CookingDiva

Do not miss: For the Love of Garlic: Roasted Cornish Hens with Roasted-Garlic Mayonnaise

Estas recetas creadas por la Chef Melissa De León fueron publicadas en Español en la Revista Ellas del 27 de Julio, 2007.               

Rinde 4 porciones

Ingredientes

• 1 receta de ajo rostizado
• 2 codornices, enjuagadas y secadas cuidadosamente con papel toalla
• 1 cucharada de aceite de oliva
• Sal y pimienta fresca molida al gusto
• 1/2 cucharadita de comino molido
• 1/8 cucharadita de canela molida
• 1 taza de mayonesa
• 1 cucharada de jugo de limón fresco

Procedimiento

1. Prepare el ajo rostizado según las indicaciones de la receta a continuación.

2. Untar el aceite de oliva sobre la piel de las codornices, especialmente el área de las pechugas. Sazonarlas por dentro y por fuera con sal, pimienta, comino y canela. Transferir a una bandeja para asar y hornear hasta que el termómetro registre 170° F cuando lo inserte en la parte interna del muslo (30 minutos aproximadamente). Remover del horno y dejar reposar por 10 minutos tapado con papel de aluminio.            
3. Cortar las codornices a lo largo, por el centro de la pechuga y servir con la mayonesa de ajo rostizado.

4. Para preparar la mayonesa de ajo rostizado, exprimir los ajos en un bol y agregar la mayonesa, jugo de limón, sal y pimienta al gusto. Combinar bien.

The Wine Tasting:

Friday night was great! I joined the wine tasting organized by Carlos Mata and a group of very fine young wine lovers from Panama. I know Carlos and his wife Concepción are big fans of Gary Vaynerchuck from the Wine Library TV, and to tell you the truth I am heading to that same direction!

Antonio Touriño from VinoManiacos.com and Monica Arauz from Panama Coffee Lovers were there too, they are such a fun couple!

***The report on the wines we tasted will follow soon! We'll keep you posted***

Wine Tasting photo credits: Carlos Mata.

My Meditations on Food:

We work hard at developing new delicacies every day, experimenting with what I call the "neglected" tropical ingredients, and I truly love it. It is like creating these magical concoctions, playing a little with chemistry, at the same time getting my little travel book of notes out, the same I work on during my many trips around the world. They are truly beloved memories, all surrounded by mystical aromas of food and the lost-in-time moments when my senses got the first glimpse of the bounty.

Sometimes, in special days like today I stop all the rush I feel I have most of the time in my life, and in search of inspiration...I find myself meditating through the photos of my past travels: one after the other, they bring joy and tears sometimes. This has been a very intense year so far, and far from complaining or crying my lungs out of the stratosphere, I cook!

We are blessed in so many ways and it is a tough task to find an equilibrium between the spiritual and the day to day life. You know what I mean, right? You have probably been there too...One thing I can tell you is that I am working at finding that perfect balance. You've got my word!

But, back to the basics, now...I just want to have a juicy homemade roasted chicken. How about you?

The Scrumptious Roasted Chicken Recipe:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 whole young chicken, rinsed and patted dry
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• optional: baby potatoes, carrots and onion (to roast with chicken)

Serve with: Chimichurri Sauce AND/OR Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise.  If you love rice sides, do not miss our Black Beans and Rice recipe. They are out of this world! Yum!

Instructions:

• With a flavor injector (large-new syringe for marinating), inject the melted butter in the two chicken breasts, followed by the legs. So, you will actually inject the bird four times.
• Season chicken inside and out with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander and paprika. Transfer to roasting pan and roast until golden brown and thermometer registers 170°F when inserted into leg joint (45 minutes approximately). Remove from oven and let stand covered with foil for 10 minutes.
• Halve chicken in four  pieces and serve with the sauce and side of your choice.

Have a delicious week!

Un abrazo,
Melissa

From Garlicophile Festivals to the not so secret Singing with Love and Garlic, the love for the stinking rose is everywhere! If you do not mind a little garlic-breath after a meal, our today's post will awaken your taste buds!

It is hard to have too much roasted garlic in the kitchen, there are a zillion ways to enjoy its pure and delicious nature. When preparing roasted garlic, you can roast the little bits from the tips of the garlic heads in a separate small baking container. It is simple, just season with salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil, cover and bake in the oven with the whole garlic heads. Please remember that because of their size they will be soft and golden in a half of the time needed for the whole heads.

The use of garlic is just about as old as man himself. And the herb's medicinal properties have been known for about as long. Immigrants in the early part of the past century, and our ancestors from pioneer stock, where quite happy to eat a clove or two of garlic whenever they needed an energy boost or simply to fight off a cold.

If you look through the ancient stories from just about any part of the world, you will find garlic mentioned as a curative and tonic, able to help solve minor medical conditions and a few major ones as well.

Without doubt, garlic helps digestion and elimination. Country after country, story after story all relate to garlic's ability to soothe the stomach and cleanse the system. How else do you explain the same stories cropping up in Spain, in India, in Egypt, in Iceland, everywhere there are written records? These stories did not travel from one geographic region to another. Each was created in the country of origin, and was based on the simple, empirical fact that when you give people garlic they generally get better!

If you are a garlic lover like me, do not miss our previous post and recipe: "The Joy of Garlic: Olive Roasted Head of Garlic". Besides keeping you all healthy, you will keep vampires and mosquitoes away. That comes really handy sometimes!

Now, I hope you are ready, because we are are about to share with you an incredibly delicious and almost ridiculously easy to prepare recipe: "Roasted Cornish Hens with Roasted-Garlic Mayonnaise"

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe Olive Roasted Head of Garlic
• 2 cornish hens, rinsed and patted dry
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Instructions:

1. Prepare the roasted garlic as suggested in the recipe. Reserve.
2. Season cornish hens inside and out with salt, pepper, cumin and cinnamon. Transfer to roasting pan and roast until golden brown and thermometer registers 170°F when inserted into leg joint (30 minutes approximately). Remove from oven and let stand covered with foil for 10 minutes.
3. Halve cornish hens lengthwise and serve with Roasted-Garlic Mayonnaise.
4. To prepare the roasted-garlic mayonnaise: squeeze pulp into a bowl and add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.

More delicious recipes with garlic:

• Camarones al Ajillo (Shrimp in Garlic Sauce) EN
• Fish Fillets with Hot Buttered Garlic Sauce and Vegetables EN
• Empanadas Chilenas and Chimichurri Salsa EN
• Specialty from the Inca Gods: Brined Guinea Pig with Parsley Sauce and Guacamole Salad EN
• Pescado Frito (Crispy Fried Whole Fish) (EN/ES)