Brining Cornish Hens and YUMMY Roasted Veggies

For those (like me) who don't care for turkey, here's how to make the BEST cornish hens you'll ever eat... by Brining them! To make them EXTRA moist and juicy (as with any poultry, especially turkey), brine them for 1-2 hours before cooking.  When brining bigger things like turkeys, brining time needs to increase.  To brine 4 hens, dissolve 1 cup kosher salt and 1 cup sugar in 1 gallon of water.  (I usually do this right in my kitchen sink.) If you're not familiar with brining, what this does is break down the tissues to make the birds tenderer, moister and juicier... are they words?!?  You'd think this would make the meat salty and sweet, but it doesn't.  It removes the blood, breaks down the tissues to tenderize and makes it the juciest poultry you'll ever eat!   To be honest, I'm not sure how the sugar will factor in post surgery, but you can brine with just the salt too.  Other  things can be added to the brine to add flavor too... like herbs, garlic, apple cider instead of water, wine, etc. Pork and shrimp are also great for brining!  Drier cuts of pork like loins can greatly benefit from brining.  By brining, you get moist meat w/out using fatter cuts of pork. There are some brining recipes here: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=Turkey%20Brine There are lots of great brine recipes here too: http://www.epicurious.com/  Just type in "brine" in the search box. As for sides, it's hard to beat plain roasted veggies. Root veggies are all perfect for roasting.  Potatoes (especially sweet with skin on or off), onions, red onions, turnips, carrots, Brussels Sprouts, parsnips,  shallots, garlic, rutabagas, etc.  My favorite combo is sweet potatoes, turnips and Brussels Sprouts.  The three colors are pretty together on the plate too.  During my last stirring, I add in some sliced green onions/scallions.  If you put those in too early, they will burn. Cut veggies into chunks all about the same size so they cook at the same time.  Shake on some olive oil (I prefer grapeseed oil), kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and some herbs like rosemary, thyme or your favorites.  Or, you can roast w/out any herbs.  Stir around so everything is coated well with the oil right on the baking pan.  Spread everything out so it roasts instead of "steams."  If too crowded, you'll get steamed veggies instead of roasted.  Put in HOT oven... 450ish.  This high temp seals in flavor and the natural sugars caramelize and make the veggies SOOOOOOO good (and can help with your sweet tooth).  Total cooking time will be about 30-45 minutes, so stir around every 15 minutes so all cut surfaces will get "roasted." I have converted many folks who swear they don't like turnips into turnip eaters with roasted ones.  They get sweet and so yummy when roasted, and taste completely different than usual! These are great served along side about any kind of meat. ENJOY! More details on brining: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brining.html

Thank you so much Wendy!  I will try this!  I'll bet it works great with game birds too!

Thanks Wendy! I am definately going to try this brining out!   Diane

Welcome!   Brining is perfect for game birds.  Most any meat can benefit but beef and fish.  Brining will plump up shrimp, meats with little fat (especially white meat chicken, pork loins as mentioned) and such.  And for us post-surgery that may have trouble with fiberous meats digesting and passing thru our pouches, making meats jucier can only be a good thing!

Wendy- thanks for some really great info on brining! I think this might help me with my chronic battle with chicken- it frequently is just too dry and stringy and my band does not like it. I'll give brining a try! Thanks again! Sheila

Glad to help. 

Here's a couple more helpful links about brining with times for various cuts/roasts and lots of tips. http://www.dougthecook.com/articles/all-about-brining.htm

http://www.ochef.com/152.htm

http://www.cookshack.com/barbeque_guide/101/Brining101.htm To brine an whole turkey, use a cooler and keep it COLD! And don't forget that another great way to add juices and infuse flavor to meats is with an injector!

I've been brining my turkey for the past 3 or 4 years and it is to die for! So juicy and flavorful! Love the brine!

I've been brining any poultry I get for the past couple years and it really does make a difference!!!  I'm going to check out those websites and see what their recipes for brine are, I'm always looking for something new and different. Thanks for the helpful hint! Sheryl