Recipe - Oven-Roasted Cornish Game Hens With Sage-Shallot Polenta

Sageshallot polenta or any
kind of leftover polenta
2 tablespoon Minced fresh sage leaves
One fourth pound Pancetta, cut into small
cubes
4 Cornish game hens, about 1
pound each
Kosher salt and black pepper
in a mill
Olive oil
16 Whole sage leaves, plus more
for garnish

Peel and mince 3 shallots and saute in 1 tablespoon butter until soft and
fragrant. Add 2 tablespoons minced fresh sage, stir, and remove from the
heat. Add to the polenta with the pepper, butter, and cheese.

Prepare the sageshallot polenta several hours in advance. When it is done,
pour it onto a baking sheet rinsed in cold water and use a rubber spatula
to spread it 3/4inch thick. Let it cool slightly and then place it in the
refrigerator, covered, until it is very firm. Remove it from the
refrigerator, cut it into small cubes, and place the cubes in a medium
mixing bowl. Add the minced sage and the pancetta, toss lightly, and set
aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the game hens inside and out, dry
them thoroughly with a clean tea towel, and set them on end, central cavity
down, on absorbent paper or toweling so that excess moisture can drain out.
Let them sit for 5 minutes. Stuff the hens one by one. Turn the hen on end,
with the cavity facing you. Season the inside with salt and one or two
turns of black pepper, and then fill the cavity with about 1 cup polenta
mixture. When all the hens have been stuffed, loosen the breast skin by
extending your finger under the skin to loosen the membrane. Insert 2 sage
leaves under each side of the breast skin of each hen and then truss or tie
the hens tightly with string to close the cavities. Pour a little olive oil
in the palm of one hand and rub the olive oil over the surface of the hen's
skin. Season each with several turns of black pepper and a little salt. Set
the hens on a roasting rack, place in a baking pan, and roast for
approximately 1 hour. Remove from the oven, remove the string, and serve
immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

NOTES : Cooking Live Recipe by: Cooking LIve Show #CL8811

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #460 by Angele Freeman jfreeman@netusa1.net
on Jan 31, 1997.