6
COOKING
SECRET
RECIPES
For The
Holiday
80
Pommy Hardie’s family’s favorite entrée is Rock Cornish Game Hen.
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BY CAMILLE S. YATES
PHOTOS BY ROB DOWNEY
CLASSIC CUISINE
Pommy Hardie keeps her family guessing when it
comes to the holiday meal. “I never serve the same
thing twice,” she says. Her family’s favorite entrée is
Rock Cornish Game Hen. “I’ve been doing a lot of brining
lately and I’ve come up with a good marinade for these
tasty birds.”
These delectable little birds were actually invented. In the
1950s, a French-Russian artist, named Jacques Makowsky,
and his wife, Therese, retired to a farm in Connecticut where
he raised poultry. He first raised Guineas, but later he and
his wife, after much experimenting, came up with a crossbreed
of Cornish game cocks and Plymouth Rock hens. The
result was a plump little bird with all-white meat called Rock
Cornish game hen.
Aside from the succulence of its white meat, the hen has a
distinct gamy flavor. This is because the birds are given a
high protein diet that includes such native Connecticut produce
as cranberries, acorns, and other nuts.
BRINED ROCK CORNISH GAME HENS
2 – 4 Rock Cornish game hens
2 qts. water
2 qts. orange juice
1 c. salt
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1⁄2 tsp. pepper
Warm water, stir in
sugar and salt, until
dissolved. Cool! Mix
with orange juice.
Wash hens and put
in 2 doubled gallon
plastic bags, pour
brine over hens and
seal bags well. Brine
the hens in the refrigerator
2 hours. Pour
brine off, rinse hens
well. Place in baking
pan, spray with olive
oil spray, sprinkle
with pepper and garlic
powder. Bake at 350º degrees for about one hour (spraying often with
olive oil) until internal temperature is 180º degrees and juices run clear.