# ISO - Cornish Game Hen - Spice Advice



## Caslon (Aug 30, 2014)

I'm going to cook up a cornish game hen in the oven on a stand.  I usually zest an orange, but decided to buy dried orange zest for those times when I have a game hen but no orange.  Anyways, I came across a site that has a chicken/game hen dry spice mix  I want to copy  because I have all the spices they use in their blend.

Anyways, below are the spices in their blend.   I could use some help in concocting the right percentage of each spice.  I think they probably list their ingredients from most to least.  Could any here advise me what percentage of each ingredient to use to make up the 100%?  I could guess I suppose.

"Hand mixed from: flake salt, cracked Tellicherry black pepper, sugar, minced orange peel, coriander, and turmeric".    I intend to generously sprinkle it inside the game hen cavity.   I don't have Tellicherry black pepper or flaked salt.  I have peppercorns/ground pepper/course pepper and sea salt tho.  THANKS, I am clueless what proportions to use.

If you want, you could even tell me in tsp/tbs to make up enough for one game hen.


----------



## Caslon (Aug 30, 2014)

Their mixture looks something like this:

Anyways, its from The Spice House. Here's what there's looks like.  

I'm suddenly thinking about buying flaked salt.  I'm not sure I've seen it on store shelves. I gotta look.
Tellicherry black pepper?  An online order pepper for sure.

Flake salt, cracked Tellicherry black pepper, sugar, minced orange peel, coriander, and turmeric.

Any ideas? Think they listed their product by quantity?   I  might try 1 Tbs of salt, go down in quantity from there. I'm tempted to use more dried orange zest tho, lol.  Maybe I should hydrate the zest.  We'll see, we'll see.


----------



## Dawgluver (Aug 31, 2014)

*Baking a Cornish game hen this Sunday, need spices advise*

Caslon, just do it in the order listed on the label, most to least.  You can sub kosher or sea salt for flake salt.  I would use fresh ground pepper, doesn't need to be Tellicherry, whatever you have on hand.  And using more orange zest sounds great!  

I rarely follow a recipe, just keep tasting until it works for you!  A spice blend can be anything you want.


----------



## Caslon (Aug 31, 2014)

Dawgluver said:


> Caslon, just do it in the order listed on the label, most to least.  You can sub kosher or sea salt for flake salt.  I would use fresh ground pepper, doesn't need to be Tellicherry, whatever you have on hand.  And using more orange zest sounds great!
> 
> I rarely follow a recipe, just keep tasting until it works for you!  A spice blend can be anything you want.




Ok. I'm likely to  use a heaping of newly bought Mccormicks dried orange zest. 

BTW...Bake time is about umm-diddy...17 hours from.....NOW!


----------



## CraigC (Aug 31, 2014)

We like to make a duxelles. Once cooled we stuff it under the skin. Then coat the skin with softened butter and roast. You can enhance the duxelles by grinding some dried porcini in a spice grinder and adding some of the powder to the duxelles. Wild rice is always a side dish for us. If you are making gravy from the drippings, hit the mushroom flavor home by adding some of the ground porcini to it.


----------



## taxlady (Aug 31, 2014)

Caslon, are you a Costco member? I get Tellicherry peppers there. We didn't even notice until a chef friend was helping me with supper and he spotted the jar.

I would just sub some regular, freshly ground pepper.


----------



## GotGarlic (Aug 31, 2014)

Caslon said:


> "Hand mixed from: flake salt, cracked Tellicherry black pepper, sugar, minced orange peel, coriander, and turmeric".    I intend to generously sprinkle it inside the game hen cavity.   I don't have Tellicherry black pepper or flaked salt.  I have peppercorns/ground pepper/course pepper and sea salt tho.  THANKS, I am clueless what proportions to use.
> 
> If you want, you could even tell me in tsp/tbs to make up enough for one game hen.



This is an educated guess, based on other spice rubs I've put together. This will make about 2 tbsp. of spice mix. I would think that's more than enough for one hen, assuming it's the size of a small chicken - about 3 pounds? 

I would put some under the skin as well, to flavor the meat, and then brush the skin lightly with soy sauce. The soy sauce imparts a nice savory flavor but it doesn't taste like soy and it doesn't make it salty. I do this with baked or roasted chicken all the time. Also, no need to hydrate the zest - the juices from roasting the bird will do that.

1 tbsp. sea salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. minced orange peel
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. turmeric

Good luck  Let us know how it turns out.


----------



## Caslon (Aug 31, 2014)

GotGarlic said:


> This is an educated guess, based on other spice rubs I've put together. This will make about 2 tbsp. of spice mix. I would think that's more than enough for one hen, assuming it's the size of a small chicken - about 3 pounds?
> 
> I would put some under the skin as well, to flavor the meat, and then brush the skin lightly with soy sauce. The soy sauce imparts a nice savory flavor but it doesn't taste like soy and it doesn't make it salty. I do this with baked or roasted chicken all the time. Also, no need to hydrate the zest - the juices from roasting the bird will do that.
> 
> ...



I'll use your suggestion as I prepare it. thanks.
I once made this dish with rice inside the cavity consisting of rice, orange zest, celery, peas.  I lost the recipe.  It was so good I ate the rice all up before the chicken!


----------



## Addie (Aug 31, 2014)

I like your balance of the spices GG. They sound perfect. It has me thinking now about Cornish hens. It has been years since I have one. I love the idea of the orange zest.


----------



## GotGarlic (Aug 31, 2014)

Thanks. Can't wait to hear how Caslon likes it


----------



## Caslon (Sep 1, 2014)

It came out pretty tasty.  Needed more orange zest even tho the bottle says 1 tsp dried zest equals 1 tsp orange peel zest.  I could only taste a hint of orange.  I may triple the amount  of dried zest next time if I don't have an orange handy. I had some corn on the cob and potato salad with it. All in all, I think actual orange peel zest is much stronger and better at imparting taste to the meat.


----------



## Addie (Sep 1, 2014)

Caslon said:


> It came out pretty tasty.  Needed more orange zest even tho the bottle says 1 tsp dried zest equals 1 tsp orange peel zest.  I could only taste a hint of orange.  I may triple the amount  of dried zest next time if I don't have an orange handy. I had some corn on the cob and potato salad with it. All in all, I think actual orange peel zest is much stronger and better at imparting taste to the meat.



Caslon, when I buy an orange, I remove the zest and freeze it. I have done this several times and as a result I have about a 1/2 cup of zest in the freezer. When I need some, I just put the needed amount in a small amount of money and bring it back to its original state. I also do this with lemons by saving the juice in cube form for in the freezer. Sometime a recipe calls for lemon juice and not the zest. Or the zest and not the juice.


----------



## GotGarlic (Sep 1, 2014)

Caslon said:


> It came out pretty tasty.  Needed more orange zest even tho the bottle says 1 tsp dried zest equals 1 tsp orange peel zest.  I could only taste a hint of orange.  I may triple the amount  of dried zest next time if I don't have an orange handy. I had some corn on the cob and potato salad with it. All in all, I think actual orange peel zest is much stronger and better at imparting taste to the meat.



And that's what makes cooking fun, in addition to eating the results - experimenting and adjusting. Glad you enjoyed it.


----------

