roasted Cornish game hens with savory Red Wine Raspberry Sauce

or other game birds, such as quail, squab, partridge, or grouse

Serve these succulent birds with the sides of your choosing, or as a part of my menu for Parashat Behaalotecha

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Raspberries—Frozen or Fresh?

While a bowl of fresh raspberries for snacking takes me to my happy place, for raspberry sauces I usually turn to frozen berries. Freezing them encourages the berries to quickly shed their juice when heated, and the results are more predictable than with fresh. Most of my raspberry sauces start with frozen berries, and some sugar to offset the tartness of the fruit. With those two ingredients as a springboard, I have before me a canvas that, with the addition of various spices, herbs, and liquids, can become almost an infinite number of sauces to grace either savory foods or desserts. But…for these birds I wanted something different. My goal was to create a sauce that was also a glaze to give the hens a beautiful, glossy, mahogany, sticky finish to the crispy skin.

I decided to forgo the berries themselves this time, and add some raspberry jam to a simple red wine sauce that could be put together in very little time. I’m happy to say that the results were delicious. The sauce has just a touch of sweetness from the jam, but the over-all flavor is more savory that sweet, and it’s all beautifully balanced with the addition of raspberry balsamic vinegar.

Of course, like with any dish, the quality of the result is dependent upon the quality of the ingredients. Lately it seems that every time I go to the grocery store the prices for everything are higher than they were the week before. I admit I was tempted to save some money by buying a less expensive jam. But, when I read the ingredients in the national brands, I just couldn’t bring myself to put any of them in my cart. I eschew all products that contain ingredients created in a lab. The question of whether or not high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, and preservatives are bad for your health has long been settled, but the truth is, they also don’t taste very good (at least, not to me). I highly recommend you choose a raspberry jam (or any jam) with only fruit, sugar, and possibly pectin. There are plenty of good brands available. That said, I’ve always been a fan of Tiptree preserves and I was excited to discover that, on Amazon, they’re less expensive than the other good brands they carry. And, it’s actually cheaper online than it is at my local supermarket. You can find it here.

Balsamic vinegars vary greatly. The best ones are absolutely sublime, and very costly. There are less expensive ones that are still very nice, and then there are very inexpensive ones that are awful. Generally speaking, I’ll go for the best one I can afford. But, how you’re going to use it is also a factor. The truly authentic balsamic vinegars, certified from Modena or Reggio Emilia and made from reduced grape must, are gorgeous when used as a finishing touch—a drizzle over a dish or a dessert—but their magnificence is lost when combined with other ingredients in a sauce. So, for this purpose I’ll go for one that’s mid-range and save the really good stuff for when its glory can be fully appreciated. For fruit-infused balsamic vinegars, these from OMG are my go-to.

It’s Optional, but I served these birds on a nest of sautéd leeks, red onion, and thinly sliced garlic. It was a lovely way to incorporate these ingredients to maintain the theme of the menu.

To make this sauté, I combined 2 leeks (white part only), sliced lengthwise and then in ¾ inch slices, with 1 large red onion, cut in half and sliced thinly, and a few cloves of fresh garlic, sliced very thinly, in a skillet with just enough fruity olive oil to dress them and keep them from sticking. A sprinkle of salt, a twist of the pepper mill, and I sautéd them over medium heat until the vegetables were soft and beginning to char in places. That’s it!

Cornish game hens with savory Red Wine Raspberry Sauce

I think you’ll love this recipe as much as I do. The result far surpasses the time and effort it takes to make it. This sauce, with a hint of raspberry sweetness, comes together quickly and turns a simple roasted bird into something worthy of your most important occasions.

This recipe works equally well for all game birds, and even for a roast chicken. Obviously, the cooking time will be very different for each of them. The recipe yields a generous amount of sauce for 2 Cornish game hens, 4 squab, 8 quail, or 1 medium roasting chicken.

The two hens will serve 2—4 people. Serve each person one whole, or one half hen, depending upon the size of the hen and the appetite of the diner.

      For the birds

      Ingredients:

•      2 Cornish game hens, 4 squab, 8 quail, or 1 medium roasting chicken

•      a spoonful or so fruity olive oil

•      1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leavews

•      a dash of each of the following: kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, garlic powder, cardamom, paprika.    

  Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350°

• Massage the birds with just enough olive oil to coat them. Sprinkle the cavities with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cardamom, and the rosemary leaves. Use a light hand. Bear in mind that if you’re using kosher poultry, it has already been salted, so it will need little, if any, additional salt.

• Set the birds on a parchment-lined pan and sprinkle the tops with paprika.

• Slide the pan into the preheated oven. While the hens roast, make the sauce.

• Roast the birds for about 45 minutes. Check them for doneness. Smaller birds will be ready, larger ones may need an hour.

• (Optional, if you want crispier skin on the bottom of the birds): Turn the birds breast side down. Switch the oven to the broil setting and put the pan under the broiler to crisp the skin (watch carefully, as it can go from crisp to burned very quickly.) Then, using a basting brush, brush them lightly with the sauce and turn them breast side up again. Drop the oven temperature back to 350°.

• Brush the tops of the birds with the sauce and let them roast a bit longer, until they look nicely glazed.

• Check that the internal temperature of the breast meat has reached 165°.

If it has, remove the hens from the oven. If not, continue to roast them a little longer until they come to temperature.         

For the Sauce

Note: I’ve used walnut oil here, to complement the flavor of the walnuts in the asparagus on the same plate in my menu. You can use any good, flavorful oil.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons walnut olive oil

• 1 small onion, diced small

• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

• a pinch each of salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1/4 cup dry red wine

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1 sprig fresh rosemary

• 2 tablespoons raspberry balsamic vinegar

• ¼ cup raspberry jam

• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel

• Optional: 1-2 teaspoons sugar

Method:

• Warm the oil in a small saucepan. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and sauté over low—medium heat until it’s just beginning to turn color.

• Add the garlic, the cardamom, and a twist or two of the pepper mill, and sauté for another 30 seconds or so.

• Then add the flour and whisk for a few minutes, to cook the flour.

• Add the wine and whisk until it’s mostly cooked out. This won’t take long.

• Add all the remaining ingredients, whisking until everything is well combined.

• Simmer over the lowest heat that will keep it at a very gentle simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened. This will take a little while. If you rush it, all the flavors won’t develop properly.

• Taste the sauce for salt. Depending upon the stock you’re using, it may or may not need more. If you think the sauce can use a bit of sweetness, add the optional sugar.

• Remove the rosemary sprig and your sauce is ready to use.

• If you’d like a smoother sauce, purée it with an immersion blender, or in a food processor.

• To serve: Place a hen (or a half if they’re large) a little off-center of the plate. Drizzle with the Red Wine Raspberry Sauce and serve with more sauce on the side.

• If you’re using the recipe as part of This Menu, Set the hen, a little off-center of the plate, on a nest of sautéed onions, leeks, and garlic. Add a strip of Scalloped Potato Clouds, made with chicken stock, or pareve, to the plate and top it with the Roasted Asparagus with Orange Walnut Gremolata, arranged with stalks going in every direction like a compass.