To contact us Click HERE
A very nice tasting modern game hen entree!
That is one game hen in the photographs above! The game hen was split in half, then deboned, except for the leg bone. The deboned game hen half was laid flat, stuffed and then the deboned meat was wrapped around the stuffing. Butcher string was used to truss the game hen into a cone shape with the leg bone pointed upward. The leg bone was Frenched bar and the joint end was clipped off for a clean look. Meat fabrication skills are required by chefs and they are not hard for home cooks to learn. Even though a chef prepares a food item by the thousands in a lifetime, the first few times is when the technique is learned. Becoming quick at fabricating meats does usually come with repetition. I can make quick work of fabricating game hens to look like this. Home cooks should not worry about being as fast as a chef, when learning meat fabrication. Accuracy and making a product look good is more important. Those who work a bit slow should keep in mind that the longer that meat is kept in the temperature danger zone, the risk of pathogen contamination increases. The temperature danger zone is 41 to 140 degrees. If it takes longer than expected to complete a meat fabrication project, then it is best to take a break and chill the meat back to a temperature of minus 41 degrees. This is called controlling time/temperature abuse. Ready to eat food must be thrown out after 4 hours in the temperature danger zone. Raw meats, especially seafood, should be kept below 41 degrees at all times, so a minimal amount of time should be spent fabricating meat in an environment that is above 41 degrees. If you go by cooling temperature standards, the meat must be cooled back to a safe temperature of minus 41 degrees or be cooked to a safe serving temperature within 2 hours. Cooked food must be cooled to 70 degrees within 2 hours and then cooled to minus 41 degrees within the next 2 hours. That makes for a 4 hour time limit for cooling food. The safe cooking temperature of all poultry (except for duck) is 165 degrees. Duck poses no salmonella risk, so it is regulated by serving temperature disclaimers on a menu, just like meats that are cooked less than well done. Stuffed meat must be 165 degrees for 15 seconds. The safe holding temperature for all hot food is 135 degrees. With the holiday season coming around, it is nice to know the facts about safe food handling. I am a certified Las Vegas, Nevada food handler and I am a nationally certified Servsafe food handler. Las Vegas has the strictest health codes in the world and the Servsafe certification is required at most restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip. Anybody, including home cooks can take part in a Servsafe food handler program in person or on the internet. The information is valuable for safe food handling practice. The risk of making holiday guests ill with bad food can easily be alleviated after learning how to be a safe food handler by taking part in a Servsafe certification program. Education is the key to food safety!
Pickled Mirliton Garnish: Mirliton is another name for chayote squash! Dice 2 tablespoons of chayote squash and set it aside. (1/4"x1/4"x1/4") Place 1/2 cup of water in a small sauce pot. Add 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt. Add 1/2 tablespoon of white wine vinegar. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Add 2 pinches of mustard seed. Add 1 clove. Add 1 small pinch of allspice. Add 1/2 of a bay leaf. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the temperature to low heat. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add the diced chayote squash. Gently simmer till the chayote becomes tender and till it gains the flavor of the light pickling brine. Pour the ingredients into a bowl. Refrigerate till the pickled mirliton is needed. Allow the pickled mirliton to come up to room temperature, before garnishing the plate. Beef Chorizo Bulgar Wheat Stuffing: Farci means "stuffing or stuffed with" in French! Chorizo does not have to be cooked dark brown. It can be cooked to a lighter color. This way, the paprika will not become bitter tasting. A #3 size bulgar wheat is pilaf size. Rice was not the first grain used to make pilaf! Soak 1/2 cup of #3 size bulgar wheat in water in a refrigerator for 3 hours. Drain the water off of the bulgar wheat. Place the bulgar wheat in a small sauce pot. Add 2 cups of water. Place the pot over medium high heat. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the temperature to low heat. Cover the pot with a loose fitting lid. Simmer the bulgar wheat, till it becomes tender. Drain the water off of the bulgar wheat and set it aside. Heat a saute pan over medium/medium low heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add 1/2 of a minced garlic clove. Add 1 tablespoon of finely minced onion. Add 1 tablespoon of minced celery. Saute till the onion turns clear in color. Add 3 to 4 ounces of uncased finely ground raw beef chorizo sausage. Saute and stir constantly, so the sausage does not clump together and so minimal browning occurs. Saute till the chorizo becomes fully cooked. Add the cooked bulgar wheat. Add 3 pinches of minced cilantro. (No other seasoning is necessary, because the chorizo is loaded with spices!) Add 1 cup of chicken broth. Simmer and reduce the liquid, till the liquid is almost completely evaporated. Stir the ingredients occasionally. Set the beef chorizo bulgar wheat stuffing aside and let it cool to room temperature.
Cornish Game Hen Preparation: Take care not to damage the skin of the game hen! Clip the wings off at the ends of the drummettes. Clip off the tail. Split the game hen in half, from end to end, through the back bone and breast bone. Use a filet knife to scrape the meat free from the back bone and rib cage. Cut the back bone free from the upper thigh joint. Cut shallow slices on both sides of the thigh bone, then cut underneath the thigh bone. Pull the thigh bon up and cut it free at the knee joint. Clip the lower leg joint off and press and slide the meat down the leg bone to expose and French the bone. Now you should have 2 boneless cornish gam hen halves that still have the Frenched lower leg bones attached. The skin should be undamaged.
Cornish Game Hen and Beef Chorizo Bulgar Wheat Farci: Lay the 2 boneless game hen halve flat on a counter top, with the skin facing down. Press a mound of the beef chorizo bulgar wheat stuffing on the game hen. (Any excess stuffing can be saved for another recipe!) Wrap the game hen around the stuffing, so the game hen half takes on a cone like shape. Pull the meat from the neck end partially over the stuffing on the wide end of the cone shape. Use butcher's twine to truss the stuffed game hen half, so it stays in a cone like shape. Lightly brush a muffin pan with vegetable oil. Stand the cone shaped trussed game hens halves upright in two of the muffin molds in the pan. Brush the outside of the game hens with melted unsalted butter. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Sprinkle 2 pinches of thyme over the game hen halves. Roast in a 325 degree oven, till the stuffing becomes 165 degrees for 15 seconds and till the game hen meat becomes fully cooked. The stuffed game hen should be a golden brown color. Allow the stuffed game hen halves to rest for 2 minutes before cutting off the butcher's twine. The sauce can be made while the game hens roast!
Modena Balsamic Tomato Sauce: Modena, Italy is where balsamic vinegar was created. Balsamic vinegar from Modena is of high quality! Heat a small sauce pot over medium/medium low heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add 1 teaspoon of minced shallot. Add 1 chopped garlic clove. Saute till the shallot turns clear in color. Add 6 tablespoon of tomato paste. Gently saute and stir, till the tomato paste becomes lightly caramelized. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Add sea salt and white pepper. Add 1 pinch of paprika. Bring the sauce to a gentle boil, while whisking. Reduce the temperature to low heat. Gently simmer and reduce the sauce, till it becomes a thin tomato sauce consistency. Add 1 tablespoon of Modena balsamic vinegar. Simmer and reduce the sauce, till it becomes a medium thin tomato sauce consistency. Keep the sauce warm on a stove top.
Creme Fraiche: Mix 3 tablespoons of cream with 3 tablespoons of sour cream. Place the creme fraiche in a plastic squirt bottle.
Cornish Game Hen and Beef Chorizo Bulgar Wheat Farci and Modena Balsamic Tomato Sauce, Crème Fraîche and Pickled Mirliton: Spoon and spread the Modena Balsamic Tomato Sauce on a plate as a bed for the game hen halves. Use the plastic squirt bottle to paint parallel lines of creme fraiche across the balsamic tomato sauce. Drag a skewer tip across the creme fraiche lines to paint the plate. Attach green onion flowers to the Frenched leg bones on top of the game hen halves. (optional) Place the Cornish Game Hen a la Beef Chorizo Bulgar Wheat Farci halves upright on the sauceed plate. Sprinkle the diced pickled mirliton garnish over the sauce.
This is a nice looking plate of modern food! As you can see by the techniques and ingredients, this recipe has influences from all over europe and some influence from the middle east. As a customer in a restaurant, a presentation like this is what is called "getting your money's worth!" I tend to sell plates of food like this in a restaurant at reasonable prices. In the old days of fine dining, the standard of the quality was much higher than it is now in modern times. Nowadays, many "rip off" chefs demand more money for the same high quality that used to be the standard of the industry! Why be at their mercy, when you can create your own fancy presentations of food at home for a fraction of the price! Like the great Arabic food salesman says: "Why pay the price of two camels and one goat for a meal like this, when you can purchase this wonderful food merchandise for the price of one small chicken and have great enjoyment by cooking this recipe yourself at home, my friend! Yes, my friend! It is a bargain!" Ha Ha Ha! As you can tell, my step grandfather was a great food salesman from Lebanon as well as being a great chef. Yum! ... Shawna
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder