What's on the Grill #101

Cornish Game Hen with Sweet Potato and Brussels Sprouts! I was little unsure as to what I actually wanted for dinner and stumbled across the Game Hens and thought it sounded pretty good. The last time I had Game Hens was ManNight 2006 and on that evening we deep fried them. A pile of 12 deep fried Game Hens is quite the sight and not something you see every day, that is for sure. Tonight, the hen was getting the grill treatment.

I stuffed the hen with several sprigs of fresh rosemary and trussed it up. Since it is freezing outside, I opted for the gas grill and preheated it for indirect at 350. Essentially, that is both outside burners on medium. Since I am tired of cleaning out all of that fat off the flavorizer bars, I placed the hen in an aluminum foil baking pan and then placed the pan in the middle of the grill. She cooked for about 50 minutes, which in hindsight was probably a tad too long.

My favorite part of the meal was the Brussels Sprouts which were boiled and then sauteed with garlic and olive oil. My love of Brussels Sprouts came about in England almost three years ago. I was having dinner with Zoë's bestfriend's fiance, Keith, and his best man, James, on the night before Keith's wedding. Wow, that explanation almost cries for a chart...sorry. Anyway, James whipped up a quick dinner with bangers, mash, and Brussels Sprouts. I was in love...and I was already married...awkward! In my family, the love of Brussels Sprouts skipped a generation. My Mother detested them and my Grandmother loved them. Subsequently, my Mom never served them with any of her 10,000 chicken dinners we used to have.

The Brussels Sprouts were great, the hen was a little lacking. I think next time I will rotisserie the hen. At the minimum, I should have either added water or chicken stock to the pan to maintain some moisture. Oh well, at the end of the night I still cleaned my plate, so I guess it wasn't that bad.