Today, March 21st, our family honors the memory of my father on his birth date. He passed away at the age of 92, 18 years ago. Although my father lost his sight to macular degeneration, he carried on in his life with much courage and dignity. I have great admiration and appreciation of the special man he was.
Having been raised on a farm, chicken was a very common meal. I think my mother probably prepared chicken every possible way there is to cook them. At that time I had never heard of a Cornish game hen let alone eaten one.
By the 1950’s, the Cornish Game Hen was fabulously popular. The usual weight is about 500-700 grams, which makes it ample for an individual serving. I remember in the 1970’s, Cornish game hens were considered to be a very upscale or exotic dinner and quite expensive.
According to legend, the Cornish game hen was actually ‘invented’. The original breeder was a woman by the name of ‘Tea’ Makowsky. At the age of 15, she moved to Paris, France finding work at both a milliner’s shop and a cheese shop. It was here she met her husband and they married in 1933. Fleeing from the Nazis, they settled in the USA. After fire destroyed their farm in 1949. the Makowskis, began experimenting and came up with a cross breed of Cornish game cocks and Plymouth Rock hens. The result was a plump little bird that matured quickly with all-white meat. In less than 5 weeks, the chicken was ready to be sold.
I’m sure had my Dad tasted this stuffed version he would have probably enjoyed it so I thought it was fitting for todays blog recipe.
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Apricot Amaretto Stuffed Cornish Hens
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Rating: 5
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Instructions
Stuffing
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In a small saucepan, combine dried apricots, apple juice & amaretto; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover & simmer 5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine muffin pieces, almonds, melted butter, cinnamon & apricot mixture. Mix well.
Herb Butter
In a small dish, combine all ingredients. Rinse hens & pat dry. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp salt inside each hen cavity. Stuff each hen with muffin mixture. Skewer opening together. Place hens' breast side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Spread herb butter over each one then place a bacon slice on each breast. Cover with foil. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.
In a saucepan over low heat, melt plum jam, stirring frequently.
After 1 1/2 hours of roasting, remove bacon & continue roasting hens, uncovered for 15 more minutes, basting with plum jam every 5 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to ensure hens are cooked through. Remove skewers . Serve immediately.
* To toast almonds, spread on a cookie sheet, bake at 375 F. for 5-6 minutes or until light golden brown, stirring occasionally.
You guessed it —- more roasted fruit! It seems to be my addiction this summer. This time its not that I had fruit on hand but instead some mascarpone cheese. Who would dream of letting that go to waste?? Sometimes called Italian Cream Cheese, mascarpone is believed to have originated in the Lombardy region of Italy. Mascarpone is used in both sweet and savory dishes to enhance the flavor without overwhelming the original taste. Lombardy has a rich agricultural and dairy heritage. Farms that produce the cheese provide their cows with special grasses that include fresh herbs and flowers. This in turn gives a unique taste to the milk and a creamy texture to the cheese.
Some years ago, Brion and I visited the Lombardy region of Italy. We have great memories of the wonderful food but probably even more so the beauty of the architecture and history. We spent a bit of time in Milan. While there we visited the world renowned ‘La Scala’ opera house and museum as well as the glass roofed shopping arcade and giant cathedral, the ‘Gothic Duomo’. I’ve included some of our photos from Milan for you to enjoy.
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Roasted Summer Fruit with Spiced Mascarpone Cream
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
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In a skillet, toast almonds until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
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Preheat oven to 400 F. In a small roasting pan, toss together all prepared fruit, half of the sugar, the brandy & butter. Roast, stirring occasionally, until for tender, about 15-20 minutes.
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While fruit is roasting, beat together mascarpone, remaining sugar, vanilla, ginger & cardamom until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip cream; fold into mascarpone mixture along with half of the almonds.
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Divide mascarpone mixture into dessert dishes forming a mound in each. Spoon fruit & pan juices over top. Sprinkle with remaining almonds.
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Recipe Notes
- You can prepare the fruit & cream ahead. Just keep them in separate dishes; cover & refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
Perhaps its no surprise that Asian pears suffer an identity crises. They are often called ‘apple pears’ because of their crisp texture and apple flavor characteristics. Asian pears are a cross between the Ussuri pear and the Japanese Sand pear, having no relation whatsoever to apples.
Some of the Asian pears made their way west with Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the 1850’s. Their shape and taste were modified into fruit like the well known ‘Bartlett’pear. Other pears travelled eastward to Korea and Japan. These ‘Asian’ pears became more like an apple in shape and crisper in texture. Unlike other types of pears, which you want to eat when they have a bit of give to them, ripe Asian pears are firm. Even though they are hard, they still bruise easily, which is why you often see them sporting ‘foam net sweaters’ for protection in the grocery stores.
Since I had a couple of these nice juicy pears on hand as well as some Brie, putting them into strudel seems like a good idea. I’m just going to ‘wing it’ as the saying goes, and combine a few ideas to see what develops. What’s not to love about strudel, right?!
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Asian Pear & Brie Strudel
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Rating: 4.5
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Votes: 2
Rating: 4.5
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Instructions
Pear Filling
In a small saucepan, combine pears, apple juice & maple syrup. Bring to boiling; reduce heat & simmer uncovered about 5 minutes or until pears are tender. Drain pears; add nuts, cherries, brown sugar & apple pie spice. Toss gently until mixed; set aside.
Streusal
In a bowl, stir together flour, oats, sugars, spices & salt until fully combined. Gently stir in melted butter & crumble ingredients together. Set aside
Strudel Pastry
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder & salt. With a pastry blender, cut in cream cheese & shortening until mixture resembles coarse peas. Stir in milk. On a lightly floured work surface, knead dough gently about 20 times. On a sheet of parchment paper, press dough out to a 14"x 14" square & lightly butter pastry.
On another large sheet of parchment paper, spread streusal topping out evenly. Lay pastry, buttered side down over streusal & press down lightly. Lay thinly sliced BRIE cheese over pastry, then top evenly with pear filling. Roll up pastry from the longest side using parchment to do so.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lay filled strudel roll with parchment on a baking sheet. Slice top of strudel part way through at 1" intervals. Remove any excess streusal. Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove strudel from baking sheet & place on a wire rack. Sprinkle with excess streusal.
Although prunes sometimes get a bad rap, the salty nature of pork and the sweetness of apples and prunes combined is excellent.
The Italian Prune Plum also known as European Plums are free stone and most readily grown for prune production. Their ability to create a high concentration of fermentable sugars not only makes them the ideal candidate for drying but also for making preserves, wine and brandy.
Native to the Mediterranean coastal regions of Italy, Italian prune plums thrive in arid climates. Even though plums adapt to a wide variety of growing regions, they require minimal humidity and rainfall to prevent disease and encourage fruit development during their growing season.
Oddly enough, all prunes are plums but not all plums are prunes. Prune plum varieties have a very high sugar content which enables them to be dried without fermenting while still containing their pits.
This is a nice meal to serve over quinoa along with roasted acorn squash and brussel sprouts.
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Roast Pork with Apples & Prunes
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Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a saucepan, brown onions & tenderloin in hot oil for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Combine BBQ sauce, apple juice & thyme; pour over meat & onions. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Add apples & prunes & bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. or until pork & apples are tender.
