Spatchcock Roasted Cornish Hen

Spatchcocked Roasted Cornish Game Hen

I love making roast chicken.  But when cooking for one, a whole chicken is just too much sometimes.  Cornish game hens are the perfect size.  They take less time to cook, are elegant and have a great flavor.  Half the bird is the perfect serving size, I can save the other half for lunch the next day and I don't end up eating chicken for the next 3 days!  I also feel like a giant when I am eating my little chicken.
Even though cornish game hens cook faster, I still like the slow and low approach to keep the meat tender and skin crispy.  Spatchcocking the chicken reduces cooking time and promotes even cooking.  Dinner is ready in under an hour.
I like to vary the seasonings.  Sometimes it's with paprika, salt and pepper for a little (literally) paprikash chicken.  The paprika gives the skin a nice color and delicious drippings for the paprikash gravy.
My aunt gave me a box of Knorr Chicken Seasoning once.  It is sodium ladened, so I only had to use a few tablespoons from one package.
This time, I went for a simple thyme and sage rub with some fresh marjoram sprigs from my garden.

Spatchcocked Roasted Cornish Hen
1 cornish game hen
1/2 tbsp dried thyme
1/2 tbsp dried sage
5 sprigs fresh marjoram sprigs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp avocado oil

Preheat oven to 325 fahrenheit.  Using a pair of good kitchen shears, take the cornish game hen and cut alongside the backbone (from tail to neck).  In a small bowl, mix together the thyme, sage, salt and pepper.  Rub the avocado oil all over the hen (I used my beloved Misto).  Rub the herb mixture all over the hen.  Scatter the marjoram sprigs all over the bottom of a baking dish.  Place the seasoned hen, skin up, on top of the marjoram sprigs.  Wrap foil around the wingtips.  Roast for about 45 minutes or until the leg bone feels loose when you wiggle/tug on it.

Bone Marrow Endive Scoops and Roasted King Oyster Mushrooms

Bone Marrow Endive Scoops

This is a meal from a few months ago.  I picked up some nice looking Belgian endives from North Park Produce when I stopped to get fresh parsely for my decadent roasted bone marrow dinner.  They must not stock this often because the check out girl didn't know what they were.  She said that they looked different from the regulary endives that they usually sell.  Perhaps she was referring to curly endives?
I decided that this special item would make the perfect vessel for bone marrow.  The slight bitterness of these endives countered the rich bone marrow nicely.  At the last minute, I also opted for arugala that added a peppery bite.

Bone Marrow Endive Scoops
1 lbs beef bone marrow, roasted
1 Belgian endive
1 clove garlic, roasted
Arugala
1/2 lemon
1/4 cup cooked rice
salt & pepper to taste

Separate, wash and pat dry endive leaves.  Arrange the leaves on a platter.Slice the clove of roasted garlic. Layer a small portion of the following ingredients onto each leaf: rice, marrow, and a few small leaves of arugula. Squeeze lemon juice all over. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

I also roasted some king oyster mushrooms alongside the bone marrow for the last 5-8 minutes. The mushrooms soaked up the drippings and since they were so meaty, the outside carmelized beautifully without drying up.

Roasted King Oyster Mushrooms

Candied Bacon & Bailey's Ice Cream

Finally!  Success! Eureka!  I have figured out how to make Bailey's ice cream that will actually freeze into ice cream!  In my prior attempts, I have only managed to make Bailey's milkshake.  I was successful with my Malt & Nutella ice cream, which was non-alcoholic.  But since alcohol does not freeze well, I previous attempts at an alcoholic ice cream was thwarted by the laws of science.  Well, I don't give up that easily.  No matter how many batches of alcoholic milkshake I'd have to endure (which really isn't so bad).

See, my mistake was adding the alcohol component too early in the process. And now that I've figured out the secret, VICTORY IS MINE!

While I was at it, why not add some candied bacon as well?  The little piggy on my shot glass certainly approved.

Candied Bacon

thick cut bacon

raw cane sugar

 

Preheat oven to broil.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Trust me, this will make the clean up so much easier.  

Place a rack over a foil lined baking sheet.  Coat each slice of bacon with raw cane sugar on both sides.  Shake off excess.  

Place each slice of sugared bacon flat on the rack, not touching each other.  

Broil in oven for about 5 minutes or until bacon is crispy.  Watch carefully because the sugar could burn very easily.

While the bacon is broiling, line another baking sheet with foil that is slightly crumpled.  

Once the bacon is ready to be removed from the oven, transfer the slices of bacon over to the other foil lined baking sheet to cool.  If you leave them on the rack, they will get stuck and be hard to remove.  The crumpling in the foil will help drain away excess grease as well.

Bailey's Ice Cream Recipe

1 cup whole milk

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3 oz Bailey's Irish Cream

candied bacon for garnish

Combine milk, cream, sugar and vanilla in a large saucepan.  Slowly bring to a boil over low-med heat, stirring occasionally.  

Beat the 2 eggs in a metal bowl.  One ladle at a time, very slowly add the hot milk mixture to the beaten eggs while whisking furiously.  Yes, furiously.  You want the hot milk mixture to gently temper the eggs without cooking them.

Once all the hot milk mixture is incorporated into the egg custard mixture, pour the custard mixture back into the pot and slowly bring to a gently simmer.  Do not let this boil.  Stir frequently with a wooden spoon until custard is at 170ºF or coats the back of the spoon.  Take mixture off heat.  Stir occasionally, letting custard cool to room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.  The colder the mixture, the better.

Follow instructions of ice cream maker to turn the custard into ice cream!  Once the custard starts looking more like ice cream, slowly drizzle in the Bailey's.  Scoop the ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze for at least 1 hour.

Either tear up the candied bacon to sprinkle on top of the ice cream or garnish each serving with a half slice (maybe even a whole slice) of candied bacon.  If you have enough candied bacon leftover from the "taste tests", do both.

Makes 4 cups of ice cream.