It's Friday again - can't you hear the birds singing and smell the hope and joy in the air as the weekend beckons ever nearer?
This week's French Friday with Dorie challenge was Olive-Olive Cornish Hens (in my case, poussin) - little birds butterflied and with their skins stuffed with homemade olive tapenade (green, in my case), olive-oiled and seasoned to perfection, and roasted until their skins are crispy and the tapenade flavour has melded into the bird. Bliss!
I served my hens with asparagus roasted with lemon and salt, good old mixed vegetables out of a packet, and wild lime pickle - devine:
Look at how wonderful and crisp the outside is and how tender the meat is:
It oddly reminded me of my Mum's Sunday roast, though there was never any olives in my mother's house.
To see what everyone else thought of this week's dish, visit the LYL section of the FFwD website for this week (once available).
Okay, Gaye, please take this in the spirit of humor that it is intended...okay? First of all, your meal looks really good, and I am not kidding around about that at all. I would love to eat every bit of this! Now for the humor part...I look at the little chickens spread eagled in the pan and the first sentence talks about "birds singing..." and I'm thinking, "Well, obviously she is talking about other birds, not these particular ones...." lol Then I read along nicely and am enjoying learning about all that, and come to the photo of the finished plate with the bird on it and a pile of brown stuff that looks, yes it does, like the bird had a bad case of bowel trouble on the plate right out his little rear end...okay, okay, I know this must mean my mind is just in a different place this week...and I do apologize, but I did giggle a bit...please don't be mad. Like I said, the dinner looks great. Hope you have a great weekend and that you are still talking to me by TWD day.
ReplyDeleteLOL Kayte - you and I are on the same page with that pickle. I only realised that once I uploaded the photo - food stylist I ain't!
ReplyDeleteYour hens look perfect! I really enjoyed them as well. Happy FFwD!
ReplyDeleteThat nice crispy skin was just about the best part of this recipe. I cheated and used store bought tapenade because I had some leftover from another recipe. One of these days I'll give them homemade version a whirl.
ReplyDeleteThese were very tasty - but it would have been a heck of a lot easier (mentally) if we did haven't to crack open the little monsters.
ReplyDeleteYou are a brave soul!
What's the difference between Cornish hens and chickens?
ReplyDeletePhoto styling aside, this chicken looks great! The more recipes I see from this book, the more I'm tempted to buy it myself.
ReplyDeleteLOL! If it's any consolation to Cakelaw, I didn't see that (but of course, now that I do, I somehow can't unsee it ... ;) ). Seriously, it looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteYours came out just perfectly! Looks great! I find it nearly impossible to take a decent picture of meat/poultry, so the "bowel trouble" comment made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteYour hen looks like it roasted up perfectly! Your meal looks so pretty and colorful. I am so ready for the weekend and took today off to make it a longer one as Monday is a holiday for us. I hope you have a great one!
ReplyDeleteThese hens were tasty, but the path to get there was a little scary...
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
I'm sad I couldn't take part this week, but your description sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteGood job...I'm looking at some of these posts, but I could not cook these birds...just reading the recipe was difficult, let alone actually doing what was suggested. Anyway, after looking at a few posts, I still don't think I can do this one. Just too gross for me. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed this! Had to laugh about the conversation above :)
ReplyDeleteFunny comment about the bird-- but it does look great!
ReplyDeleteYou guys crack me up! I've never had a poussin before, but it has the same cute factor as the hens. Very nice looking plate, even with that ill-placed pickle.
ReplyDeleteMe either...that's why I laughed, it would so be something I would do as well! It made for a good laugh, and I am happy you aren't mad at me! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteHow delightful!!
ReplyDeleteI think the crispy skin may have been the very best part. As I was making this I was a little worried about the picture quality. It's hard to make this look good. I think that's why there's no picture of it in the book!
ReplyDeleteYour chicken looks good :) I love the olive tapenade and I shall be making this again :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so tasty and would be so flavoursome with the olives on it. And I do love a crispy skin! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a recipe I'll want to revisit, spatchcocking or no. I used black olive tapenade and was surprised at how delicately it flavoured the meat.
ReplyDeleteAs for foodstyling, there's a reason I rely on closeups!