Maple Mustard Game Hens

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Title: Maple Mustard Game Hens
Categories: Poultry, Ceideburg 2
Yield: 2 servings

2 Cornish game hens, about
-1/4 pounds each
1 tb Dijon mustard
2 tb Lemon juice
1/2 c Peanut oil or other
-vegetable oil (not olive)
1/3 c Pure maple syrup
8 To 10 peppercorns
1 lg Bay leaf, crumbled
1 lg Garlic clove, quartered

Here's a poultry recipe that uses maple syrup and mustard++a combo I
sometimes use on BBQ pork ribs. Looks good here.

Use a sharp chef's knife or kitchen shears to cut the backbone and
rib cage from the birds. Starting just to one side of the tail, cut
all the way to the other end, right beside the backbone. Repeat on
the other side. You will now have removed the backbone and the hen
will lie more or less flat. This makes it easy to see the fans of the
rib bones.

Remove them, too. Wipe the meat with a damp paper towel and set the
hens aside.

Put the mustard in a small bowl. Beat in the lemon juice with a wire
whisk, then beat in first the oil, then the maple syrup. Sprinkle the
peppercorns, bay leaf and garlic in a shallow noncorrodible pan or
bowl just large enough to hold the flattened hens in a single layer.

Pour in about a quarter of the marinade. Add the meat, cut side
down, and pour the remaining marinade over it. Cover tightly and
refrigerate for 1 day (or at least a few hours), turning from time to
time.

Remove the meat from the refrigerator about 1 hour before cooking.

At cooking time, move the rack so the hens will be in the upper third
of the oven; preheat oven to 400F.

Drain excess marinade from the hens and arrange them, cut side down,
in a shallow noncorrodible roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes,
baste, raise the heat to 425F and roast for about 20 minutes more.
Do not turn the meat, which should be well browned by the end of the
cooking time.

Serve garnished with the watercress.

Serves 2.

From "The New England Epicure" by Leslie Land.

From the San Francisco Chronicle, 3/1/89.

Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; November 12 1992.

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