butter.  Take off the heat. Season if needed.

If serving one bird per guest you are ready to plate.  I serve half a bird so I take my birds to a cutting board and cut 'em down the middle.

Serve with a ramekin of the garlic sauce and some potatoes or bread.  Some people use a knife and fork, but I just pick my meat off the bone, dip a corner in the sauce and enjoy!

Meat Loaf!

Why do people make this so hard?

Meatloaf is another classic comfort food.  Mine needs to be served with mashed potatoes and brown gravy.  I get my brown gravy from a packet but make the potatoes fresh.  I never put a ketchupy glaze on mine until I got married.  The wife's idea of comfort 'loaf had the glaze.  I tried it and don't mind it at all.  At least it is better than those heathens who put ketchup on their 'loaf. (Unless you are one of those heathens -- in which case rock on!)

Meat loaf starts with ground meat, adds a filler, a binder and some veggies.  The variations are endless.  I use Ritz crackers for the filler, egg for the binder and onions alone for the veggie.  Let us begin.


You'll need;

For the loaf...

• 1# Ground Sirloin
• 1# Ground Beef (I use 90/10)
• 1 smallish onion (chopped)
• 1 full sleeve of Ritz crackers (2 of their new small ones)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp garlic salt
• 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce

For the glaze...

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 4-5 dashes Tabasco (or Sriracha)
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar (or honey)

Preheat your oven to 400F.
 
In a large bowl use your hands to combine all of the meatloaf ingredients.  Really get in there and mix 'em up.  Try not to let the mess get too far up your arms. I find it helpful to precrush the Ritz as they are added to the bowl.

Wash up and prepare a loaf pan by spraying cooking spray into it.  You *can* form the loaf by hand, but I'm a fan of the pan method -- it looks less like a bloody Tribble at the end.

Pack the meat into the pan making sure that the meat gets deep into the corners.  You can use a butter knife or chopstick to let the air pockets out of the corners.

Spray a cookie sheet or other pan with cooking spray.  Use a butter knife to detach the meat from the sides of the loaf pan.

Place the sheet over the loaf pan, hold them together and invert.  Tap around the pan to help release the loaf.

Pull off the loaf pan and your formed loaf is ready to pop into the oven.

Bake for 10- 15 minutes to create a crust.

Maybe I took it out early....

While the crust is forming mix together the glaze ingredients to create the (wait for it...) glaze.

Reduce the temp to 350F.  Remove the loaf and brush/ spoon on the glaze.  Try not to let too much slough off the loaf and pool on the pan because you are just going to have to scrub it off later.

Insert a probe thermometer into the center of the loaf and return it to the cooler oven.

Cook until center is 155F -- with ground beef you really don't want a lesser number.  This will probably take 50 minutes or so.

Remove and rest for 10 min while you prep the mashed potatoes and brown gravy that you are going to serve it with.

Slice and serve!

Pizza/Marinara Sauce

Just half an onion makes this Marinara.

Well not *this*.  This is a pizza.  The sauce, dummy.

So the best part of the pizza experiment was the sauce that we put together.  We've been making it frequently just to dip things in it.  It is also butt-simple.  I think what makes it good it the mix of fresh and dried herbs.

I avoid too much basil in this sauce for two reasons.  One, my pomodoro sauce is basil rich and I want this sauce to taste different.  Two, traditional margherita pizza has plenty of basil on it.

To make this into marinara sauce you should start with the oil, anchovies and half a finely chopped onion.  After the onion has sweated out for 5-6 minutes add the garlic and continue as before. 

You'll need

• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 anchovies
• 2 cloves garlic (minced) or 2 inches from the squeeze tube
• 1 rounded Tbsp fresh oregano leaves (no stems) chopped fine
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (or 1/4 tsp each dried basil and thyme)
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 can (28oz) San Marzano tomatoes

Crush the tomatoes with your hand in a bowl if they weren't already crushed.  If you don't do this now, you will spend 10 long minutes smashing them with a fork while this is cooking like I did.

Pick the oregano leaves off the stems and make a pile that would basically fill your cupped palm.  Chop this down to a big Tbsp worth of oregano.

Put the olive oil in a skillet on med-low heat and add the garlic and anchovies.

Smash the anchovies with a fork.  Watch out, it might spit a bit if the oil gets too hot. Avoid browning the garlic.  We just want to flavor the oil.

Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, and the rest of the spices.

Stir together while it comes to a boil.  Add the sugar once it is hot.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally to help incorporate the oil into the sauce.  Smash any tomato chunks while you stir.

Taste for salt and pepper, then allow to cool a bit before use. My use was a margherita pizza on wheat crust.