Citrus Grilled Game Hems Recipes

TUSCAN GRILLED CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Sprinkle the Cornish hens with 1 teaspoon salt on each side.
• Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a ceramic or glass dish just large enough to hold the flattened hens. Add the hens, and turn to coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning once or twice.
• When ready to grill, prepare a hot charcoal fire on one side of a grill (or turn a gas grill on low heat). Spread 1/4 of the coals across the other side of the grill. Place the hens on the cooler side skin-side up and weigh them down with a gratin dish with a foil-wrapped brick inside.
• Cook for 12 minutes, until the underside is golden brown. Turn the hens skin-side down, weigh them down again, and cook for another 12 minutes until the skin is golden brown and the hens are cooked through.
• Place the lemon halves on the cool side of the grill, cut-side down, for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove the Cornish hens and lemons to a plate or cutting board, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Cut the hens in half, sprinkle with fleur de sel, and serve with the grilled lemon halves.

GRILLED CORNISH GAME HENS

Steps:

• In a large, non-reactive bowl, mix onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, white wine, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, pepper, celery salt, and salt. Place Cornish game hens in the bowl, coating evenly with the marinade mixture. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 4 hours.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil grate.
• Cook hens about 1 hour on the prepared grill, brushing occasionally with remaining marinade, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

GRILLED GAME HENS WITH CITRUS, GINGER, AND SOY

Steps:

• Grate the outer layer of peel from the orange and the lemon; juice half the lemon, and place all marinade ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
• Butterfly the game hens: cut out the backbone with sharp kitchen shears, turn the hen over (breast up) and bend the breast backward where it attaches to the breastbone; place your thumbs on either side of the breastbone and press down while pulling up on the outer sides of the breast with your fingers (I find this difficult--I just take the heels of my hands and smash it).
• Place hens in a plastic bag with the marinade, force out excess air, seal tight and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
• Set up grill for indirect cooking. Remove hens from marinade and grill, covered, for about 30 minutes or until breast meat registers 165-170F on an instant-read thermometer (mine took about 45 minutes).

FLATTENED CORNISH GAME HENS WITH GARLIC-CITRUS MARINADE

Steps:

• Prepare BBQ (Medium heat).
• Combine olive oil, chopped thyme, garlic,lemon peel, lime peel, honey, salt, and pepper in a baking dish and stir marinade to blend well.
• Place hens on work surface and cover with plastic wrap and pound gently with mallet to flatten slightly.
• Place hen halves in marinade in dish, using fingers, rub both sides of hens with marinade.
• Let marinate 20 minutes at room temperature.
• Grill hen halves until just cooked through and skin is lightly charred, brushing with remaining marinade, about 12 minutes per side.
• Arrange hen on plates and garnish lemon wedges, lime wedges, and fresh thyme sprigs.

ROASTED CITRUS-HERB GAME HEN

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Rinse the game hens and pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, shallots, orange zest, lemon zest, thyme, mint, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Rub 2 tablespoons of the zest mixture over the skins of the game hens. Place the remainder of the zest mixture under the skin and into the cavities of the hens. Using kitchen twine, truss the legs together. Place the hens in a shallow 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Add the chicken stock, Marsala wine, lemon juice, orange juice, and cranberries. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the leg juices run clear. Remove the game hens and set aside. Place the flour in a small saucepan. Whisk in the pan juices. Bring the juices to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Whisk in the butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• To serve, remove the kitchen twine and place the hens on 2 serving plates. Drizzle with the citrus-herb sauce.

SPATCHCOCKED AND ROASTED CORNISH GAME HEN WITH GREEN MOJO AND MASHED CITRUS SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• For the Cornish game hen: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet.
• Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, a few minutes. Grind in a spice grinder. Combine half of the ground spices, the garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Reserve the remaining ground spices.
• Pat the hen dry with paper towels and season all over with the spice mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and place, skin-side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Roast until cooked through, 35 to 45 minutes. Cut the hen in half.
• For the green mojo: Combine the olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, serrano and the reserved ground cumin and coriander in a high-powered blender. Blend until bright green and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Pour the sauce over the hen and serve with Mashed Citrus Sweet Potatoes.
• Place the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover by 1 inch with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and season with salt. Turn down the heat and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the potatoes, then add them back to the pot to dry. Mash the potatoes in the pan. Add the chicken stock, honey, thyme, lemon zest and juice and orange zest and juice. Add more chicken stock if needed. Season with salt and pepper.

ROASTED GAME HEN WITH CITRUS-CLOVE GLAZE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. Arrange lemon slices on baking sheet in two 3 x 5-inch rectangles. Season Cornish game hen halves generously with salt and pepper. Place game hen halves, skin side up atop rectangles of lemon slices. Roast game hen halves 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine orange marmalade, fresh lemon juice, bourbon, grated lemon peel and ground cloves in heavy small saucepan. Simmer marmalade mixture over medium heat until thickened to consistency of glaze, about 4 minutes. Season marmalade glaze to taste with salt and pepper.
• Brush game hen halves with marmalade glaze. Continue to roast hen halves until juices run clear when thighs are pierced and hen halves are deep brown, brushing 2 more times with marmalade glaze, about 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

CITRUS GRILLED GAME HEMS

Steps:

• Rinse hens and remove giblets and liver. Butterfly hens by removing backbone with kitchen shears and flattening hen on flat surface. Clip wing tips. Trim any excess or hanging fat so it doesn't drip down into the grill and cause flare-ups. Combine first twelve ingredients in a large bowl. Place hens in heavy duty ziploc bag and pour marinade in. Keep hens in marinade all day, preferably overnight, if possible. When ready to grill, remove hens and discard marinade. Combine next 6 ingredients in a small bowl. this is your basting sauce. Grill hens indirectly over medium heat, basting and rotating every 10- 15 minutes, until a meat thermometer registers doneness.

GRILLED GAME HENS

Steps:

• Place hens in a large resealable plastic bag. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour half into bag; add the hens. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade. , Drain and discard marinade from hens. Place hens in a 13x9-in. disposable aluminum pan. Pour reserved marinade over hens; cover pan. , Grill, covered, over medium-hot heat for 35-40 minutes or until a thermometer reads 180° and meat juices run clear, basting frequently. Place hens directly over heat for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking time, turning once.

STEVE RAICHLEN'S GRILLED GAME HENS

Steps:

• 1. For the marinade, whisk together all the ingredients except the game hens and lemons in a large bowl.
• 2. Rinse, drain, and halve the hens lengthwise; place in the bowl, coating thoroughly with marinade. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 8 hours (the longer, the better), turning occasionally.
• 3. Preheat the grill, using the three-tier method (see note below ). When ready to cook, oil the grill rack. Remove hens from the marinade and arrange skin-side down on the rack over the hottest section of the grill; cook until the skin starts to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Move the hens to the center section of the grill and continue to cook until the skin is thoroughly browned, 7 to 10 minutes more.
• 4. Turn the hens and move them back to the hottest section of the grill. Brown the second side well, 5 to 7 minutes, then move the pieces back to the center section of the grill to finish cooking. The total cooking time will be about 25 to 35 minutes. When ready, the hens will be crisp and golden-brown outside, and the juices will run clear when the meat is pierced. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
• Three-Tier Grilling Method:
• Pile 2/3 of the coals on one side of the grill and the remaining 1/3 in the center. Leave a small portion of the grill free of coals. Three-tier grilling gives you a super-hot heat source for searing, a moderately hot heat source for cooking, and an area to place the food if it starts to burn. You control the heat by moving the food from one area to the other.