Spicy Butterflied Cornish Game Hen for Two
Serves 2
This is a simple recipe requiring only a few ingredients and the forethought to marinate the hens the day before, but it produces an elegant meal that’s ideal for a special dinner for two.
Ingredients #
- 2 Cornish game hens, giblets removed and discarded
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 6 hot pickled cherry peppers, halved, stemmed and seeded
- A scant 1/4 cup of the brine from the jar of peppers
- 6 cloves of garlic, cut in half lengthwise
- 4 bay leaves (if you can find fresh bay leaves, they’d be perfect here)
- The leaves stripped from 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 scant cup white wine or dry vermouth
Instructions #
Using poultry shears, remove the wingtips from the hens, and cut down each side of their backbones. Discard the backbones. Open and flatten out the hens, pressing down on the breast until they lay flat.
Place the hens in a large resealable plastic bag.
In a small bowl, combine the salt, olive oil, peppers, brine, garlic, bay leaves, and rosemary leaves. Stir and pour over the chicken in the plastic bag. Seal and marinate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the marinade into a bowl and add the wine to it. Sear the hens in the hot skillet, one at a time, until well browned (about 2 minutes per side). Place them flat, breast-side up, on a large sheet pan as you remove them from the skillet.
Pour the marinade mixture over the hens, making sure the garlic and peppers are evenly scattered around the pan. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes. Move the pan to the bottom rack and continue cooking until the hens are done throughout, the skin is crispy, and the marinade is well-reduced — about 15 minutes more.
If the hens are done and the sauce is still too thin, move the hens to a serving platter and reduce the sauce in a small saucepan. Conversely, if there is too little sauce, remove the hens and then deglaze the sheet pan over a burner with an additional splash of wine.
Cut the chickens in half through their breast bone. Place a half on each plate, and then stack another half on top of each, slightly askew. Scatter peppers and roasted garlic cloves around the chicken, and drizzle some of the pan sauce over them.