HOW TO EAT A BABY CHICKEN

“Kernewek yw oll ankevys gans pobel yowynk.” – Cornish for – “Cornish is all but forgotten by the young people”

Cornish game hens!… here’s how i cooked ’em. as you will see, this recipe is easily customizable , so i’m not going to give you a traditional “ingredient” list… just read through the recipe, and you’ll see what i mean…. ok, so here we go… get out 4 baby chickens…

they’ll be a little over a pound each. when i cook these, or even chickens, i like to split them and flatten them.. i just find that they cook better, and more evenly. so to do this, you need to take out the back bone…mmwwahaahahahaaa! you could do this with a big knife (more fun), or some good kitchen shears (easier). i used shears this time. so flip the hens over and cut on each side of the spine… it will be kind of obvious where to cut… take a look

once you’ve cut out the backs (save the backs!!), you’ll be able to flatten those bastards out pretty easily. just kind of push them flat with your hand. you may have to make a little cut at the top of the breast bone to help you out, but you’ll get it… believe in yourself.

they should look kinda like that. ok, i broiled my hens, but you could easily do these on the grill (and by “grill” i mean over charcoal/wood. gas “grills” are just upside down broilers, and thus, the same thing as broiling), so if you want to grill them, go for it.. if you’re a griller, you know what to do. anyway, i broiled mine, so set up your flat mini chickens on your broil pan. i brushed them with a little oil and hit them with salt and pepper.

ok, now start your sauce. i made a super simple easy one, but you could make whatever you want… or don’t make a sauce at all… up to you…, anyway, get 2 cups of chicken stock (you could use beef stock or veggie broth if you wanted to) canned/boxed is fine… and put it in a sauce pan. add those back bones to the stock and bring the bones/stock up to a boil. then reduce the heat to a simmer and let the stock reduce..

let it reduce to about half (this could take up to 30 minutes), then fish out the back bones and any other grossness that may be in there. i guess you could strain it if you want to be a girl about it.  then stir in 4 tablespoons of vinegar… and some salt and peeper if you need it. canned/boxed stock can be salty, so taste it first. anyway there’s your sauce.. pretty much done.

ok, so now on to the mini chicks… get your broiler nice and hot, and throw those babies in there. i started with the pan kind of close, and as the browned up, i lowered the pan to finish cooking them. it’s gonna be one of those things that you’re just gonna have to watch.

spin the pan around from time to time, keep on checking them and stuff…. they should be done in 30 minutes or so… but make sure to check with your insta-read thermometer. if you don’t have an insta-read, you shouldn’t be cooking anything. go buy one. they are like $15, and i think everyone needs them.. trust me, you’ll love it. anyway, when they’re done, pull them out and tent them with foil and let them rest for a while

ok, got any herbs?.. i had some parsley, so i chopped some up and added it to the sauce. and for a side dish, i made some horseradish smashed potatoes (quick horesradish smashed potatoes recipe: 1. make smashed potatoes. 2. add horseradish to taste) and i added some parsley to the potatoes too… and on the babies…. yeah, i just put parsley on everything. it looks pretty

and that’s it folks, all you gotta do now is plate it up, add your side dish, and hit it with the sauce…. and possibly more parsley. pretty easy eh?, plus it looks impressive on the plate..

it’s always fun to have an entire complete animal on your plate….it doesn’t happen often enough. anyway, as you can see, you could do almost anything with theses little guys. any roast chicken recipe you like would work here. and you could also just improvise with what you have laying around the house (like if you had a bunch of parsley, for instance). i guess, the bottom line is, they’re super easy to cook, easy to customize, and they look damn impressive… and i think that’s what i like the most about them..

now go forth and cook people!… any questions, just let me know!

you’re welcome

Eric