I recently purchased a Romertopf Clay Baker from a Black Friday sale. I love the idea of slow roasting meats and vegetables to get the most flavor out of them, but am having a very hard time finding recipes to use, so I decided to start out by converting this one of Giada's over for the clay baker. I had never tried game hen before and as someone who is not a fan of chicken was a little worried about the end result, but after being cooked in the clay pot, the meat was tender and juicy and delicious.
The first thing you want to do before cooking anything in your clay pot is to soak it in water for 10-15 minutes. Since this was the first time I used it, I let it sit for 30 minutes. No clue if that actually made a difference or not. Probably not.
I have a bad habit of not measuring my ingredients, but it always seems to work for me. Using a micro-plane grater, I zested four tangerines (or 1-2 orange(s)), one lemon, and two cloves of garlic, I juiced the tangerines and lemon and put them in a bowl together. To my bowl of tangerine and lemon zest, I added 1/4 cup olive oil, one large shallot (or two small), about 10 mint leaves, and about 10 sprigs of thyme.
Remove your hens from the bag, remove the bag of goodies from the inside of the hens, rinse them, and pat them dry on a non-wood cutting board.
Using your hands, spread the contents of your zest bowl all over the top and bottom of your hens. You can add a little to the inside of the birds and rub some underneath the skin. My skin was attached pretty tightly, so I didn't rub any under.
In addition to your bowl of lemon/tangerine juice, add one cup of chicken broth, a small handfull of dried cranberries, and a couple shots of red wine. Your juice should come up to about the middle of your birds. Set your clay pot into a COLD oven. Set your oven to 450 degrees and cook for 45 minutes. Always put your pre-soaked clay pot into a cold oven. Going into extreme heat can make the baker crack.
After 45 minutes, very carefully remove the clay pot from the oven and set it onto a wood cutting board or thick potholders. It will be extremely hot and there is liquid in there that you do not want sloshed all over you. Very carefully remove most of the juice from the pot, leaving the cranberries, and add the juice to a saucepan. I used a ladle to get the juice out. It is okay to leave a small 'puddle' of juice in your baker. Leave the lid off of the baker and put it back into the oven for another 15 minutes to crisp up the skin.
To your saucepan of juice, add 2 tbsp of flour whisking constantly. The sauce will thicken. Let it lightly boil on the stove top for 10 minutes. At the end of the 10 minutes, add 1 tbsp of butter and let it melt into the sauce.
As a side, I made veggies. I cut up a zucchini and a squash, added some EVOO, a few sprigs of thyme and parsley to a skillet, and cooked on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes until the veggies were tender. When they were done, I added a few sun dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives to the hot skillet. You could also add some green olives, or shallots or onions to this if you like.
When the skin on top of the hens has browned, very carefully remove the pot from the oven. Prick a piece of meat from the leg to make sure that the juices run clear and there is no pink inside. If it is done, let it rest in the pot uncovered for about 5-10 minutes so that the juice redistributes throughout the birds.
Plate everything up and enjoy!
- This is Giada's recipe for Roasted Game Hen which is very similar to what I made, and if you are someone that likes to go by precise measurements, you can use these.
- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/roasted-citrus-herb-game-hen-recipe/index.html
- 2 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) Cornish game hens
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 shallots, minced
- 2 tablespoons orange zest, from 2 medium oranges
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, from about 3 lemons
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons Marsala wine or dry sherry
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries or currants
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Directions
Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Rinse the game hens and pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, shallots, orange zest, lemon zest, thyme, mint, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Rub 2 tablespoons of the zest mixture over the skins of the game hens. Place the remainder of the zest mixture under the skin and into the cavities of the hens. Using kitchen twine, truss the legs together. Place the hens in a shallow 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Add the chicken stock, Marsala wine, lemon juice, orange juice, andcranberries. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the leg juices run clear. Remove the game hens and set aside. Place the flour in a small saucepan. Whisk in the pan juices. Bring the juices to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Whisk in the butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
To serve, remove the kitchen twine and place the hens on 2 serving plates. Drizzle with the citrus-herb sauce.
