Friday, March 14, 2014

FFWD - Sausage-Stuffed Cornish Hens


This week's French Friday with Dorie recipe is Sausage-Stuffed Cornish Hens.

Dorie says that she chose Cornish hens rather than poussins because the Cornish hens are easier to get.  Here in Oz, the opposite is true, so I purchased the local version of poussins - spatchcock:



Even these little babies were hard to track down.  Woollies, unsurprisingly, did not stock them.  More surprisingly, the guy at the specialist poultry shop looked at me very blankly when I asked him if he stocked spatchcock - now that is worrying.  Finally, I went to Thomas Dux after getting off the train a stop early on the way home, and hallelujah - they stocked spatchcock.   They were not cheap, but that's OK - the two of them only cost a little more than a decent sized chicken.

For the sausage stuffing, I bought Italian flavoured sausages, whatever that means.  What I did work out is that they contain a lot of basil - which was not what I was expecting, but it worked OK.

This dish was easy enough to prepare, and the end result was very tasty:
 
 
 
I served my sausage-stuffed birds with sweet potato and stir-fried veges (half a bird = one serve).  Verdict - delish.  The only drawback was the itty bitty bones in the teeny weeny bird that you have to eat around and be careful not to swallow.

To see what the other Doristas thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the FFWD website.

18 comments:

Lorraine Not Quite Nigella said...

I do love an easy to prepare but tasty dish!:)

Susan said...

You're more persistent than me! We just used very large chicken breasts - but, an easy & delicious meal for a work night!

Cher Rockwell said...

Your diligence in finding the birds is admirable.

I don't think I have ever heard of the bird called a spatchcock before - I only knew that's what it was called when cut out the center and laid it flat! (See, your post was educational :-) )

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Sorry you had to make so many stops to find your birds, but glad they were worth the hunt!

Mary Hirsch said...

I'm with Cher, I just knew of spatchcock as a technique not as the name of something. Hmmmm You are persistent, young lady, but the result looks delicious and well-worth the effort. I am delighted you joined our FFWD Facebook gang. Now you really will have no free time. One can lose themselves on Facebook. I guess misery loves company. Seriously, it's fun and I am glad you're aboard. Nice post this week.

Nana said...

We enjoyed these a lot, and the stuffing was delicious. This is a great dish for a weeknight
meal for busy people. Glad you enjoyed it.

Gracie said...

I am so glad you were able to find the little birds. So delicious. I made sweet potato with mine too. A very nice meal.

Emily said...

You did good with this week's recipe!! I love sweet potato too but have not seen any of my fav purple ones the few weekends!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Mary, I am behind on the FB group as I didn't know it existed til I saw a post from Alice, but will be fun.

Kathy said...

I never heard of Spatchcock either, as a type of bird….but no matter what it’s called your meal came out wonderful! Happy weekend, Gaye!

Anonymous said...

What a shopping adventure. I was lucky to have found some (thawed - that's rare here) at the fancy market near me, so I knew that it would be easy (pricey though. I think your birds look great, and that sounds like a yummy combination.

Rose said...

I always find it interesting to hear what food items are more expensive in different places. Certain things, like duck and these little birdies, are quite cheap to buy here. Beef and fish, on the other hand, are insanely expensive. You don't want to know what I just paid to buy the scallops for next week's recipe.

tricia s. said...

I am truly impressed at your efforts to get the correct poultry. And amazed that it was so challenging. I also didn't know there was such as thing as a spatchcock but then again, I don't hold myself out as an expert and simply follow Dorie's instructions :) Your sausage stuffed little birdies looked just wonderful and that entire plate has my mouth watering. Great job !!

2paw said...

Oh very posh, and how annoying that you can't find what you need for your recipe. It is amazing what the big two supermarkets here DON'T stock. I am never surprised!!

Betsy said...

I had to go to three different stores before I found my little bird. It made me excited to find one. I like the sound of your entire menu. Nice veggie choices! I was frustrated by the little bones so not sure I'll use this bird next time. Have a great weekend.

Unknown said...

I looked all over Zagreb no Cornish hen anywhere so I stuffed a chicken but it was delicious! I agree with you this was a great recipe!!

yummychunklet said...

Your hens turned out great!

TeaLady said...

I had good intentions of making these, but....

I will have to try. Cornish are pretty available here.