Tuscan Grilled Game Hens
Makes 2 main course servings or 4 servings as part of a multi-course meal
This is a delicious way to enjoy Cornish game hens. Serve these with some grilled vegetables and your favorite risotto, polenta, or pasta with a creamy sauce. If time allows, season the hens and refrigerate them for several hours before cooking them.
2 Cornish game hens
1/4 medium onion
3 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup | 50 mL tightly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 tsp | 2 mL dried basil
1/4 tsp | 1 mL dried oregano
1/4 tsp | 1 mL dried marjoram
4 slices (11/2 to 2 oz | 40 to 50 g) pancetta, chopped
5 Tbsp | 75 mL high-quality balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp | 15 mL extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup | 125 to 250 mL dry white wine
1/2 cup | 125 mL olive oil
fresh parsley or thyme sprigs, for garnish
Wash the hens and pat them dry with paper towels. Mince the onion, garlic, fresh and dried herbs, and pancetta by hand or in a food processor. Blend 2 tsp | 10 mL of the vinegar with the 1 Tbsp | 15 mL oil and add it to the mixture. Season it with salt and pepper.
            Cut out the hens’ backbones and open them out flat, skin side up. With your palm, firmly press down on the breast area to flatten the hens. Stuff most of the herb mixture under the skins of the thighs, legs, and breasts. Rub the rest all over the hens.
            Prepare your grill for medium indirect cooking with a pan underneath the cooking grate to catch the drippings. Combine the wine and the 1/2 cup | 125 mL oil. When your grill is up to temperature, place the birds skin side up on the grate above the drip pan. Grill them for 20 minutes, baste them with the wine mixture, and turn them. Cook them for another 20 minutes, basting and turning them every 5 minutes or so, until the internal temperature at the base of each thigh is 160˚F | 71˚C. If the hens are not golden brown by this time, crisp them, skin side down, over direct heat for a few minutes, watching out for flare-ups, before taking them off the grill.
Let the hens rest for 5 minutes tented with foil. Drizzle them with oil, season them with salt and pepper, and garnish them with fresh parsley or thyme sprigs before serving them.
Southwestern Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich
Makes 2–4 servings
You may never go back to Subway after eating this juicy, tender chicken club sandwich, a great post-golf Saturday lunch. Serve it with cold beer or a crisp, fruity white wine.
For the rub:
1 Tbsp | 15 mL kosher salt
1 Tbsp | 15 mL granulated garlic
1 Tbsp | 15 mL granulated onion
1 Tbsp | 15 mL ground coriander seed
1 Tbsp | 15 mL ground toasted cumin seed
1 tsp | 5 mL cayenne
1 tsp | 5 mL freshly ground black pepper
To make the sandwiches:
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, fillet removed
extra virgin olive oil
4 soft white hoagie buns
softened butter
granulated garlic
1 lemon
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup | 250 mL Chipotle and Roasted Garlic Aïoli (see recipe below)
1 bunch fresh arugula, washed and dried
2 large ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 purple onion, peeled and thinly sliced
Combine the rub ingredients in a medium bowl and set the rub aside. Prepare your grill for medium direct heat.
            Place the chicken breasts, one at a time, in a large resealable plastic bag (or between two sheets of plastic wrap), and pound them with a mallet or champagne bottle (they’re sturdier than regular wine bottles) until they are flattened to an even 1/2 inch | 1 cm thickness. Place the flattened breasts on a platter or cookie sheet and sprinkle each breast generously with the rub on both sides. Drizzle the breasts with olive oil to moisten the rub.
            Prepare the buns by slicing them in half, buttering them, and sprinkling the buttered sides with the granulated garlic. When the grill is hot, place the breasts, oiled side down, on the cooking grate, close the gril