Anna Sultana's Roasted Cornish Game Hens / Chicken and Meat Recipes for 2 Links

I know… it’s tempting to go to the store to get just the thing to make this holiday dinner special.

Fight that urge.

Make do with what you have.

Catching the COVID-19 virus and infecting your family with it is not the best of ideas.

Good health is the best gift you could give yourself and your loved ones.

It’s almost guaranteed that you have more on your shelves that the stores do.

Shop your shelves. Please.

This easy recipe will give you moist  and tender hens with a nice spicy flavour.

Happy Holidays!

Hints:

This is a recipe for two. 

If you're a family of four, or more, just increase as needed.

If you want to make a complete meal in a pan you can do this:

Chop

2 peeled carrots

1 celery stalk 

Slice

1 yellow onion

Spread out the vegetables in the bottom of the greased pan and season with

1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary 

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Place the hens on top of the vegetables and continue following the recipe.

If you found a chicken instead of cornish hens in your freezer you can make the same recipe, but roast for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

                        Roasted Cornish Hens

Thaw overnight

2 cornish hens

Combine in a smal bowl 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

2 Tablespoons dried parsley

About 4 hours before you wish to to roast the thawed hens, pat them completely dry, both inside and out.

Place the two cornish hens in a greased pan.

Rub olive oil lightly over them. 

Sprinkle the spice mixture generously over the hens and inside them as well.

Cover, refrigerate and let marinate for at least 3 hours for maximum flavour.

Preheat oven to 450º F

Have on hand

1 Tablespoon butter, divided into 2 pieces 

Run your fingers under the skin of the hens' breasts to loosen them.

Place a piece of butter under the skin of each hen.

Sprinkle on more parsley.

Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, depending on the size of hens.

Let the hens rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Since we won't be socializing in crowds for a while here are a few menu planning ideas:

Menu Planning for One or Two

Chicken Recipes for 2

Baked Chicken with Ginger root (Hawaiian Style) 

Baked Chicken with Curried Fruit (Middle Eastern Style)

Baked Chicken with Curry Powder (East Indian Style) 

Baked Chicken with Cardamom (Middle Eastern Style) 

Baked Chicken with Coriander (East Indian Style) 

Baked Chicken with Cinnamon (Greek Style) 

Baked Chicken with Paprika (Austrian Style) 

Baked Chicken with Basil (Middle Eastern Style)  

Baked Chicken with Garlic (Italian Style)

Anna Sultana's Baked Chicken with Thyme (Mexican Style) 

Anna Sultana's Tuscan Sun Chicken

Anna Sultana’s Capellini Caprese

Anna Sultana's Broth / Chicken Noodle Soup

Carmela Soprano's Spiedini - Stuffed Veal or Chicken Rolls 

Carmela Soprano's Veal Piccata with Capers l Chicken Piccata

Carmela Soprano's Chicken Francese - Fried Chicken in Wine Sauce, Italian Style

Carmela Soprano's Fried Veal Cutlets or Chicken Breasts

Carmela Soprano's Pollo Cacciatore al Forno - Baked Chicken Caccitore 

Carmela Soprano's Baked Chicken with Potatoes, Lemon and Oregano

Carmela's Crunchy Baked Chicken

Carmela Soprano's Veal Scaloppine Marsala with Risotto / Chicken Scaloppine

Carmela Soprano's Chicken with Parsley Crumbs 

Meat Recipes for 2

Anna Sultana’s Pork Chops with Capers, Maltese Style

Anna Sultana’s Easy Shepherd’s Pie 

Anna Sultana’s Meatloaf and Red Cabbage 

Anna Sultana’s Cottage Pie 

Anna Sultana’s Corned Beef Hash

Anna Sultana's Pork Chops in Lemon Caper Sauce 

Anna Sultana's Rouladen (German Style Simmered Beef Rolls)

Carmela Soprano's Filet Mignon with Red Wine Sauce

Carmela Soprano's Bistecca Pizzaiola, Steak Pizzamaker's style

Carmela Soprano's Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers / Garlic Hints

Carmela Soprano's Roasted Sausages, Peppers, Potatoes and Onions 

Carmela Soprano's Osso Buco a la Bucco 

             / Braised Veal Shanks (Braised Rabbit in White Wine)

Carmela Soprano's Quail Sinatra-Style, with Stuffing and White Wine Sauce

Our local grocery's staff is beginning to look forward to my Soprano-inspired visits.

I'm becoming good for a laugh.

This week was no exception.

Artie Bucco is a bit more chatty than Carmela is.

It's just as well he never got into 'The Business'.

Loose lips sink ships is still a good motto.

And no one wants to sleep with the fishes.

Anway, Artie has a chapter about his training and his own creations.

In Mia Cucina, he explained how he got his inspirations.

Sophia Loren.

Marriage Italian-Style.

Okay...  Sophia inspired a lot of things.

Quail Sinatra-Style was inspired by Frank Sinatra singing Luck be a Lady.

Go figure.

Artie's secret ingredient is sun-dried tomatoes.

Tomato paste can do in a pinch.

Back to my local butcher...

My request for quail cracked him up.

He directed me to the cornish hens.

Okay...  a small bird is a small bird.

He also explained the Italian-style fennel pork sausage is mild, not hot.

He doesn't totally want to lose me as a customer.

Oh, and I left the wing tips and legs as is.

                         

                        Quail Sinatra-Style

Preheat oven to 375º

Rinse and pat dry 

8 fresh or thawed quail

Tuck the wing tips under the backs

Remove the sausage meat from

8 ounces Italian-style fennel pork sausages

2 Tablespoons very finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Stuff the meat mixture into the quail.

Tie the legs together.

Put the quail in a flameproof covered casserole that is large enough 

to hold the quail in a single layer.

Add

1 Cup dry white wine

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 garlic clove, minced

salt and pepper

Cover and bake 1 hour.

Uncover and bake 40 minutes, basting 3 times, until the meat is browned.

Transfer the quail to a serving platter.

Cover and keep warm.

Place the casserole over a medium flame.

Simmer, stirring, until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.

Spoon the sauce over the quail.

Sprinkle over the quail

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Serve immediately.

Would I make Quail Sinatra-Style again?

Sure, using cornish hens.

Maybe I'll even try the stuffing with a roasting chicken.

If Artie can experiment, so can I.

One recipe down.  Ninety-five more to go.  

Paprika / Homemade Meat and Poultry Seasoning Mix - Margaret Ullrich

Got a couple of emails from folks I had left holding the bag.

The bag of Paprika, to be exact.

I had said, "Don't be afraid to buy a bag of paprika.

We'll have some more fun with it in a few weeks."

Well, a couple of folks reminded me it's been a few weeks.

Sheesh!

So, without further ado, here's the scoop on Paprika.

Paprika is ground from dried sweet red peppers.  

It can be mild or strong, depending on which peppers were used.

It varies, just like store bought salsa or tomato sauces.

Paprika is a handy thing to have.

Think of it as you would Celery Seed.

Without worrying about something going funky in the vegetable drawer, 

you can always add the flavor of sweet red peppers.

And that's a very good thing. 

Wondering what to do with ground Paprika?

For starters...

Stir, with minced onion, into cream cheese for a sandwich spread.

Add paprika to the hot fat before frying potatoes.

Rub paprika onto poultry before roasting or baking.

Or make and use the Seasoning Blend below.

Sprinkle some paprika over otherwise colorless foods to garnish.

Or to entice a fussy eater.

Yeah, every family has one.

You can also make another spice blend.

Homemade Meat and Poultry Seasoning Mix

2 Tablespoons ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons onion powder

2 Tablespoons paprika

2 Tablespoons salt

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon ground thyme

Makes a scant 2/3 Cup

Anna Sultana's Pigeon Stew - Chicken Stew, Maltese Style

On Saturday I posted, with some variations, Carmela Soprano's Poached Chicken with Pesto.  

No big deal.

Well, does everything have to be a production?

I've been trying to pair up Carmela's and Ma's recipes.

This is another easy one.

This also calls for poultry.

This also calls for some variations.

If you saw the movie Mary Poppins you probably remember the scene where she's singing about feeding the birds.

If you saw the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation you probably remember the scene where Clark thought good old cousin Eddie would love to eat a squirrel.

The squirrel that made Clark's mother faint.

Okay... try to forget those scenes when reading this recipe.

Yes, it calls for pigeons.

Don't sing Feed the Birds.

Substitute regular, un-boneless, un-skinless chicken breast.

Baby chicks are just as cute as pigeons.

Or get fancy and buy some cornish hens.

Nobody feels sorry for cornish hens.

Feel better now?

Don't sing Feed the Birds.

It's payback time.

Feed the family.

                        Pigeon Stew

                        

Clean and chop

4 potatoes

4 carrots

4 tomatoes, peeled

----

In a large dutch oven heat

1/2 Cup butter

Brown

4 large chicken breasts or cornish hens 

Remove chicken from pan

Fry in same pan

6 small onions, peeled and left whole

Add 

chicken and chopped vegetables

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1 Cup chicken broth

Bring to boil

Add

1 Cup peas

1 Cup red wine

Simmer gently 1 hour

Serve with spaghetti or rice if they're big eaters.

And don't sing Feed the Birds.