Sunday Feast № 21 | Roasted Cornish Hens with Lemon, Rosemary, Garlic, and Balsamic

Photo by Aurora Samar

Last time was Chinese. "We should do it again." "What should it be this time?" "Greek! We can do lots of salads. Stuffed peppers." "OK, what about a meat dish? Lamb?" That is roughly how it went. Fast forward. "We can do Greek, but maybe mix in Italian ..." "Mediterranean like? Well, close to." "Then I make tiramisu." "Love Tiramisu!" "Then I'll think if it is still lamb or something else." In the end, it was close to Italian. And sorry, but no, this is not tiramisu recipe blog. I have professionals for that. My mind drifted to chicken. And rosemary. The Gooey Shell    Having found a recipe for roasted chicken with rosemary in one of my trusty books, I went shopping for an approximately 3 lb/1.5 kg bird. Maybe it was laziness, but with little time to scour supermarkets within my immediate walking distance let alone any further a field, I settled for the closest and met with monster chickens. At around 6 lbs each! Whoa mama! Yes, each could feed a small army but roasting a BIG BIRD is a different game I might reserve for turkey. Luckily, the supermarket had lots of frozen Cornish hens, and those I was willing to deal with. Six of them. Yes, yes, also can feed a small army, but smaller birds mean quicker roast and greater likelihood of being cooked throughout without drying out. So I set to task finding required roasting temperature and time, as well as possible combinations of flavorings for the roast. One criteria for the latter: rosemary must be included.    The result was a lovely brood of hens for carnivores (one bird per person in one sitting) and lesser carnivores (half a bird per person in one sitting with the other half for next days). Very satiating. Mind you there were salads - "Mum" made sure, grilled octopus - we had two that not just love but LOVE octopuses (queue up Octopussy snickering and general nudge nudge wink wink behavior), there was bread, foccacia, polenta, bruschetta, tiramisu of course, and macarons with smoked salmon filling (not my recipe or mine to disclose, but a fine product, and like I said, I have professionals for that), and more. Macarons?! Well, France does boarder the Mediterranean Sea.

6 Cornish hens Salt and pepper to taste 1½ lemon quartered 3 white pearl onions quartered 3 tsp balsamic vinegar 6 sprigs fresh rosemary 4½ tbsp olive oil, or eyeball it to taste garlic whole bulb split into cloves and peeled ½ cup white wine ½ cup chicken stock 6 sprigs fresh rosemary to garnish

Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C. Rub hens with olive oil. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Place one lemon wedge, one sprig of rosemary, 2 onion quarters and ½ tsp balsamic vinegar into the cavity of each hen. Truss each hen's legs together with a cooking thread and put a sprig of rosemary on top through the trussed up legs. Arrange the hens in a large, heavy roasting pan or something similar, and arrange garlic cloves around the hens. Roast in the preheated oven for 25 min. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F/175°C. In a bowl mix together wine, stock, and any remaining oil - or eyeball it for about 1 tbsp. Pour over the hens and continue roasting about 30 min longer or until hens are golden brown and juices run clear. Baste with pan juices every 10 min or so. Check on the hens as you might choose after 30 min to turn up the temperature to brown them bit more. Yes, they are absolutely in your "oven" hands. Transfer hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices into the roasting pan. Tent hens with aluminium foil to keep warm. Transfer pan juices and garlic cloves to a medium saucepan and boil until liquids reduce to a sauce consistency of your choosing, 6-10 min or more. Serve hens whole with sauce and garlic spooned around each hen.