Cornish Hens

I've been wanting to make Cornish hens but have never took on the challenge to cook a whole bird. Well, there's a first time for everything. I watched Tyler make some this weekend with cornbread stuffing. I'm not a big fan of cornbread and I wanted to make something healthier so I made my own.


ingredients:

- 2 cornish hens:


- 2 lemon
- 1 head of garlic



- Rosmary and Thyme


- Salt and Pepper
- olive oil


- stuff the hens with some garlic, lemon wedges, rosmary springs and thyme.
- season the skin with salt and pepper and springle the rest of the herbs on top.
- drizzle over some olive oil
- bake at 400 F for about an hour (until temperature reaches at least 165 F)




- serve with roasted veggies... or anything else you want. I promise it'll all be good.

Fall is here

Today is such a beautiful day. It's cold, but sunny. These are my favorites. So I wanted to make something comforty and typical fall. So what better than Jambalaya and pumpkin pie ! and it was a hit!



JAMBALYA

In a big dutch oven put in the following ingredients

- 1 cup long-grain rice
- 3 tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper

- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1/2 pound fully cooked smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 1/2 to 3/4 pound medium, fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

Bring everything to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until shrimp are pink.



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Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
* 1 cup half-and-half
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
* 1 piece pre-made pie dough

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.



For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.



Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the center is set.

Roasted Salmon with herb butter crust a la Tyler

I know I haven't posted for a while, but that was because I was sick and didn't feel like cooking or even eating. but those times are over now and I'm all fit again to take on the world !!!! or the stove ;o)
Anyway, here's another one of Tyler Florence' awesome dishes. It was so good I could not stop eating...

Ingredients

* Extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 smallish Italian eggplants
* salt and pepper
* 1 large zucchini, cut crosswise into 1-inch sections
* 3 anchovy fillets
* 1 onion, finely sliced
* 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 bulb fennel, thinly shaved vertically,
* handful of cherry tomatoes
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* Pinch red pepper flakes
* bread crumbs
* 1 whole side of salmon (about 4 pounds), boned tail piece, skin on
* 1 bunch fresh basil
* 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
* salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Begin by preparing the vegetable base for the fish. Heat 1/3 cup of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the eggplant, season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes until just tender. Set aside on a platter. Add the zucchini to the pan and cook in the same way until just tender and remove to the platter with the eggplant. Add to the pan, smashed anchovies, onion, garlic and fennel. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes until caramelized then add tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for a further 5 minutes until wilted. Season with salt and pepper and add the red pepper flakes. Combine all the vegetables together in a large roasting pan or casserole dish.






Now prepare the fish. Begin by vertically scoring the fish in 4 places, skin side up so the cuts pierce the skin and reveal the flesh. Prepare the basil compound butter by chopping half of the basil and mixing it with the room temperature butter until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

Season the piece of fish with salt and pepper and smear the top of the fish with basil butter then take the whole fish and transfer to the roasting tray and place on top of the bed of vegetables.



Sprinkle the buttered fish with the bread crumb mixture.

Place in hot oven and roast for 12 to 15 minutes for medium rare, then finish under the broiler for 2 minutes to crisp the skin. Do not over cook, otherwise the fish will be dry.

To serve, portion the fish along the score marks, serve with a scoop of the vegetables.