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Cornish Hens with Fresh Figs
Ingredients
- Stuffing:
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1/3 cup veal demi glace
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup dried apricots or figs, chopped
- salt and pepper
- Figs and sauce
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1 pint fresh figs (or other fruit), stemmed and halved
- 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
- 1 cup cabernet
- 1 1/3 cups veal demi-glace
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
- salt and pepper
- Hens:
- 4 hens
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp canola oil
Instructions
- Make stuffing:
- Cook onion, celery and garlic in butter in a heavy 10" skillet over moderate hear, stirring occasionally, until golden (10 minutes). Add demi-glace and bring to a boil. Stir in other ingredients and combine.
- Figs and Sauce:
- Heat 2 tbsp butter in large heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foamy. Saute figs without stirring 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add shallots and saute until golden, 3-5 minutes. Add wine and 10 fig halves (reserve the rest of the fruit) and bring to a boil, stirring and mashing the figs, until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Add demi-glace. Combine cornstarch with vinegar and pour into skillet, whisking to incorporate. Boil sauce 2 minutes and strain through a fine sieve into a heavy saucepan. Stir in tarragon, salt and pepper.
- Hens:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Stuff hens and season. Heat butter and oil in heavy skillet and brown hens well on all sides (10 minutes). Roast breast side up in a foil pan until done (30 minutes or until clear liquid runs when leg poked with a knife). Add reserved fruit to the pan for the last 5 minutes of roasting. While hens are roasting, bring sauce to a boil and add 1 tbsp butter for flavor. Serve hens with sauce.
Additional Notes
Sophisticated and delicious.
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