Right.
Except for the part where you rip out the little birdy's spine and then crush it's breastbone so it lays flat. On principle, I don't really have a problem with this. The huli-huli chicken I cooked from Hawai'i Cuisine a month back prepared me for the spinal dismemberment. My problem was that the hens I bought were partially frozen, which I didn't realize at the time. Two days in the fridge was apparently not enough to thaw them out. I took them out to bring them to room temperature, and heard them clunk against the counter. Woops. It was a little difficult to cut through the spine while the entire cavity was full of frozen "juice." Bloody chunks of ice wound up all over my counter. Gross. Me. Out. I will say that it was much easier to cut through the ribs with kitchen shears than it was to saw through them with a not-so-sharp knife, like I did a month ago, so I'll thank Dorie for that tip. I put so much weight behind my breaking of poor birdy's breastbone that I smashed my head on the cabinet. Twice. I'm a slow learner.
Because the tapenade at my supermarket is awful, I made Dorie's recipe from page 487. Straight off the spoon, this is the best tapenade I've ever had. It was light and lemony and herbal, and I want to bake a bread tomorrow so I have something to smear it on.
Cooked on the hens, the tapenade lost most of its flavor.
My hen cooked perfectly in thirty minutes. Matt's was bloody. They were beside each other in a pan. I don't understand how their experiences in-oven could have yielded such different results.
Conclusion: Love the tapenade, alone. As for the hens, they were just okay. The tapenade didn't hold up to cooking.
one good trick to be certain frozen poultry, fish, or meat is evenly defrosted is to put in an airtight ziplock bag and submerge in warm water for about a half hour.
ReplyDeleteToo funny, your post had me literally laughing out loud. I had never spatchcocked a bird before either, but I just took that other bone out instead of trying to break it and it was pretty easy, so maybe give that a try next time instead of subjecting yourself to further injury. I really liked this technique for cooking a bird and I really liked that this smaller bird cooked so quickly. But like you, I don't think I will use tapenade again, I'm thinking that next time a little garlic butter under the skin is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteWe love cornish game hens but I'm lazy and but the kind you don't really have to do anything to. This kind of sounds like a nightmare...yikes!
ReplyDeleteThe tapenade sounds intriguing!
Oh Eileen! I'm so sorry about your Cornish hen misadventures. I second Stacy's tip about defrosting the hens in plastic bags, although I'm as flabbergasted about them not thawing completely after a couple of days in the fridge. Glad to hear you enjoyed the tapenade... I need to try Dorie's version soon.
ReplyDeleteHow strange that one of the hens was cooked and not the other. I wonder if your oven temp is off...Sorry to heat that you banged your head a couple of times! I hope it all was worth it. I also made Dorie's tapenade and loved it. I only wish I had made more.
ReplyDeleteHow funny! I'll have to admit, I usually only by chicken breast or whole chickens to roast because chopping them up still kind of grosses me out. I was afraid to use to much of the tapenade because of Dories comment that a little goes a long way when it heats up. I probably could have added more because I didn't taste much of it.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't taste much of the tapenade, either...I totally agree with you that the tapenade by itself was great!
ReplyDeleteThis was such an easy recipe...too bad it wasn't so simple for you this time (you did make me laugh, though :))!
The horror still lives on in my mind. I swear that stack of birds is going to get me in my sleep. GAAAAAA
ReplyDeleteHmm, I'm not sure why your birds cooked unevenly either. I'm on the fence about making this one.
ReplyDeleteI made two birds and one was a little more well done than the other, but not noticeably. Maybe one bird just got more thawed out than the other. Hopefully your game hen injuries heal quickly!
ReplyDeleteI had the same reaction you did to the cooked tapenade -- I wish I had followed my intuition and used more! Next time :)
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I've had hen cooking weirdness before too. The one could have been a little less defrosted or bigger? Who knows. I always just take the temperatures and if I have to leave one in the oven a few minutes longer I do.
Love all the violence featured in this post...LOL. Thank God I stuck with my chocolate chip cookies, less blood and bone-breaking, but more rewarding (on the hips too, I may add). That homemade tapenade sounds great, will have to give it a try myself. As for the unevenness in cooking, it could be hot spots in your oven or maybe Matt's bird was not completely thawed out when you placed it in the oven?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the olive tapenade..homemade ones straight from Dorie's book is the best ever I have tried :) great post!
ReplyDeleteOh no! Frozen poultry make life hard - I was lucky this time as my birds had not been frozen, but I feel your pain. Hey, at least you discovered some good tapenade.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!! Well, it seems we had opposite opinions! I didnt like the tapenade like everyone else and found it overpowering against the delicate bird, but maybe because I used olives in brine instead of oil? I'm not sure, but in the end I still like the game hens and poussins as an alternative to chicken and will make birds spatchcocked again, but with a different rub perhaps!
ReplyDeleteI loved the tapenade, too. I might use a little more next time, but found the flavour came through this time, too.
ReplyDeleteI love your story of mayhem in the kitchen! I'm glad you survived to have dinner!