Recipes: Stuffed Cornish Hens and Roast Vegetables

[Guest guest]

There are simple recipes and then there is this fabulous one I adapted as seen

on a

Canadian TV cooking show. I subsituted for fennel, parsnips, balsamic vinegar

and turnip

but the flavor doesn't suffer.

Stuffed Roasted Rock Cornish Hen with Plum, Apricot and Cranberry Relish

Adapted for SCD from " Who's Coming to Dinner " From The Episode: Cornish Hen 

Date Posted: 1/29/2005

This first-class dish is a symphony of flavours and textures that crescendo

beautifully for

that special occasion.  Please don't let the long list of ingredients and steps

daunt you, it's

really quite straightforward and you will be proud of your accomplishment and

thrilled

with the compliments.

serves 4

4 cornish hens

1-2 tbsp oil (to rub on poultry skin)

1 cup grated cauliflower (do in food processor)

2-3 cups vegetable stock, heated

1 tsp dried basil

1/ 2 tsp dried oregano (combine with dried basil)

2 cups mixed vegetable*

1 tbsp olive oil

1/ 2 tbsp butter

4 tbsp red wine vinegar with a little honey added

1,5 cups butternut squash peeled and chopped

1/ 4 cup Oka cheese, cubed

1 pear

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 whole carrots, peeled

4 beets peeled and cubed

sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper

4 oz walnuts

1/ 2 cup spinach, washed, dried and shredded or cut into ribbons

 

*mixed vegetables

red onion, sliced thinly

zucchini, cut into quarters lengthwise and diced

green, red and yellow peppers, cored, cut into 1/4 inch strips and chopped

mushrooms cut into quarters

beets cut into cubes

eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch slices and diced

1 / 2 cup asparagus, cut into 1 & 1/ 2 inch pieces

Method

Pre-heat oven to 375 f.  heat a sauce pan to medium, put in oil & butter, pour

in

cauliflower and coat it by stirring gently; let sit 2-3 minutes.  Using a soup

ladle, add one

ladle of hot stock at a time, waiting for that liquid to be absorbed, stir then

add another

ladle and continue until all stock is absorbed.

Rub each cornish hen, with olive oil and dried herb mixture.  place cornish hens

on a rack

in a roasting pan, lay whole carrots in the bottom of the pan where they will

catch the

drips from the hens and roast in oven for 40 minutes.  check the cooking rice

and keep

adding stock by the ladleful as it continues to cook.  Remove cornish hens and

whole

carrots and parsnips after 40 minutes; cool hens and set roasted vegetables

aside. don't

be alarmed if by chance you see any pink in the hens, they will be cooking again

after they

are stuffed.  keep oven on.

while cornish hens are cooling, make the plum, apricot and cranberry relish.

(recipe below)

 

Debone cornish hens by turning hen breast side down.  run your finger along the

backbone under the skin down to the neck and pull out the backbone. now open the

hen

and press down on the breastbone to split, lift out the breastbone and ribs. the

leg and

wing bones will stay in. discard carcass or save for stock.  Repeat until all

hens are

deboned. voila!  you have successfully deboned the cornish hens, and are ready

to stuff

them.

 

Heat a skillet to medium-high, add 1 tbsp oil, 1/ 2 tbsp butter, garlic, beets,

butternut

squash, and vegetable mixture and sauté until onion becomes transparent.  Check

cauliflower and remove from heat if cooked. chop pear and add to vegetable

mixture. 

Pour sweetened vinegar over vegetables.

Add vegetable mixture to the cooked cauliflower and stir.  sprinkle in walnuts

and add Oka

cheese, salt & pepper.  stuff the cornish hens, fold them back up and lay them

back in the

roasting pan, stuffing side down and roast for 20 minutes along with the whole

vegetables.  allow hens to set for at least 10 minutes out of the oven before

slicing.

garnish with the fresh ribbons of spinach and serve with the plum, apricot and

cranberry

relish. Place relish (cold) under or on top of the hens.

 

Plum, apricot and cranberry relish

1/2 cup plums

1/ 2 cup dried apricots

1 (375 ml) homemade cranberry relish

 

method

dice the plums and dried apricots and add to a jar of cranberry relish; set

aside.

Carol F.

SCD 7 years, celiac