Cornish hens are stuffed with figs soaked in a port wine and allspice marinade, then baked on a bed of salt. Cooking the poultry on a bed of salt produces a beautiful golden skin and does not impart much salt to the finished dish as you might think. It is a classic method. Plan ahead to marinate the figs in the port for 1 hour before beginning.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 to 6 medium to large fresh figs
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 cup Port
- 4 1-pound poussin or Cornish hens, giblets removed and rinsed
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 4 cups rock salt or other salt
Preparation:
Cut figs in quarters. In a small bowl mix allspice with Port wine. Put figs in a zip-lock bag, add marinade, close, shake back and forth a few times and marinate 1 hour.Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Put salt in a shallow roasting pan just large enough to hold all the Cornish hens without crowding.
Loosen the skin of the hens and season with salt and pepper. Season cavity with salt and pepper and stuff with drained figs. (If using small hens, you may have a few figs left over. Do not overstuff the hens, however.) Brush the flesh of the hens with fig marinade and truss hens. Brush any remaining marinade over hens.
Put hens in the oven 30 to 35 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees in the deep thigh of the hens. Remove, let rest 10 minutes, covered with foil. Untruss and serve.
Tips: Roasting poultry - from Cornish hens to turkeys - on rock salt (or other salt) minimizes grease splattering. Just scrape off any salt that may have attached to the bottom of the birds and discard the grease-soaked salt from the roasting pan.
Yield: 4 servings
Recipe Source: Cooking to Beat the Clock by Sam Gugino (Chronicle Books)
Reprinted with permission.
