Another whole chicken recipe I like to prepare may not be a chicken at all. Well, I'm sure it is, but they're certainly priced different. A Cornish game hen makes a wonderful single-serving meal. And if prepared right, can be a lot tastier than the average chicken. There's something about the young age and small size that makes the meat a lot more flavorful. I'm sure it really is a chicken with just a fancy name. I only know how to cook; I leave the naming to the grocery stores.
Whatever you want to call them, Cornish game hens stuffed with chorizo and cornbread is a meal for the ages. It's like a super miniature Thanksgiving. My favorite part about this meal is that a little goes a long way. Even though the game hens can be a bit pricy, it's an unspoken rule that there's only one per person. So, you don't have to buy a lot of ingredients to make the stuffing. Each bird is filled up with about 1 cup of stuffing mix.
Chorizo and Cornbread Stuffed Game Hens
If you can't find game hens, then just pick up some small chickens. Well, you know what I mean. For game hens I do one per person, if you're getting regular chickens, maybe you'll go ½ a chicken per person. After you grab the chickens, get a box of cornbread mix, a pack of chorizo sausage (1lb), a red onion, some garlic, and a jalapeño pepper, a can of chicken stock, a couple lemons and some olive oil. Salt and pepper are must-haves. Make sure to grab some if your cupboard is bare.
To make the stuffing, prepare the cornbread as directed. After it's done, you can set it aside to cool down. Next, brown the chorizo off in a pan with 1 diced onion and 4 cloves of diced garlic. Make sure you keep the sausage pieces relatively small, and don't worry about draining the grease. After the sausage is just about fully cooked, chop up the jalapeño pepper and place it in the mixture. You'll want to add some salt and pepper at this point. While that's finishing, crumble your cornbread up in a bowl. When the sausage mix is done, dump that right in the stuffing mix and toss around. When it's cool enough to the touch, add about ½ can of chicken stock. We want this mixture moist, kind of like you're making meatballs.
Let this cool down and put it in the fridge for about an hour. When stuffing anything, you must make sure not to contaminate your food. Putting hot stuffing into a bird can cause bacteria to set in. Make sure the stuffing is cool before putting it in the birds. When you're ready to stuff, just make a ball, about the size of an actually baseball, and fill the inner cavity of the birds. I wouldn't worry about this stuffing falling out, we're not going to be twisting and turning the birds a lot. Rub your birds down with salt, pepper and some olive oil.
Cut your grill to medium heat and take your birds out. Place them breast side down for about 10 minutes just to get some good color on them. When you turn them around, cut your grill to medium-low and close the lid. These should cook for about an hour uninterrupted. If you think the grill's too hot, you can always check on them. Otherwise, just let them cook. To serve, just squeeze some lemon juice on the birds and dig in!
| Price : $85.49
