So, after many, many years as a vegetarian, vegan or meat-eater who stuck to burgers and fries, 2012 was the year that I branched out into cooking whole birds. It actually all started back at Christmas 2011, when I was inspired by the wide variety of fowl we were selling at the co-op. I at a lot of roast chicken growing up, until I turned 15 and went vegetarian. My dad and sister both really like to roast chicken or bread and fry it, but I myself never learned how to cook one, as I gave up eating such things before it was a responsibility that could be assigned to me. (My mom did teach me how to make chicken caccatore, but I’ve never had a craving for that either.) And, of course, there’s the years of obligatory turkey eating that went with Thanksgiving. I ate it, but Thanksgiving was always at my mom’s mom’s house, and she was known for her less-than-edible cooking skills. I preferred the mashed-potatoes.

So, Christmas is a favorite holiday of mine, and I believe at the time, the Co-op was selling, duck, turkey, goose, chicken and game hen, all either from Deck Family Farms or Rain Shadow El Rancho. I had never in my life had goose, duck or game hen. So, I resolved to figure out if any of them were worth my time. I bought a pretty enormous goose for Christmas, and did succeed in stuffing and roasting it and having many bodies over to my tiny apartment to help eat it. I still had a lot of leftovers. I made a strange stuffing out of day old bagels (at the time I was trying to stretch the limits of what day old bagels could be turned into), and lots of garlic and sage. It was good. I was not like, overwhelmingly excited or anything though. Like, not super exciting, for me. Sometimes, poultry just seems like tofu to me.

So, Poultry Experiment #2: Turkey. Like I said, never really struck me as anything special growing up. I took one home and brined it before roasting it. Again, it was good. I brought it to work and shared it with everyone and everyone seemed to like it just fine. The thing that I did get excited about was the turkey liver gravy that I made. YUM! I think that maybe sometimes more subtle flavors can be lost on me.

Okay, months and months later, I got around to Poultry Experiment #3. Duck. I gotta say, I blew this one. At some point in 2013, there will have to be a Poultry Experiment #3, Revisited. That’s all I can tell you.

So, generally 2012 led me to being really really unimpressed with Poultry, thinking that while chicken is ok, I’ll stick to beef and pork, generally in my meaty endeavors. But, just in the nick of time, I realized that I had not had one of the Game Hens, which the co-op procures from Rain Shadow El Rancho. SO IMPRESSED! I called my sister, she of much chicken roasting, and told her that I had a tiny (so tiny!) bird to cook. She recommended 350 degrees at 30 minutes, but it did, in reality take 45-50. Here’s what I did with it:

• I put 2 whole cloves of garlic in it, and half a lemon. (It was very small, only as wide and long as my hand and I didn’t want it to get overpowered.)

• I rubbed some salt into it, and poured a little olive oil over it.

• Then I roasted it at 350, for 45-50 minutes. I was really surprised it took so long because it was so small.

Then I made a lemon garlic risotto to go with it.
I cooked some white rice, as I would usually cook it, then when it was done added 3 cloves minced garlic, a quarter of lemon and a half a stick of butter (yes.) and a half a cup of mushroom broth. I kept it over medium heat, and stirred in an unmeasured amount grated Parmesan cheese (meaning, for you, whatever you want/whatever you have). This was an amazing meal. Like. So. Good. I ate about half of the hen, and brought the rest to a friend. Maybe it was just more impressive because it was so small and needed so little to flavor it. Maybe it was because it was easy to make and not a major production. Also, the risotto made it fantastic. I would have enjoyed the bird otherwise, but this was a perfect pairing of protein and starch. Game hens from Rain Shadow El Rancho vary in size, and are $7.99/lb. Maybe 2013 is time for your own Poultry Experimentation?

Ingredients:

• 4 Cornish game hens
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 24 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, for garnish

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Rub hens with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.  Lightly season hens with salt and pepper.  Place 1 lemon wedge and 1 sprig of rosemary in the cavity of each hen.  Arrange in a large, heavy roasting pan, and arrange garlif cloves around the hens.  Roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together wine, chicken broth, and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.  Pour this mixture over the hens.
• Continue roasting about 25 minutes longer, or until the hens are golden brown and the juices run clear.  Baste with pan juices every 10 minutes.
• Transfer hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices into the roasting pan.  Tent hens with aluminum foil to keep warm.  Transfer pan juices and garlic cloves to a medium saucepan and boil until the liquids reduce to a sauce-like consistency, about 6 minutes.  Cut the hens in half lengthwise and arrange on plates.  Pour sauce over top of the hens, and serve.