Wine Glazed Cornish Game Hens

Something special for a celebration - Cornish Game Hens. But it's the orange and almond stuffing that sets them apart.

INGREDIENTS:

2 1-pound Cornish game hens

Olive oil to brush on

1 Tbsp heaping onion
2 tsp slivered Almonds
2 tsp butter
1-1/3 cups dry bread cubes
¾ medium orange
1Tbsp heaping light raisins

Wine Glaze: Mix together
4 Tbsp Burgundy wine
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp orange juice.

PREPARATION:

Rinse hens removing any excess fat or waste; pat dry with paper towel; Season with pepper to taste. Peel and chop the onions. Peel and dice the orange. Squeeze the orange Juice. Dice the bread into 3/8” cubes.
Sauté the onion and almonds in butter about 5 minutes; Toss with dry bread cubes, oranges, and raisins. Stuff the birds with bread stuffing, but don't overstuff. Close the opening with a skewer. Tie the legs and tail in a bundle.
Preheat the oven to 375 deg

COOKING:

Place hens, breast up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Brush with olive oil; cover loosely. Roast at 375deg for 30 minutes.
Uncover; baste with Wine Glaze and roast until their done, about 1 hour more, basting frequently with the glaze. When you can twist loose a drumstick, their done.

Garnish with rosemary sprigs and serve piping hot.

This is my adaptation of a recipe we’ve made for several years, can’t remember where it came from.

Pork Tenderloin encrusted with Rosemary and Capers

Pork Tenderloin is always an enjoyable cut, but roasting it with crushed capers and rosemary adds a nice tweak to the flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Pork Tenderloin ¾ to 1 lb.
2 tsp. Capers
2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon juice
Pinch Black Pepper, fresh ground
1 tsp fresh Rosemary
1/3 cup water
PREPARATION:

Wash the pork tenderloin and trim all fat. Pat dry and set aside.

Crush the capers with a fork. Wash, shake off water and strip the rosemary leaves, chop and combine with the ground black pepper in a prep bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pork and place the tenderloin in a shallow roasting pan
Add the water to pan. Pour lemon juice over tenderloin. Try not to dislodge the herbs/spices.

Preheat oven to 350°F

COOKING:

Bake in a 350 deg oven, uncovered, for about 30-45 min or until the meat thermometer registers 155 deg on an instant read thermometer. Remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil tent and allow it to rest for about 10 min. Slice into 1 to1-1/2” slices and arrange on a serving dish. Garnish with fresh Rosemary sprigs.

Ma Po ToFu Má Pó Dòufu (麻婆豆腐) -- this is the authentic “Pockmarked Woman's Duofu”

This is a very old dish from the Szechwan Provence of China. The recipe comes from my Chinese Recipe Book. We have been enjoying it for about 35 years, mostly at home. It’s a relatively easy to prepare.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound Tofu (Bean curd), firm
7 ounces Ground Pork
2 scallions or one Shallot
1 tsp. Szechwan pepper,*

SPICES (combine):

2-3 cloves garlic
1 slice ginger
1 Tbs. black beans, fermented *
1-1/2 tsp. Szechwan chili sauce *
1 red chili pepper, dry, chopped *

SAUCE:

1 Tbs. cornstarch
1-1/2 Tbs. soy sauce, double black *
1 Tbs. Rice Wine (Unsalted) or sherry (NOT COOKING SHERRY!)
1-1/2 tsp. sugar
1 cup chicken stock (low sodium)

PREPARATION:

Cut the bean curd into 1/2" cubes and put them in a pan of hot water to soak until needed.
Clean the scallions, removing any old green stems and shred.
Clean the garlic and ginger and mince both. Chop the black beans
Spices; combine the black beans, garlic, ginger, and Szechwan chili sauce in a small bowl
Chop the chili pepper (more Szechwan chili sauce may be substituted). Set aside.
Sauce; combine the soy sauce, sherry, salt, sugar, stock, and cornstarch in a bowl and mix well, set aside.
Roast and crush the Szechwan Pepper corns **

COOKING

Heat the wok over high heat; add 2 or 3 Tbs. peanut oil and heat just 'till smoke. Add the ground meat and S/F, breaking the beef apart with the shovel (the meat should be in tiny chunks), until it is just gray. Add the scallions and S/F for 1 min. Add the Spice mix and again S/F for 1 min. Re-mix the Sauce and add it to the wok, stirring to combine. Reduce the heat to bring it just to a slow bubbling and simmer for 1 min.

Drain the bean curd while the sauce is simmering and add it to the wok; again reduce the heat to allow the contents of the wok to just simmer very slowly. Simmer for at least 15 min. while you prepare an accompanying dish. The longer (within reason) that it simmers, the more the sauce flavor penetrates the bean curd.
Scoop out of the wok to a deep dish and serve. Roasted and crushed Szechwan pepper** sprinkled.

* Can be purchased in a Chinese Market

Fermented Black beans are sold in a cellophane bag usually salted. Szechwan chili sauce comes in a black labeled can about the size of tuna fish. Double Black Soy sauce is labeled just that. Szechwan pepper are corns just like black pepper corns. Dried red peppers also come in a cellophane bag. The whole lot should cost $5 or less.

** It isn’t necessary, but it adds a numbing sensation to the dish. Roasting Szechwan pepper corns is nothing more then heating them in a dry wok for a short time ‘till they start to turn dark. Crush them in the wok with the back of a spoon or use a mortar. You just want to crack them open to get the power inside. Strain thru a fine tea strainer saving the fine powder that comes through, discarding the rest.

Scallops in Garlic/Red Pepper Sauce

Here is an interesting combination featuring three of my favorites, Scallops, sweet Red Peppers and Angel Hair Spaghetti.

INGREDIENTS:

¾ to 1 pound fresh or frozen scallops (Sea or Bay)
¼ pound Angel Hair spaghetti

1 Sweet Red Pepper

1 large clove garlic

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes *

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp parsley

White wine

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh parsley sprigs for garnish

PREPARATION:

Wash the scallops; if using large sea scallops, slice through the diameter into 3/8” discs. Wash the red pepper and cut it into ½” squares. Wash the parsley and shake off the water; cut from the stem and chop 1 tsp. Peel and chop the garlic do not use a press.

COOKING:

First Cook Angel Hair, drain, rinse and put it on a serving platter, cover with a foil tent to keep it warm.

Heat a skillet medium hot, add the oil and let it heat. Sauté the garlic and pepper flakes until the garlic just starts to turn light brown. Add the scallops, red peppers and chopped parsley. Sauté until scallops become firm and opaque. A splash of white wind adds just a bit of flavor.

Serve the scallops and peppers over Angel Hair; Pour any remaining sauce over and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

Garnish with parsley.

*See Tips

Sausage Steeped in Beer with Wine infused Red Peppers

This recipe does not fall under the 1– ½ hour category, BUT it’s worth the effort

INGREDIENTS:

26” long 12oz. French bread loaf “Baguette”*
1 pound Italian Sweet sausage links (Anything BUT Johnsonville brand)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Large Sweet red bell peppers
1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle of beer
2 X 1/3 cup of burgundy wine

PREPARATION:

Wash the sausages & straighten. Clean the Peppers, remove the white rib and cut into ¼ -3/8” Julian strips. Cut the hard ends from the Baguette and cut into 5” sections; then cut lengthwise, but not through to form a bun just about the length of the sausages.

COOKING:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium (3-4) heat. Cook sausage until browned on all sides (I turn them about every 5 min. or so) for 30 min. slice the sausages lengthwise down the center in the pan do not cut thru! Just so you can open them. Remove sausage from pan pour any juice back in the pan. Place the sausages in a slow cooker or crock pot** and pour in a can of beer to cover.

Pour 1/3 cup of red wine into the pan deglaze, scraping any blackened bits from the bottom. Place the red peppers in the pan. Let them simmer for about 10 min. Then turn continue simmering (3-3 ½) until peppers are tender turning frequently for another 20 min. don’t let them burn.
Transfer the peppers and sauce into a container. Deglaze the frying pan with 1/3 cup of wine; scraping the bits loose, adding it to the peppers. Place the container in the pan with the steeping sausages to keep warm! Cover and simmer until sausage is cooked through (2 to 3 hours or longer).

Start the steamer at 300deg and reduce to 275deg after about ½ to ¾ of an hour.
Place the cut Baguette buns in the accompanying steamer and steam for about 15 to 20 min. before serving.

SERVING:
Remove a bun from the steamer, open it and place a sausage in it, spreading open the sausage. Scoop out a ladle of the juice (off the bottom avoiding the fat) and ladle it over the sausage and bun followed by peppers placed along the split in the sausage. Place in a wax paper lined basket and serve the best Sausage ‘n Pepper sandwich you ever had!

* In our area, I call the Safe Way stores bakery the day before and ask that they stretch the Baguette to the full length of the pan which results in a loaf about 26” long. Their Baguette are about 12 oz. avoid the 1 Lb. variety as they are too dowey.

** I use a contraption I built to hold everything in one place.

Roasted Turnips with Shallots and Garlic

Well folks, I don’t know if you ever liked turnips or not, BUT you will have to try these and I guarantee you will say “WOW” they are wonderful! Give them a try.


INGREDIENTS:

¾ pound White Purple topped turnips

6 – 8 small cloves garlic

2 shallots

1-1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh rosemary or thyme, or ½ tsp dried rosemary or dried thyme
ground black pepper

PREPARATION:

Wash, peel and cut the turnips into 1 1/4-inch pieces. Peel the shallots, cut in half lengthwise. If using fresh herbs, wash, shake off water, and strip the leaves from the herbs then chop, other wise crush the dry herbs. Peel the garlic, if large cloves cut in half.

Add the oil and herbs to a large bowl and mix well. Add the turnips and toss to coat. Add the shallots and toss again. Put the mixture (excluding garlic) into a roasting pan large enough to hold them in a single layer without crowding.

Pre Heat oven to 375 deg.

ROASTING:

Put the pan in preheated oven and roast, stirring the vegetables after 15 min. After another 15 min, remove from the oven and stir again, add the garlic cloves. Raise heat to 425 deg. continue roasting until tender and evenly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with pepper, garnish with Rosemary sprigs and serve hot.

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated