Butterflied Cornish Game Hen With Savory Garlic Herb Crust

INGREDIENTS:

2 - 24oz Cornish Game Hens
1-1.25 Cups Virgin Olive Oil
6-8 Cloves Of Garlic
5-6 Tsp Of Fresh Rosemary
2-3 Tsp Of Savory
1/4 Stick Of Butter
3 Tbsp of Lemon Yogurt
2 Tbsp Parmesan -or- Parmigiana Reggiano Cheese (I sometimes like to add a touch of Romano cheese as well for a little extra salty kick)

SERVES: 2-3 People

Tips & Tricks
1) I heard many of you go "Huh?! Yogurt?!" after reading the ingredients. You're dang right! That yogurt in a way caramelizes on the skin of your birds, and creates a delightful, savory, crisp crust that will wow your tastebuds! If you aren't a fan of lemon, you can always substitute plan yogurt if you like. Yogurt is a great way to flavor your favorite poultry & pork dishes.

2) The cornish game hens need the time to marinate in the sauces, so make sure you prep your birds at least 4 hours before sticking them in the oven or on the grill.

Directions:

1) Combine all of your ingredients above (with the exception of the 2 cornish game hens) in a blender. Blend until you have a fine, non-grainy concoction.

2) Now it's time to prep your birds. Don't know how to butterfly a cornish game hen? It's fairly simple. I recommend using poultry/kitchen shears. "Butterflying" is basically removing the backbone from the bird, so that the cut can lay flatter in the pan or on the grill. You can also remove the breast bone at this point as well to help. Take your poultry/kitchen sheers and cut along the SIDES of the backbone. Once you have removed the backbone, look for the little white piece of cartiledge on the inside of the breast bone (it should be directly in front of where the back bone used to be). Use a knife to cut a small notch in it. Fold the bird back, and you'll able to pull the breast bone out.

3) Put your 2 cornish game hens in a 1 gallon zip lock bag, and pour the savory garlic herb sauce your two hens. Place the bag in your refrigerator and allow the birds to marinate for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight.

4) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. If you are cooking in the oven (which I recommend to keep your birds more moist, place your bird in a shallow pan, and pour the sauce over the top. You'll want to cook your poultry until it reaches a temperature of at least 185 degrees. Usually that takes about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. While your hens are baking in the oven, pull them out about every 10-15 minutes and baste the hens(if you don't have a baster, you can simply use a large spoon to pour the sauce over the hens). If you are using a grill, begin by prepping your grill. DON'T throw away that delicious savory garlic sauce that the cornish game hens have been marinating in. Instead, place the sauce in a bowl, and every 10-15 minutes, brush the hens with the sauce. Keep a meat thermometer on hand to monitor when your birds are done. Keep an eye on them. You don't want them to be overly blackened, because it will ruin our crust. Try cooking with indirect heat on your grill if you notice the skin turning too dark. We're looking for a rich brown crust, not black! When your meat thermometer reads the thickest parts (typically the breast) is more than 185 degrees, you're done!

5) ENJOY!

RECOMMENDED SIDES:
Garlic Whipped Potatoes
Asparagus
Sweet Carrots
Roasted Potatoes
Green Beans

Selecting The Best Cut Of Steak

Heading to your local grocer, and not sure what type of steak to get? Here are a few tips on selecting the best cut of steak for your meal:

How do you plan to cook your steak?

How and where you cook your steak will have an impact on the cut and quality of the steak you select. You can grill it, pan sear it, or broil it. For grilling, I prefer Porterhouses, Strips, Ribeyes, and Sirloins. The reason I choose these cuts is because their is a higher concentration of fat. Since the grill doesn't allow your steak to sit in it's own juices or marinades, retaining those flavors, leaner cuts don't fair as well on the grill. Leaner cuts that you may broil or sear are perfect for roasts, stews, or even sandwiches. I like to use top round cuts for these types of dishes.

How to select the perfect cut of steak?

You'll want to look for adequate levels of marbling in the steak. Many people ask me, what is marbling? Marbling is the term used to describe the layers of fat that are spread out throughout the cut of beef. You want the proper balance between the fat (white) and muscle tissue (red). You'll also want to look for the marbling to not be all consolidate in one area of the steak. Rather, you want marbling that is as evenly distributed throughout the steak as possible. The reason is, as you grill the steak, the marbling liquifies and is what gives the steak it's great flavor. I look for steaks that look like they have about 1/10th - 1/8th of their surface area covered with the white marbling.

What are the different different types of beef?

Prime, Choice, and Select. Prime typically has the most marbling, it's also the most expensive. I've been to restaurants and ordered the Choice, while my wife has ordered the Prime. To be honest, more important than the cut's quality is how it's cooked. I like mine at a hot red center, my wife likes her's at a hot pink center. I tried her cut of steak versus mine, and can honestly say I liked mine better. So don't think that just because you're grilling on a budget that you have to relegate yourself crappy cuts of steak - it's all about how you cook it! (Of course, if you do cook the Prime & Choice exactly the same, the Prime will be a bit more tender!)

Grilling Tips & Tricks

How to test the temperature of your grill without a temperature gauge?

There is a very simple test to see what temperature your meat will be cooking at. Follow this simple example:

1) Hold your hand about 4-5 inches above the grill grates.
2) Try not to move your hand for as long as is comfortable. Below is a chart of the estimated temperature of your grill.

2-3 Seconds: HOT - 500 degrees
3-4 Seconds: MEDIUM-HOT - 450 degrees
4-5 Seconds: MEDIUM - 350 degrees
5-7 Seconds: MEDIUM-LOW - 300 degrees
7-10 Seconds: LOW - 250 degrees

How to keep your meat from sticking to your grill?
I always have olive oil on hand for pretty much anything. One great use for it is to use it as an anti-stick coating for your grill. After my grill is hot, I take a paper towel, and fold it in a small square. I'll then grasp them with my tongs and pour a little bit of olive oil on the end. From there, I brush my grill with a lite coat of olive oil. Now the only thing you need to worry about is your meat slipping off the grill! :)

Mouth Watering NY Strip With Whipped Garlic Butter

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick of butter
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 tbsp cilantro
1 shaker/grinder of Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 Fresh Cut NY Strip
Olive Oil

YOU'LL NEED:
1) Small Bowl
2) Mixer with standard mixer attachment & whipping attachements
3) Grill
4) Tongs or something to flip your steak
5) Paper Towel
6) Sauce Brush

Tips & Tricks
1) Butter usually needs at least 1 hour to soften a decent amount. If you forget, you can place it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Personally, I just like to leave it out for a few hours prior to starting dinner rather than microwaving.



Directions:

1) Grab your cuts of beef and give them a few shakes of your montreal steak seasoning. Montreal steak seasoning (if you don't have any) is basically a mixture of black pepper, sea salt or coarse salt, and garlic. Don't add a lot because we'll be adding some to our garlic cilantro steak glaze as well.

2) Prep the Grill. Go ahead and get your grill up to temperature. Don't forget to clean it prior to getting started. How do I know when your grill is hot? Visit my post on how to properly prepare your grill, and you'll be good to go!

3) Grill masters are artisans. We like to make sure we select the best cut of beef. We make sure our grilling environment has every tool under the sun that we could possibly need. We EVEN grill specific patterns into our steaks. My personal favorite is the cross hatch!

4) I get my grill up to about 450 degrees, and sear the outside of the steaks in order to help it better retain the juiciness of the cut. It only takes about 1 minute per side (remember! cross hatch!), and then I turn down the heat to about Medium to slowly cook the center of the steak. How do I know when it's done? We'll find out in just a minute, but for now, let's go ahead and make our garlic butter steak glaze while our steaks are cooking.

******GARLIC CILANTRO STEAK GLAZE********
This Garlic Cilantro Steak Glaze will blow you away. I guarantee you, it will make your steaks better than 90% of the steaks you can get from restaurants!

5) Combine your butter, cilantro, garlic, and montreal steak seasoning in a bowl. Hopefully, you remember to pull your butter out at least an hour before starting this so it could soften up. If not, pop it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to soften it up.

6) Mix the ingredients with your hand mixer until you have what looks like a thick paste.

******ARE OUR STEAKS DONE?******
7) Time to check on our steaks to see if they are done. For the love of all that is holy to that grill, DON'T cut into your steak (amateur!), we'll poke our steak to see just how done it is! Here is a very simple method. Take your thumb and touch it to your index finger. If you poke the heel (base of your thumb) of your hand, and then poke the steak, and they feel the same, your steak is RARE. Here is our finger "doneness" scale:

Thumb to Index: RARE
Thumb to Middle: MEDIUM-RARE to MEDIUM
Thumb to Ring: MEDIUM WELL
Thumb to Pinky: WELL

It may sound like a strange way to check to see if your steaks are done, but I've been perfectly cooking steaks of all types for years now using this method!

NOTE: You can always throw your steaks back on the grill if they are undercooked. However, once a steak is overcooked, there's no going back, so err on the side of undercooked!

8) Alright! Our steaks are done! Grab your platter and your bowl of garlic cilantro steak glaze. As soon as you take the steaks off the grill, when they are still piping hot, generously brush on the steak glaze with the sauce brush. We aren't done yet though!

9) DON'T cut into that steak for about 3-5 minutes. The meat is still cooking. I like piping hot steaks too, but if you cut into it as soon as you take it off the grill, all of the juices will rush out. Give it just a few minutes to finish cooking (it'll still be hot!), and now when you cut into it, the meat will retain more of its juices!

10) ENJOY!

Side Recommendations:
Garlic Whipped Potatoes

Garlic Whipped Mashed Potatoes

Garlic whipped potatoes are one of the crown jewels in my cooking arsenal. Use this recipe, and I guarantee you, you'll be the sensation of your Thanksgiving table! People will completely forget about desert because these potatoes are that good.

INGREDIENTS:
Serving Size: 6-8 people

1) 5 lbs Russet Potatoes
2) 3-5 cloves of garlic
3) 1-2 tbsp kosher salt
4) 1 stick of butter
5) 1 pint heavy cream (the uber secret ingredient!)

YOU'LL NEED:
1) Stock Pot
2) Mixer with standard mixer attachment & whipping attachements



There are a few keys to making the world's best garlic whipped potatoes along with the key secret ingredient that sets these apart from your normal old, blah mashed potatoes!

1) When you boil the potatoes, keep an eye on the water color. It will start out clear when you add the potatoes and slowly turn murky as the starches in your potatoes break down and the potatoes soften. You don't want water that looks like pea soup! This means you've overcooked your potatoes, and the consistency you are looking for won't be there.

2) Besides watching the water, see how easy it is to break the potatoes apart. The consistency of a fully cooked potato is about the same as a stick of butter that's been out of the frig for about 15 minutes. It's not hard, but its not soft either.

3) The secret ingredient is the heavy cream. If you are looking for a bit healthier batch of potatoes, you can substitute half of the cream with 2% milk. You still need a little bit of cream though because it is what adds all the flavor!

4) Flavor to taste, and taste frequently! I don't use exact portions for this recipe, because people's tastes differ. So, make sure you taste your potatoes often and add the ingredients incrementatlly. Remember, you can always add more at the table, but you can't take away ingredients once they've been added. So, if people at your table are salt/garlic sensitive, go lite when you're making them.
**BE CAREFUL!** Garlic is one of the most potent herbs around. Why do you think Dracula is scared of garlic instead of mint! Garlic is a bit finnacky when you are making your potatoes. The full flavor really isn't there until about a day after and the garlic has time to sit in the potatoes. So if you flavor to levels that are adequate during your tasting, the leftovers will have a much more potent garlic flavor to them the next day.

Directions:

1) Use a stock pot to boil about 8 quarts of water.

2) Peel a 5lb bag of russet potatoes. Rather than buy the 5lb bags, I prefer to get the baking russets (if they have a 5lb bag of baking russets, you're set!) The reason is, the standard 5lb bag of russet potatoes are usually about 12-15 total smaller potatoes, which makes peeling more tedious. Get the bigger potatoes and save yourself some time peeling. Trust me, it makes it easier!

2) Add the potatoes to the boiling water. I like to use a small colinder to add the potatoes to prevent splashing. If the pot starts to boil over after adding the potatoes, simply turn down the temprature. Remember to stir them every few minutes.

3) Cooking time varies between 15-20 minutes at full boil. You can check to see if the potatoes are done by using your stiring spoon to see how easy it is to break apart a potato. If it is as easy as a knife through butter that has sat out for at least 15 minutes, you know you're done. Also, the water will turn into a slightly murky color.

4) Strain the potatoes in a colander, and add them to your mixing bowl using your standard mixing attachment. Turn the mix on low and start by adding the following:
-3 cloves of FRESH garlic (or about 3 tbsps)
-1 tbsp kosher salt (or a touch less if you're finicky about salt)
-3/4 of a pint of heavy cream
-1 stick of butter

Once all of your ingredients have been added, turn the mixer to high and mix for 2-3 minutes. Taste the potatoes. You'll probably want to add a little bit of everything! Remember, we are adding ingredients according to taste. I always like to add at least a little more salt, cream, and garlic. You'll be adding cream to get the potatoes to the consistency that you're looking for. The more cream you add, the more lite and fluffy the potatoes will become. Don't add to much though, as we aren't looking for potato soup!

5) We now have mashed potatoes - but wait! We're looking for lite and fluffy potatoes, so we'll swap out our standard mixer attachment for our whipping attachment. This allows more air to get into the potatoes, and really creates a wonderfully lite and fluffy potato mixture.

6) Enjoy!

Scrambled Eggs Au Naturel

The first post on Cravings is dedicated to a very simplistic recipe anyone can master in no time! Truth be told, I used to be absolutely horrible at making eggs until one day I said, "daaggummiitt! I am going to get up 30 minutes early every morning until I make the perfect batch of scrambled eggs - au naturel"



Def. Au Naturel–adjective
1. in the natural state.
2. naked; nude.
3. cooked plainly.
4. uncooked.

You know, when you look at what "au naturel" means, it really kills the title of this recipe post. SO FORGET IT IMMEDIATELY! My objective is to teach you to create an egg masterpiece, not win a french spelling bee!

Let's get right down to it.

INGREDIENTS:
Serving Size: 1 person

1) 3 JUMBO eggs ( or 8 large-extra large eggs)
2) 3 mm (that's millimeters) of butter (I use my own wackey ways for measuring ingredients)
3) 3 dashes of cilantro
4) 3 cranks of peppercorn
5) 2 dashes of sea salt (much better for you and you can use less than regular salt)

The cilantro & correct amount of butter are my secret ingredients. It's what makes it different from your regular old egg recipe. Still, I wanted to keep this recipe as close to au naturel as possible. Try the cilantro, you'll like it (and thank me later!)

TLC for scrambled eggs au naturel!

The secret to the scrambled eggs au naturel is TLC! Tender loving care? NOOOOO! I'm talking about Temprature, Look, and Color. What that means is:

Temprature - Don't want to make rubbery eggs that would make a dog's chew toy look appetizing? It's all about the temprature. I never cook my eggs at anything higher than medium on the stove. Sure it takes a little longer, but it's worth it!

Look - I know look and color are the same thing...but really, THEY'RE NOT! (trust me) You never want your eggs to looks like paper thin sheets that have adhered to the bottom of the pan. You can tell almost immediately if your heat is too high if you start seeing these thin sheets of egg paper form on the bottom of your pan. Make sure you have a good silicon or wooden spatula ready to constantly stir and dice your scrambled eggs. (If your temprature is too hot, feel free to pull the pan off the burner, and continue stirring.)

Color - The maestros of the stove know when to pull their eggs off the burner. You want to pull it off when there is just a tiny bit of glaze or sheen to the eggs. I know, it looks like they are undercooked, but they will continue to cook even after you've pulled the pan off the burner. That glaze slowly fade away after you've taken the eggs off the burner, and you'll know they're cooked perfectly.

So now that we have the basics out of the way, here are the steps involved in making scrambled eggs au naturel!

1) Crack your 6 eggs with one hand into a large bowl. Don't know how? Learn! It's a cool trick to show your friends & family.

2) You're not going to want to drown the eggs with your spices. If you're a bit nervous, add the spices in small increments, you can always add more later. However, you can't take any out. Picture each egg as a hard boiled egg. You don't want to add too much salt/pepper/cilantro/butter/etc. Over my bowl of eggs, I like to add 6 cranks of pepper, 6 shakes of cilantro, and 3 (that's right, 3!) shakes of sea salt. Sea salt is more potent than table salt, so you don't need as much. It's also better for you.

2.5) Add 1 mm of butter for each egg in the mixture (in this case 6). Each mm is about the width of a quarter. NO, NOT A QUARTER STICK OF BUTTER! A QUARTER, LIKE $.25! Sheesh! Add the butter to a pan at medium heat, and let is start to melt coating the entire bottom of the pan.

3) With your ingredents combined in your large bowl, grab your hand mixer. Don't have one? Get one! They are cheap (around $20), and I use mine a few times a week! If you don't have a hand mixer, you can use your wrist, but be sure to work as much air into the eggy concoction as you can. It's what makes the eggs lite & fluffy!

4) After mixing the eggs until they are good and bubbley, and the butter is fully melted, add the eggs to the pan. This is where the TLC (Temprature, Look, Color) come into play. Continue to mix the eggs around continuously. Once they start to have a tiny little bit of sheen left to them, take them off the burner.

5) Serve and enjoy!

Welcome To CJ's Cravings!

Welcome to Chef Jeff's "Cravings" cooking site. Here you'll find a wealth of posts that have been compiled on recipe ideas, food and drink reviews, and best of all, home brewing tips and tricks. If you're like me, cooking over a hot stove after a long day at the office is the perfect way to unwind. The rest of the day melts away!

This free site is a collection of my favorite recipes that I've experimented with over the years. Feel free to post comments or suggestions. A quick note, it does take a lot of time to maintain and develop this site, so if you feel so inclined, please donate to this site or visit one of our sponsors web pages. Feel free to use this site for recipe ideas, suggestions, and comments. If you'd like to suggest a recipe or idea for the site, I welcome them. Thanks, and as always; eat, drink, and be merry!

~Chef Jeff