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Aihuxl.103 net.cooks utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ihnss!ihuxl!ignatz Fri Mar 19 00:36:33 1982 Rock Cornish Game Hen w/Wild Rice This is a quick little dish which I first slapped together 5 or 6 years ago. While it seems self-obvious, it always elicits gratifying responses. Don't even look at it if you're on a diet, though...

Ingredients -----------

1 rock cornish game hen per person w/giblets 1/2 cup wild rice per hen Fresh mushrooms (quantity to taste) 1 bottle red wine sliced, blanched almonds butter

Procedure ---------

1. Boil the giblets from all the rock cornish game hens till done. Strip the meat from the neck, and chop the liver, gizzards, etc. SAVE THE WATER.

2. Use the water from the giblets, and enough make-up fresh water to add up to about 2 cups of water for each 1/2 cup of wild rice. (NOTE: Wild rice--which isn't really rice--ain't cheap, kiddies. To save bucks, you can substitute a mixture of cooked wild and brown rice, *after* they've been cooked separately.). Add about a teaspoon of salt for 1 cup of rice, adjusting for quantity (Remember that salt quantity isn't linear--you don't add 2 tsp. for 2 cups...adjust to taste.) Wash the rice well, and add to the water, add salt, and cook without stirring until tender...about 40 minutes.

3. While the rice is cooking, sautee the mushrooms and giblets in butter. (Sorry...the mushrooms should be sliced. Use the stems, too...). When the mushrooms are almost done, add about 1/2 cup of red wine and the almonds to taste, and simmer for a few minutes. Drain and set aside. (Save the drained mushroom/giblet/wine juice for gravies, addition to au juice, etc.).

4. When the rice is done, stir in the giblet/mushroom mixture. Stuff each rock cornish game hen, AFTER rubbing inside and out with salt and fresh ground pepper. Lace the little beggars and fold the wings. (NOTE: You should have plenty of stuffing left over for a side dish, as it seems to be as welcome as the bird. DON'T be tempted to stuff the birds and refrigerate, as all fowl, including these little gems, tend to be contaminated with salmonella. Normally no problem--killed in cooking-- if allowed to incubate in the stuffing, it's conceivable that it could survive the baking. In fact, the U. S. Navy no longer stuffs roasting birds for this reason; but I like the taste, and I'm still alive...end of digression.).

5. Bake the birds in a pre-heated 375 degree oven, basting often with--you guessed it--butter. When the birds seem just about done, using any of the traditional tests (wiggling the drumstick, etc.), kick the oven up to 425 for 5-10 minutes to brown the skin to a nice crackling end.

6. Serve, with a light salad and vegetable (I love asparagus...).

It's really simple--it takes less work to do than describe--and, as I said, the results have *always* been worth it. A nice side benefit is that there is a lot of the wine left for the chef....

You didn't really want to diet, Dave Ihnat - BTL (IH) ihuxl!ignatz

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