Cornish Game Hen and Cranberry Butter Rice

I was asked what is the perfect meal to cook for Valentine’s. I said “why Cornish Game Hen of course served on a bed of wild rice with studs of ruby red pomegranates.” Everyone drew a blank. In the States, this is an ideal meal for the day of lovers

By Aida Azizuddin

Photography by : FriedChillies

Posted on : Thu, February 12, 2009 - 10:30:26 PM

3 Comments

Cornish Game Hen is small, yet succulent. It has less fat content so it’s healthier but also after you roast it, it will be juicier. You won’t have very crispy skin though because of this but don’t worry it will be so delicious you’ll have young men eating from your hands. Okay maybe just the one.

Why this hen? Well it’s different than just a normal roast chicken or steak. It’s cute and since it’s not so big- ideal for two. I don’t know really. It’s the just the thing that popped in my head when thinking about a romantic dinner.

Of course the challenge is to find the said hen. I sent my sister to all manner of stores looking for ‘the clucker’ as she called it. Well it was a little ruder than that but this is a family column afterall. Finally she brought back a chicken that is antibiotic free (making it quite petite) and a kampung chicken (also small but leaner). You can also use spring chicken.

Ingredients for Roast Chicken:

1 whole small chicken (if you can find a Cornish Game Hen then good for you!)
Olive Oil
Molasses
Maple Syrup
Salt and Pepper
Sage
Butter
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
2 Small Onions
Half a Lemon

Method:
After cleaning the bird, tie the drumsticks to the body with a string. This keeps the juices in
Mix the olive oil with molasses and maple syrup and brush it all over the brid
Rub salt, pepper and garlic all over it

Use your finger to separate the skin from the flesh and insert cubes of butter and sage in. This takes a little patience but it will give amazing flavour to the chicken
Cut the lemon into quarters and stuff it in the cavity with the onions, also quartered
Use a toothpick to shut the cavity

The cluckers ready for the oven

Pop it in the oven, 170 degrees for an hour and 20 minutes
Cover it first, then during the last 20 minutes, uncover it so it would brown nicely

Hot from the oven

"It’s cute and since it’s not so big- ideal for two"

Well I saw pomegranates last week at my usual fruit shop and thought excitedly about making rice with pomegranates to go with the hen. As with most things, when you want to find it, that's when it disappears. Suddenly this week there's not a single pomegranate to be found at all. So I got dried cranberries which will give the ruby redness that I want and flavour the rice nicely. It will be a little like nasi minyak but instead of ghee, you are using unsalted butter and instead of sultannahs, you are using dried cranberries.

Ingredients for Cranberry Butter Rice

2 cups of rice (basmati is the best for this)
40g of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
Quarter inch of ginger, chopped finely
2 cups of water + 2 tablespoons of concerntrated chicken stock
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of dried cranberries

Method:
Melt butter with olive oil in pot and fry onions, garlic and ginger until fragrant

Add in the rice and stir it around coating the grains with butter
Add in stock and salt, stir
When it is bubbling, throw in cranberries
Cover and let the rice cook, stirring occasionally

Soft, fluffy and buttery rice

Results:
I was amazed to discover how juicy the chickens were. It simply oozed with moistness. Even the kampung chicken that is super lean was dripping with juices. However if you want more flesh, then opt for the antibiotic free chicken.
Arrange your rice on lovely platter and decorate it with mint leaves and baby spinach.
Lay your chicken on it making sure you scoop up all the juices and pour it back so the flavour will soak into the rice.
Serve with love.

Chef says:

If you are lucky enough to get pomegranates then don't cook it with the rice. Instead once the rice is done scatter the seeds around. Pomegranates are the best for this as they are an aphrodisiac.

Use dice up red peppers if you can't find neither pomegranates nor cranberries. It's the colour red that will make this dish pop.

For texture in your rice, try using one cup normal rice and one cup wild rice.

If your partner has a hearty appetite, roast two. It's hardly more effort and if there's leftover, you can make wonderful chicken sandwiches the next day

Page 1 of 1

lyminn
February 18, 2009 11:53PM GMT

The list of ingredients includes molasses and maple syrup but I don't see where it's actually used. Can I ask what they're used for?

The Foodster
February 19, 2009 2:35AM GMT

It's actually mixed with the olive oil and brushed on the chicken as a baste. If you don't have either, you can sub it with a bit of melted gula melaka or honey. Good luck!

Riz Ainuddin
February 24, 2009 2:26AM GMT

Cooked this over the weekend and it's a confirm champion of champions. Had 10 guest came over at 3 different times to the house just to try it. The rice was absolutely amazing, flavorful and fluffy (providing good basmathi rice is used).

I'm not too sure bout the measurement of the marinade for the chicken. My roast chicken skin came out abit burnt! and the meat (OMFG!) juicy and tender as hell.

The recipe states at 175. My oven is hot so I used 100 celcius instead. I realised that after my chicken was smoking the in the oven at 175.

This is a winner recipe I must say!

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