Recipe(tried): Cornish Hens for Cathi

Here is a fabulous and easy recipe for cornish hens or chickens. All you need is a good pair of kitchen shears and a heavy pan or transfer to a baking dish when you put it in the oven.

It ensures a crispy skin and a moist interior. Here's how it's done:

two 1-lb. Cornish game hens or poussin (French for a very young, small chicken)
salt and pepper
4 sage leaves
2 rosemary sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
3 Tbsp. olive oil
lemon quarters for garnish

Place a large heavy skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Butterfly the whole chicken by removing the backbones and tucking the wingtips under themselves so the skin and the chicken lie flat.

Add the oil to the pan. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Place herbs on top of the chicken and place into a pan, skin down with lemons on either side of the chickens.

Place a foil-wrapped brick on top of each chicken and pan roast for five minutes on both sides until the skin is crispy and the bird is almost cooked. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes more at 350 degrees. Don't have a brick handy? Use a large rock from the garden instead. Just wash with bleach and water, rinse well, let dry and wrap in foil.

So Good! Very Tuscan.