Recipe: Savory Roasted Cornish Hens with Roasted Garlic

SAVORY ROASTED CORNISH HENS WITH ROASTED GARLIC

"Small, free-range chickens can be substituted for the Cornish game hens. Cornish hens are small, hybrid chickens. Free-range chickens are raised with room to move about both indoors and outdoors as opposed to being raised in a cage. They are free of growth hormones and antibiotics, and because of this some people believe they have a richer flavor.

The roasted garlic head tastes wonderful squeezed onto slices of crusty French bread, making a good accompaniment to the poultry."

4 Cornish hens or 2 free-range chickens
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 teaspoons lemon pepper
Salt
4 cups quartered plum tomatoes, or whole cherry tomatoes (about 2 pints)
8 large shallots
4 large cloves garlic
2 cups chopped fennel (1 small bulb)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lightly packed chopped fresh basil
1 cup red wine
4 bay leaves
4 lemon slices
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
FOR THE ROASTED GARLIC:
8 whole garlic bulbs
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 tablespoons water
GARNISH:
8 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 lemon, cut into 8 slices

Rinse the Cornish hens thoroughly, letting the water gush inside each cavity and drain back out. Rub the lemon juice, lemon pepper, and a little salt over the birds and let marinate for 1 hour or overnight. Put the tomatoes, shallots, garlic, fennel, a pinch of salt, basil, and red wine together in a medium bowl and stir until everything is thoroughly mixed.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place 1 bay leaf, 1 lemon slice, 1 rosemary sprig, and equal portions of the tossed tomato filling inside each hen. Each cavity should be full. Spoon the remaining filling over the bottom of a roasting pan. Set the birds on top, spacing them evenly apart, spoon the lemon marinating juice over them, then sprinkle a little salt over them.

Roast for 1 1/4 hours. (For chicken, roast 1 1/2 hours.) The skins will be golden brown, and the juices will run clear when they are done.

MEANWHILE, PREPARE THE ROASTED GARLIC:
Cut 1/2 inch off the top of each garlic bulb so that the cloves can be easily squeezed out after roasting. Put the olive oil and water in the bottom of a 9-inch baking pan. Arrange the garlic bulbs in the pan, cut side on top. Cover the pan with a lid or foil. After the hens have been roasting for 30 minutes, place the garlic dish in the same oven and bake for 45 minutes.

TO SERVE:
Remove the hens from the oven to a platter or board and let them rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.

When all the hens are cool, scoop the filling out from each hen and put it into the roasting pan with the remaining filling. Remove all the bay leaves and discard. Set the pan over low heat and simmer, stirring and scraping up the browned bits, for 3-4 minutes.

Split each hen in half by cutting directly down the middle of the spine, slicing completely through to the other side. If you wish, remove and discard the skins.

Place all the hens on a serving dish or half a hen on each of 8 plates, with the breasts lying flat, and spoon the warm filling on top. You may put everything in the oven for a couple of minutes to keep warm until ready to serve. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and a slice of lemon.

Serve with slices of warm crusty bread to squeeze the roasted garlic onto.

TIPS FROM ROSIE'S KITCHEN:
If you have time, marinate the hens or chickens in the lemon juice, pepper, and salt overnight. It is worth it, because the flavors of the marinade are sealed into the meat, and then baked in it, along with the meat's own juices. What you get is juicier and more flavorful meat. Just stuff the birds as directed, marinate them in a large pot, cover, and refrigerate.

If you want to remove the bones of the hens before serving, open the cavity slightly and pull them out gently. Discard the bones and repeat this process for the remaining 3 hens. I usually pull the bones out, but if you find this to be a hassle, leave them in.

Polenta is also a great accompaniment to this dish. Spoon the hot polenta on individual serving plates, top with a Cornish hen, and serve immediately.

Makes 8 half-hen servings

Per serving: Calories 376.1, Fat 14.4 g, Saturated fat 4.2 g (35.4% of calories from fat),
Protein 30.8 g, Carbohydrate 28.2 g, Cholesterol 153 mg, Fiber 2.5 g

Excerpted from Healthy Kitchen by Andrew Weil, M.D., and Rosie Daley
Copyright 2002 by Andrew Weil, M.D., and Rosie Daley. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.