Roasted Game Hens with Bread and Leek Stuffing

As fall moves swiftly into winter, my trips to the market with baby girl are yielding fewer and fewer fabulous finds. The berries, stone fruits, eggplants and tomatoes have all gone into hibernation and, as the days grow shorter, the hens at Bradley Farm are sleeping more and laying less. Never before this year have I taken such advantage of the seasons. Never have I relied on them for my meals in such a heavy manner. And never have I mourned harvest's end as I do now. In some ways, I can relate to our ancestors who must have felt the same grim anticipation upon buttoning their coats against the first chill and finding their zucchini plants sparse for the first time in months.

However, as much as I mourn the loss of summer's bounty, I welcome the chance to make warming delicious roasts, soups, stews and casseroles. The kinds of meals that bring warmth and security even as the cold tries to wend its way into your bones and the wind whips your hair into your eyes. And so as the seasons change, stay with me. There are loads of delicious meals to come.

The hubby took off an entire week last week after deserting baby girl and I for nearly two months in a fit of crazy lawyering. Finally, baby girl and I had a chance to breath a little, relax a little and I had a chance to cook family dinners nearly every night. While I a write about cooking, I don't cook dinner every single night due to my work schedule. I cook three to four times a week with leftovers in mind for the other nights.

So, with a week of single serving meals in mind, I decided to make a favorite childhood dinner: Roasted Game Hens with Stuffing. As a kid, I loved game hens because I got my own half hen and I felt very grown up sawing my way through a miniature drumstick, breast and thigh. As an adult, I love game hens because they're cute, but also because they are very tender and delicate and they cook a lot faster than a chicken so they're a great option for dinner in under an hour. I was craving stuffing and game hens are too small to stuff so I spatchcocked* the hens and set the birds over the stuffing to still get juices flowing into the stuffing. Like Holly Golightly, Baby girl had never had stuffing before and, let me tell you, she tore it down. While she's too young to use knives, baby girl did delicately nibble at her little drumstick and she ended up eating almost half a bird!

*Spatchcocking is essentially butterflying a bird by removing its backbone. Click Here for a great video to show you how. As long as you have kitchen shears it's super duper easy. Save the backbones and freeze them. Keep adding useless chicken parts like the neck, wings and backbones and when you have a enough, simmer it to make a great stock or add a couple breasts and make chicken soup!

Roasted Game Hens with Bread and Leek Stuffing

(This is a meal that's pretty enough for company, but simple enough for dinner any night of the week. If you don't have time to make the toasted bread cubes, go ahead and use whole wheat bread crumbs. Just watch the liquid as you might not need as much.)

What You'll Need:

8 cups cubed bread about a quarter inch (I used our whole wheat sandwich bread from the market. Feel free to use what you have in the house.)
2 large cloves of garlic minced
2 teaspoons fresh sage leaves chopped
1/4 cup olive oil

1 large leek chopped
6 sprigs thyme
3/4 stick butter
1/2 cup wine
1 cup hot chicken broth
Salt
Pepper
2 1.5-2 pound game hens
3 tablespoons Butter melted
Salt
Pepper

For the bread cubes: Preheat the oven to 350. Toss bread with the sage, garlic and olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet and cook until the cubes are golden brown and crisp.

For the stuffing: Place a pan over a medium high heat; add the butter and leeks. Once leeks are softened, add the wine and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until slightly reduced. Then remove from heat and toss with the bread cubes. Depending on the consistency you like, add some chicken broth to further soften the stuffing. I like mine soft and wet.

For the games hens: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat dry the hens and then set them aside. In a roasting pan, mound the stuffing in the center and try to keep the mound about the size of the two hens. Then place the hens back to back with their insides overtop the stuffing. Tuck any stray stuffing underneath the hens. With a pastry brush, brush butter over the hens and then salt and pepper them. Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes or until they read 180 on your thermometer. Let the hens rest for about 10 minutes.

To serve, cut the hens in half lengthwise and plate with a serving of stuffing and a fresh salad. Enjoy!

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $15
Cost per Meal: This serves four at $3.75 per serving.