Rosemary Cornish Hens

Funny story. My mama is from Harlan, KY. The South. And she sometimes has an adorable accent. For much of my childhood, she would make a chicken-like bird called Cornish Hen. Only... she didn't call it Cornish Hen. She called it

Cornachean.

I'm trying to spell it like it would sound. Corn-a-che-an.

So I grew up until I was a teen thinking that we were enjoying a delicious meal called cornachean. When really, it was cornish hen. Dunno how I got that from that. That's that country twang for ya  : ) Love that country accent though. AND I've been known to mistake many words in my day....

Like in a particular song I can think of.... I really thought she was saying "You're my CEO."  And she was saying "When I see you." That happens alot. It makes me laugh at myself that I hear something totally wrong and off the wall, that doesn't make sense half the time.

So use a cornish hen. Don't try to go to the grocery store looking for a cornachean  : ) 

Anyways, start out rinsing your hens thoroughly. Then pat them dry with paper towels. Place the hen(s) in a shallow bowl or dish and pour the buttermilk on top, covering the hen(s). Let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, turning half way through. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the cornbread stuffing according to the directions on the package. Once it is prepared, add the egg to the stuffing and mix. Then line a pan with foil. Remove the hen(s) from the buttermilk and place them on the pan. 

Generously season all sides with the chicken rub, salt, and pepper. That is the only process shot I got.

Stuff the insides with the cornbread stuffing, then secure the legs with string. Bake for about 30 minutes, depending on the size of your cornish hen. We had a little tiny baby hen, so we knew we wouldn't need to bake it for as long as the original recipe called for. After 30 minutes of baking, remove from the oven and drizzle olive oil on it and sprinkle with fresh rosemary. Put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes (again, depends on the size of your hen). All done : )

Rosemary Cornish Hen

slightly adapted from Thyme for Wine 

• 1 small cornish game hen, gizzards removed and rinsed
• 1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
• cornbread stuffing mix, like Stovetop
• 1 egg
• salt, pepper, and chicken rub for seasoning
• 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil 

Rinse hen thoroughly. Then pat dry with paper towels. Place the hen in a shallow bowl or dish and pour the buttermilk on top, covering the hen. Let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, turning half way through. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Prepare the cornbread stuffing according to the directions on the package. Once prepared, add the egg to the stuffing and mix. Then line a pan with foil. Remove the hen from the buttermilk and place it on the pan. Generously season all sides with the chicken rub, salt, and pepper. Stuff the insides with the cornbread stuffing, then secure the legs with string. Bake for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes of baking, remove from the oven and drizzle olive oil on it and sprinkle with fresh rosemary. Bake for another 30 minutes.

Printable Recipe

Linking up to a new linky I just came across.... Mangia Mondays at Delightfully Dowling.


I can't wait to make these again. It's been awhile!

Peace, and bacon grease!

Look What I Won!

Ok so this is taking it back a few months... but I just wanted to brag tell you about a giveaway I won! I always enter giveaways, never expecting to win anything! And a few months back, all around the same time, I won 3 different giveaways! Can you believe it? I hardly couldn't! One of the giveaways was for some Spike Seasonings, but I never received them. I just now thought about it! But the other two prizes I did receive.... One was for a bag of natural flavored lip balms from My Lip Stuff, courtesy of Retro Housewife. And the other was for.....

THIS!

Gourmet Mom was giving away the Michael Chiarello Bottega cookbook, and a box of Progresso lemon pepper panko bread crumbs. I hoard cookbooks, so I was all over that. And I love panko! I was so happy to win : )

I can't wait to host my own giveaway one of these days! The next time CSN Stores offer me one...

And yes, that giveaway was from November 2010. That's how late I am!

Peace, and bacon grease!

WWDB? Murray's Chipotle Jack Cheese

It's time for another edition of WWDB?

Aren't you excited?

I have been on a cheese kick for awhile now. I love going to Jungle Jim's and places that offer a wide variety of unique cheeses. Cheese makes everything better, ya know? So time to move on from the pre-sliced processed American cheese you find in your local grocers. I did find this in Kroger, but this particular Kroger had an elaborate cheese station with all kinds of cheeses that I haven't seen in any other Kroger. It is the Newport, KY Kroger if you live round these here parts. This Kroger is deluxe! And they put little cheese samples out so that you can try it first. Yes, they have some very stinky and unique cheese selections, but I opted to start with something I knew I would love but never tried yet. I love pepper jack cheese. That spiciness, mmmmmmmm! So when I saw this Murray's Chipotle Jack cheese, I had to buy it. A little pricy, yes, but the finer cheeses are. We enjoyed this very much, just like I knew we would! You can serve it with crackers, fruit, and pepperoni.... or shred/grate it and use it as a topping.... or slice and use for a fancier grown-up grilled cheese, like we did.

I can't wait to test out some more fancy cheeses. And stay tuned for more delicious cheese suggestions : )

 

Peace, and bacon grease!

Menu Planning - Week of 3/14/11

Whoopsies! I meant to post a recipe or two last week but didn't get around to it. I hate looking back at my posts and seeing two menu plan posts in a row... that means I only posted once a week on that Monday. I need to be better about this. Because I love blogging. I really do. I have just been trying to catch up on my blog reading and haven't really focused on posting on my own blog! But hopefully that changes.

So for now, all I have for you is a boring menu plan. And guess what? I'm gonna use some of those rollover meals from last week too. Cuz that's how we roll  : )

Monday 3/14/11:  Chicken with Mushroom Pesto Sauce

Tuesday 3/15/11:  Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Wednesday 3/16/11:  dinner at Sue's

Thursday 3/17/11:  Stove-top Chicken Fajitas

Friday 3/18/11:  Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza with my own toppings

Linking up to my usual... Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie. 

Peace, and bacon grease!

Menu Planning - Week of 3/7/11

Today's my man's 29th birthday! I've been with him since he was 18... almost 11 years, can you believe it? I can  : )

So no cooking tonight! We are going out to eat to celebrate this amazing man's birthday! We are going to a new (and expensive, I might add) restaurant we haven't been to yet called Tony's. I'm excited! 

But the show must go on after today. Still gotta cook the rest of the week.

And like always, gotta use those rollover minutes. I mean meals. 

We will be recycling this chicken pesto mushroom recipe from last week. We didn't get around to making that one. As well as some kind of chili recipe. Yep, didn't use up that ground chuck either.

Monday 3/7/11:  PJ's 29th Birthday! Out to eat at Tony's Restaurant

Tuesday 3/8/11:  PJ works late, pick something up

Wednesday 3/9/11:  Chili w/ Green Chili Cornbread

Thursday 3/10/11:  Chicken with Pesto Mushroom Cream Sauce

Friday 3/11/11:  Marinated Pork Tenderloin

I am doing my usual link-up to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.


What's on the menu this week, peeps?


Peace, and bacon grease!

Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Martha, Martha, Martha.

Martha had to know that this creamy mustard sauce wasn't her best work.At first glance of the recipe, PJ already had decided that he wasn't going to like it. Especially with that vinegar in there. And not cooked. I had hopes. Plus, at this point we had to make it. It was for Martha Mondays. He does benefit from the good food I make, but I guess it means he also has to suffer through some of the not-so-tasty meals. This being one of them. 

Like I said, I had hopes even though he didn't. I don't even think I served him any sauce with his asparagus. I didn't want to pour mine directly over my asparagus, so that I could still enjoy my roasted asparagus even if I didn't enjoy the sauce so much. When I dipped my finger in the fully combined sauce to taste it a bit, I gagged, I'm not gonna lie. It was pretty gross. The vinegar was overwhelming. PJ dabbed his finger in to confirm that it really was disgusting. His face explained everything. But I, being the good food blogger that I am (modest?), had to still get a good picture of my vinegary sauce even if it wasn't gonna be eaten. So after I got all of my pictures finished, I had that sauce on my plate. I had already decided in my mind that it was nasty, but I just decided to give it another try with the asparagus. And you know what? It was actually way better. I spread a tad over some asparagus pieces and actually enjoyed the flavor it gave. No longer did I taste the overwhelming vinegar flavor, thank goodness. By the end of the meal, I was actually thinking to myself that I could maybe even make that sauce again. But I must remember to never taste it by itself! 

Unfortunately, we doubled the recipe in the beginning because we were having scallops and mushrooms also, and thought we would want more sauce to dip our scallops in also. But after we each tasted it, we realized we really could have made half of the recipe! Also, we didn't have dijon mustard so we just used regular mustard. And we didn't steam the asparagus, we roasted it.

Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce

adapted from Martha Stewart

*Mustard Sauce

• 4 tablespoons mayo
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

*Roasted Asparagus

• asparagus with ends off
• drizzle of olive oil
• sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic powder

Rinse asparagus and tear off the ends. Place on a pan and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roast asparagus in the oven at 425 degrees for 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the sauce, stir together mayo, olive oil, white wine vinegar, and mustard in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over or serve with roasted asparagus. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

FYI I love that adorable bowl, don't you?! I got a matching soup bowl, tiny dip ramekin, a medium sized ramekin, and salad plate. I love it so.

I am sharing this recipe with Martha Mondays.

Peace, and bacon grease!

I lied.

See this?


Yeah..... didn't happen.


That's all!


Peace, and bacon grease!