Deviled Game Hens Recipes

DEVILED BREADED CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler to high. If the oven has a separate temperature control, set the oven heat to 450 degrees.
• Place the split hens on a flat surface and pound lightly with a flat mallet. Sprinkle the hens on all sides with salt and pepper to taste and the oil.
• Combine the mustard and wine in a small bowl and set aside.
• Arrange the halves neatly in one layer, skin side down, on a baking sheet and place under the broiler about three inches from the source of heat. Broil about eight or nine minutes and turn the halves.
• Return to the broiler and broil about three minutes. Remove the halves and brush the skin side with the mustard and wine mixture. Turn the halves and brush the second side with the mustard mixture. Brush with the pan drippings and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
• If the oven and broiler have dual heat controls, turn off the broiler and set the oven heat to 450 degrees. Put the hens in the oven and bake 15 minutes. Serve with sauce diable.

CORNISH GAME HENS WITH GARLIC AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Rub hens with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Lightly season hens with salt and pepper. Place 1 lemon wedge and 1 sprig rosemary in cavity of each hen. Arrange in a large, heavy roasting pan, and arrange garlic cloves around hens. Roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a mixing bowl, whisk together wine, chicken broth, and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil; pour over hens. Continue roasting about 25 minutes longer, or until hens are golden brown and juices run clear. Baste with pan juices every 10 minutes.
• Transfer hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices into the roasting pan. Tent hens with aluminum foil to keep warm. Transfer pan juices and garlic cloves to a medium saucepan and boil until liquids reduce to a sauce consistency, about 6 minutes. Cut hens in half lengthwise and arrange on plates. Spoon sauce and garlic around hens. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, and serve.

DEVILED CORNISH HENS WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat broiler to high.
• Place hens on a flat surface and pound them with a meat pounder or mallet. Sprinkle the hens on all sides with salt, pepper, rosemary and oil.
• Combine mustard, cumin, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and white wine in a small bowl and set aside.
• Arrange hen halves neatly in one layer, skin side down, on a baking dish and place them under the broiler about 3 inches from source of heat. Broil about 8 to 9 minutes; turn halves and broil about 3 minutes more.
• Turn off broiler and set oven heat to 450 degrees.
• Brush mustard mixture on both sides of the hens. Brush with pan drippings and sprinkle both sides with bread crumbs. Put hens in oven skin side up and bake 15 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and pour butter over the hens.

BROILED BUTTERFLIED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler to high. Brush the chicken all over with butter and oil and arrange it skin side down in a shallow pan. Set it under the broiler so the chicken surface is about 6 inches from the heat source. Let broil for about 5 minutes, then baste rapidly with the butter and oil, and continue for another 5 minutes. The surface should be browning nicely; if not, adjust the heat or the distance of chicken from broiler. Baste again, this time with the juices accumulated in the pan, and broil another 5 minutes. Then season with salt and pepper, turn the chicken skin side up, and season the surface. Continue broiling and basting with the pan juices every 5 minutes for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is done (see page 44).
• Remove the chicken to a carving board and let it rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make the deglazing sauce by first spooning cooking fat off the juices in the pan. Then stir the shallot into the pan and simmer for a minute or so on top of the stove, until the juices are syrupy. Swirl in the enrichment butter, pour over the chicken, and serve.
• BROIL/ROASTED BUTTERFLIED ROASTING CHICKEN-AND TURKEY. Broil/roasting a big 6-to-7-pound butterflied roaster or capon or a 12-pound turkey takes, again, half the time you'd need if you roasted it whole. Use exactly the same system as for the preceding broiled chicken except that, when you have browned the underside, and given the skin side the beginning of a brown, you then switch from broiling to roasting. Just finish the cooking in the oven-I like to roast mine at 350°F. A 6-to-7-pound bird takes 1 to 1 1/4 hours; a 12-pound turkey, about 2 hours. See the broil/roast times box for more details.
• DEVILED GAME HENS OR POUSSINS. For 2 birds, serving 4 people. Butterfly the birds and broil as in the master recipe, but give them only 10 minutes per side. Meanwhile, whisk together, to make a mayonnaise-like sauce, 1/3 cup Dijon mustard, a large minced shallot, pinches of dried tarragon or rosemary, drops of Tabasco sauce, and 3 tablespoons of the pan juices. Paint this over the skin sides of the birds, then pat on a layer of fresh white bread crumbs. Baste with the remaining juices. Finish cooking under the broiler.
• With heavy shears or a cleaver, cut down close to the backbone on each side, and remove the bone. Spread the chicken open, skin side up, and pound on the breast with your fist to flatten the chicken. Cut off and discard the little nubbins at the wing elbows, and fold the wings akimbo. To hold the legs in place, make 1/2-inch slits in the skin on each side of the lower breast and tuck the drumstick ends through the slits.
• Always allow an additional 20 to 30 minutes, just to be safe.
• Butterflied Roasting Chickens
• 4 to 5 pounds / 45 minutes to 1 hour
• 5 to 6 pounds / 1 to 1 1/4 hours
• Butterflied Turkeys
• 8 to 12 pounds / 1 1/2 to 2 hours
• 12 to 16 pounds / 2 to 2 1/2 hours
• 16 to 20 pounds / 2 1/2 to 3 hours
• Whenever bread crumbs are called for, always make your own out of fresh homemade-type bread. Cut off the crusts, slice the bread into 1-inch chunks, and pulse not more than 2 cups at a time in a food processor, or 1 cup at a time in an electric blender. It's useful to make a lot while you are at it and freeze what you don't need.