Chicken, Duck and other Poultry Dishes

Here you'll find recipes for various poultry dishes: chicken, duck, turkey, even the occasional pheasant!

Brined, Roasted Game Hen

We enjoyed this recipe last night.  It's an adaptation of Ming Tsai's Asian-Brined Roast Pork Loin.
BRINED ROASTED GAME HEN
 
The night prior: mix the water, salt, and sugar together until the salt and sugar are disolved.  Add the soy, ginger, scallions, bay leaves and star anise.  Toast both peppercorns in a pan until smoking, the crush in a mortar or grind. (I use a small ramekin and the bottom of an olive oil bottle.  What elegance!)  Add the crushed pepper to the brine.  Taste the brine: it should be sweet and salty, but not overpoweringly salty.

Place the game hen in a ziplock bag and pour the brine in.  Get as much air out as possible, seal the ziplock, roll the seam over a bit to 'compact' the bag and place seam side down in a bowl.  Let sit overnight.

Preheat oven to 450F.

Remove the bird from the brine and rinse well.  Split down the backbone and press flat on a cutting board.  Make a small cut in the skin where the leg joins the body.  This is a trick from Jacques Pepin to help the thighs cook at the same speed as the rest of the bird.  Pat dry with paper towels (tree killer!), then season with the szechwan salt.  Place the chopped veggies in a roasting pan, then set the bird on top, skin side up.  Roast for 45 minutes or until done.  (I still don't have roasting down yet, so I can't give any good advice here.  More practice is needed!)

Cut the bird in half along the breast, plate and drizzle just a bit of the pan juices over.  Serve immediately.

SZECHWAN SALT
 equal parts szechwan peppercorns and kosher salt
 
Toast the mix in a small pan until smoking.  Remove and grind to a fine powder.  Shake through a fine sieve.  Use like salt -- but it's way better.

Oven Roasted Game Hen

Oven-roasted chicken or game hen is really simple to make and it's a terrific food to serve with a zinfandel or young, fruity cabernet sauvignon.

Wash a defrosted game hen, then butterfly cut it by splitting the backbone and spreading the hen flat. With a small, SHARP knife, carefully separate the skin from the breast. Do this from the neck opening, making an "envelope". Grind several twist of pepper into the opening, then spread one clove of minced or pressed garlic in between the skin and meat.

Place the hen in a roasting pan and liberally season with onion powder, ground pepper, seasoning salt (I use Lawry's Salt-Free), Accent, Cajun seasoning, and whatever other spices you might like. I usually coat the bird pretty well and place a clove or two of smashed garlic underneath.

Roast the bird at 375F for 75 minutes.

Baked Pheasant (adapted from NYT Cookbook) [Serves 4]

This is a terrific dish to serve an earthy pinot noir with!  Accompany the dish with wild rice or a barley casserole.
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and sautee the garlic for a few moments until it just begins to turn golden. Add the broth and a squirt of lemon juice. Lower heat to low.
  3. Season the pheasants with salt and pepper and put a bay leaf in the body cavity of each. Place the birds on a rack in a baking dish and cover with the bacon. Baste with a bit of the butter/broth mix and place in the oven.
  4. Cook for ~1 hour 15 minutes, basting frequently with the broth mix.
  5. Remove from baking dish and keep warm. Spoon out as much fat as possible from the dish, then place over a burner on high. Boil for 5 minutes until reduced.
  6. Cut the pheasants in half and serve with the gravy.

Chicke
n In Riesling Sauce

Here's a variation of Coq au Vin using riesling and a dash of cream to make a really nice sauce. I also added a pinch of grated parmesan to thicken up the sauce somewhat. While this dish can be made in about 45 minutes, I left it on the stove for nearly two hours. The hen was incredibly tender -- falling off the bones as I dished it onto the plates.

We served this with... guess what... riesling!

  1. Cut the hen into separate pieces: legs, breast, wings and back. Toss the wings and back into a plastic bag and freeze 'em for broth later. Split the breast into halves. Season the pieces with ground white pepper.
  2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the hen pieces, turning to keep them evenly-cooked. Remove to a platter.
  3. Sautee the shallot and onion for 3 - 5 minutes until transluscent, then return the hen to the pan and pour in wine and broth in equal amounts until the liquid comes up halfway on the hen pieces. Cover, lower heat to a VERY low simmer and cook for one to two hours depending on how much time you have.
  4. 10 minutes before serving, pull off the cover and remove the hen pieces to a plate and keep warm in the oven. Bring the skillet to a rapid simmer, add the cream/evaporated skim milk and cook the sauce down until slightly thickened. Add the parmesan cheese, return the hen pieces to the sauce and cook for another moment until everything is nicely warmed. Add more cream if the sauce is too thick...
Serve with spaetzle, noodles or rice.

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