Cornish Game Hens

 

Defrost in refrigerator. They usually come frozen.

Serve one per person.

Preheat oven to 350.

Salt and pepper inside and out. Spread outside with olive oil. Shake on salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, and dried basil. For a Caribbean touch, put pieces of lime inside.

Roast for one hour, basting when you think of it, then raise temperature to 400 for ten minutes to brown skin.

Serve with french fries and a little salad for a very French meal.

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How to make great french fries:

Use Ore-Ida frozen shoestrings. Use plenty of liquid vegetable oil, like Wesson oil, in a frying pan (non-Teflon) as large as you have. Heat the oil a couple of minutes before adding the potatoes. Be careful, stand back, when you add the potatoes as the hot fat splatters on contact with the cold. Make sure there's enough room for the fat to get at all sides of the shoestrings. When they are golden brown (about 8 minutes?) remove with slotted instrument and drain on paper towels. Salt and serve. For economy, the fat can be stored in a glass jar and re-used, but each time you re-use it, add a little fresh vegetable oil.

 

Fancy Shmancy Game Hens (or Poussins)

Polletti Arrosto al Rosmarino

 

6 hens butterflied with backbones cut open and spread open

3 medium onions silivered

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary plus a few sprigs for decoration

2/3 cup olive oil

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Preheat over to 350.

Season hens with salt and pepper and arrange, skin side down, in layer. Sprinkle with onions and rosemary and drizzle with olive oil. Turn them over and spoon onion-and-oil mixture on top. Cover lossley and refrigerate for 3 hrs. Bring back to room temp before cooking. Place birds in oven, skin side up, and bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until tender, basting once midway through. If necessary, brown under broiler.

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From La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio. What they served Prince Charles for lunch.