August 5, 2010
Dinner was supposed to be “Peppered Cornish Hens and Asparagus with lemon and marjoram”, Food and Wine Italian, pg 137, except I didn’t have any lemons and asparagus is out of season in August. I was at three stores today but never realized I needed lemons. I have a bowl full of limes, a tree full of over-ripe grapefruit, woodpecker eaten oranges and a couple of tangelos but no lemons. I wasn’t about to go out again to get lemons. Since I didn’t use the recipe, I’m putting it back in rotation.
The original recipe:
6 T olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 T fresh marjoram or 1 tsp dried (oregano is a good substitute)
2 Cornish Game hens, split
1 pound asparagus
Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and marjoram in a small bowl. Rinse and pat dry the split hens. Cover with the dressing (about ¼ cup), turn to coat.
Trim the hard ends off the asparagus and then toss with 2 T of the rest of the dressing.
Heat the grill to moderate. Cook the hens for 12 minutes, basting with the dressing and flipping once. Grill the asparagus at the same time, about 12 minutes, turning once. Serve warm with the asparagus and the extra dressing.
How I did it: Since I didn’t have lemons and I had a bunch of limes, I made a dressing of limes, garlic, cilantro and sea salt.
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T cilantro, minced
2 T olive oil
Combine and marinate the hens in a plastic zip bag. Start the grill for a hot fire. Grill the hens for 12 minutes or until done. Turn once during cooking.
Make additional dressing. Since asparagus is out of season, I served the hens over rice and spinach with the additional dressing poured over all.
I was using charcoal from Whole Foods instead of briquettes and it took longer and didn’t get as hot. The hens were a bit undercooked, but after micro waving to heat them up for left-overs they should be just right.
It was pretty good. A little too limey for me, but I was winging it.
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