Little chicks aka Cornish Hens
I grew up in a home where my mom was constantly cooking. As I’ve mentioned before, her traditional Syrian dishes were, and still are, my favorites, but she didn’t limit herself to Middle Eastern dishes. Cornish hens (aka little chicks) were always a staple we had every few weeks. I loved those meals because we each got our own hen and it just seemed so fancy to me.
Last week my mom put in a large Insta cart order and ended up with a six pack of Cornish hens. She asked if I wanted any and I immediately said yes. For some reason I hadn’t made them in quite a while and figured they would be a nice weekend meal and trip down memory lane.
I kept the dish simple and used rosemary, lavender and lemons from the yard, but you can use dried herbs if you don’t have fresh on hand.
Ingredients:
2 Cornish Hens
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary slightly crushed to release the flavor or 1 tablespoon odried
2 springs of lavender or ½ tablespoon dried (can be omitted as I know lavender is hard to get sometimes)
3 – 4 tablespoons of olive oil
Two lemons quartered
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash and pat the hens dry. Make sure you pull out the giblets if there are any, mine came sans giblets, but most usually include them. Pour 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil in cavity then add one spring of rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, and one quartered lemon. Coat the outside of the hen with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Tie the hen’s legs together with cooking twine and insert the lavender between the leg and thigh. Do the same for the remaining bird, place in a glass baking pan or roasting pan, and add remaining quartered lemons. Bake at 375 degrees for about 1.5 hours or until a thermometer registers 180 degrees when insert between leg and thigh. Pull out of oven and cover loosely with foil and rest for about 10 minutes before serving. The lemon can be squeezed over the hens or you can eat them as they’ve mellowed out during the roasting.
Wine to pair?
I went with a Spanish Garnacha for this meal and it went well with the chicks. I think a chardonnay would also pair well since the seasonings are really mellow and don’t compete with the wine.
However, COVID-19, so pair with what you have on hand. Luckily, here in SD, we still have access to large varieties of wines, but I know that’s not the case everywhere. So raise your glass to toast, no matter what it’s filled with, and cheers!
Stay safe and be well my friends.
