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Menu Plan for Winter II: Week 8, Saturday
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Daily Recipes:
Chickpea, Shallot and Tuna Salad
Roast Cornish Hens
Sunchoke and Potato Gratin
Cooking time: 70 minutes for menu Cooking schedule: see below for instructions
The hens and the gratin bake at the same time making this an easy, no-fuss dinner.
Chickpea, Shallot and Tuna Salad
Total time: 20 minutes
Caramelized shallots, olives and tuna add sweet and savory notes to chickpeas. A bit of Balsamic Vinegar and good olive oil to finish, and you have a 'winter salad' - good all year.
Ingredients:
- 2 large shallots
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup (8oz, 240gr) chickpeas
- 10 green or black olives
- 4oz (120gr) tuna
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbs good olive oil
Instructions:
- Peel and thickly slice shallots.
- Heat 2 tsp oil in a small skillet. Add shallots and sauté until browned and starting to get crispy, about 15 minutes.
- Open, drain and rinse chickpeas; refrigerate unused portion.
- Slice olives.
- Open and drain tuna.
- In a medium bowl mix chickpeas, tuna and olives.
- Add shallots and stir to combine.
- In a small bowl mix soy sauce, vinegar and oil.
- Pour over chickpeas and stir to combine. Serve.
Roasted Cornish Games Hens (Poussin)
Total time: 60 minutes
Small, perfectly roasted hens make an elegant presentation and are perfect individual servings (with maybe a snack leftover). If yours are larger birds, one may be enough, (you can split it in half before roasting) or fix two and have cold chicken/game hen for lunch tomorrow! Remember to put bowls for bones on the table - and wet towels for fingers.
Ingredients:
- 2 Cornish game hens or poussin (little chickens)
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) red wine
- 2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried sage
Instructions:
- Wash hens and pat dry with paper towels.
- Mix 1 tbs oil with lemon juice and 1 tsp each of the herbs.
- Divide herb mixture and put half into each of the hens.
- Tie legs close and bend wings around and under the back - so it looks like they are lying there with their arms akimbo. It keeps them from flapping and gives the hen something to rest on.
- Lay them on a rack in a shallow baking pan.
- Mix the remaining oil, herbs, mustard and red wine and brush on hens.
- Put into 400F (200C). Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, basting every 15 minutes with wine mixture, until done. See techniques. I recommend a meat thermometer.
Potato and Sunchoke Gratin
Total time: 70 minutes
Sunchokes, or Jerusalem artichokes, are the knobby, tan or purplish vegetable that you start seeing in late winter. They have a mild taste, making them very versatile. Peel them with a vegetable peeler. They turn gray quickly, so keep in water if not using immediately.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium potatoes
- 2 medium sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes)
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) shredded cheese I used Gruyère
- 1/4 cup (1oz, 30gr) Parmesan cheese
- butter or olive oil
- pinch of nutmeg
Instructions:
- Slice potatoes as thinly as possible with a sharp knife.
- Peel and slice sunchokes the same size.
- Lightly butter or oil a baking dish large enough to hold the vegetables.
- Layer a third of the potatoes, topped with half of the sunchokes.
- Pour a third of the milk over the top and sprinkle with half the shredded cheese.
- Repeat layers once.
- Finish with a final layer of potatoes.
- Pour the remaining milk over the top, sprinkle with nutmeg and finish with the Parmesan.
- Cover with a lid or foil and bake (400F, 200C) for 60 minutes.
- Uncover for the last 10 minutes of baking time.
Note: Whenever I am baking potatoes with a liquid: gratin, scalloped, Savoyard, etc. I always put the baking dish/dishes on a baking sheet covered in foil. They almost always bubble over and this saves on oven clean up. Just wrap up the mess and toss.
Cooking Schedule: 70 minutes |
Tie legs, arrange wings |
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