When I complain about something, I have a friend that often reminds me that the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. It's become clear to me during the course of my mother's stay that this saying should absolutely be taken as gospel. As some of you longtime readers may recall, my mother's last visit was during the Christmas holiday, just a few months after this blog began. I had yet to convince her of my abilities in the kitchen, and was offering to make her food at all hours of the day in order to prove myself. She generally turned down my offers of homemade cuisine in favor of the supermarket's generic three-for-a-dollar ramen. During the course of that last two week visit, I persisted and slowly managed to make her a few of her favorite dishes.
I started with bok choy, her favorite green that just happens to be notoriously difficult to find in Spain (I'm always thinking). She loved it and seemed impressed. Christmas Eve came a few days later and she suggested that I make us Cornish game hens like the ones I'd blogged about a few weeks before. And...maybe I could make us some potatoes? And even better, she said, I could cook up the asparagus I'd been boasting about as an additional side dish to round out the meal. Blind sighted by ego and opportunity, I naively jumped at the chance to prove not only my culinary prowess, but my awesome multitasking abilities in the kitchen. The meal went off without a hitch and we both ate every bite on our plate, plus seconds.
Needless to say, the days of anticipating my mother's visits and the hope for a homemade meal made lovingly by her are long gone. My much complained about deli runs for ramen and Coca-cola are a thing of the past. How I could at one point in time have found her simple requests to be a burden is now unfathomable. I've dug myself a hole so deep they might as well fill it with water and call it a public pool. This has been made clear in that not only has she yet to make me a meal, but has suggested--nay, demanded--that I make dinner nearly every night. Last night, while I went from work to a volleyball game, she informed me that a Cornish game hen had been defrosted for me to prepare as the next night's dinner. I was on the verge of pointing out that I had yet to be on the receiving end of a home cooked meal (made by someone other than myself), but flattery and my ego took hold the moment she said how much she'd loved the Christmas meal I'd made.
So, I did it. I cooked the hen, roasted the asparagus, and made her favorite tomato and onion salad to boot (all in 45 minutes, I might add). I must admit that I love cooking for others and seeing them enjoy the food that I worked so hard to make. And although I complain, this case is no different. In fact, it's bolstered by the pride I see in my mother's eyes every time I make her a wonderful meal. After all, I spent all these years seeking her culinary approval, so I should relish in it. This doesn't mean I'll stop trying to get a hearty meal out of her before she leaves, but I will start appreciating the time I can spend nourishing her as she did for me. Here's the delicious and quick glaze that I used on the hens, which works easily for a roast chicken or duck.
Honey-Vinegar Poultry Glaze
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp honey
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp coriander seed
1. Pound spices in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder until finely ground.
2. Combine vinegar, oil, honey and spice mixture in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to a syrupy glaze. Apply half of the glaze to your roast and use the rest to baste. Enjoy!
-Laura
Well, this is one for the record books, folks. For the first time in history, I cooked a full meal for my mother. It's not that I was never capable of doing so, but more that I never had the opportunity or the energy to convince her to let me try. But, as luck would have it, authoring a food blog with photographic evidence of my cooking capabilities did it. That, and she had an overpowering flu and bronchial infection rendering her incapable of moving from the sofa and cooking it herself. So, we scrapped our original seafood feast idea and set off to design a new menu fit for two gals (one of which was coughing up a lung) on Christmas Eve.
Since my mother was only just starting to keep food down, we decided that the protein should be simple, maybe poultry. She remembered my saying that I make a good Cornish game hen, so we went with that (we're not turkey people--very few Spaniards eat turkey) and decided to cook the two tiny birds over a bed of soft, oven roasted potatoes. Having missed Thanksgiving for the last 5 or so years, my mother demanded cranberry jelly on the side, so I gladly rid the supermarket of their Thanksgiving overstock. I love roasting green asparagus in the oven, so we added that as the bit of green in our meal. I'd already made a seafood paté to snack on while the hens roasted, so that bit would have to stay (even if I ate it all myself).
So, while my mom showered and dressed, I began reducing the glaze, chopping the potatoes, chilling the cranberry jelly and seasoning the asparagus. By the time she was done, the house smelled of cumin, fennel and nutmeg, and all that was left was to glaze the hens every 10 minutes. I felt invincible setting out the paté aperitif as my mom commented on how great the house smelled. Sure, there were a few comments here and there about how I should be leaving the skin to crisp, or that I should mind the asparagus, but all in all, I was not harassed by mother and really had the opportunity to cook my way. The meal turned out great, she loved it, and so did I. It was warm and filling, and had a real Christmas feel to it, even if it was just for two.
I've written about the Cornish hens before, so here's the recipe for the super easy oven roasted asparagus we had on the side. I hope everyone had a great holiday, filled with button popping meals and delicious treats. I'd love to hear about what you made for yourself or your family to celebrate. Merry Christmas!
Oven Roasted Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus (about 10 spears)
olive oil
salt
pepper
1. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
2. Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up).
3. Spread out asparagus on the sheet pan and drizzle with oil. Season liberally with salt and about a 1/4 tsp pepper. Toss to coat.
4. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until cooked through but still a bit crisp in the center. Enjoy!
**Sorry for the crappy photos, I am currently without Photoshop while I'm not working for the holidays. Also, I didn't bother to set up lighting so our food wouldn't get cold while I took a million pics. I'll get back to some decent photography in the next few entries!
-Laura
It's true. Despite being one of the easiest things to make, almost everyone is impressed when presented with a juicy oven roasted chicken. If, like myself, your kitchen is the size of a shoe box, and your oven the size of a quarter, you may want to try the above pictured recipe. It's not exactly a chicken, but Cornish game hen. They're much smaller, usually less than two pounds, and almost sinfully cheap, even in NYC. A 1.55 lb game hen is the perfect portion for one person, costs less than $4.00, and only takes 35 minutes to cook. My favorite game hen recipe includes a glaze that only takes about 10 minutes to make, and it's literally just a matter of mixing the ingredients and letting them boil down into a glaze. Season your chicken, glaze it, bake it, and you're done! It's really even easier than it sounds. I like to serve it over couscous made with chicken stock, carrots and peas (another great time saver). The recipe I use originally ran in a 1992 issue of Gourmet. I've actually changed it a bit (mostly just the spices, I prefer using cumin and coriander, and omitting the fennel seed) but I think it's a really great, and you'll enjoy making it for friends, or for yourself. If you want to take a look at the original, it's available at epicurious.com.
Cornish Game Hen with Honey-Vinegar Glaze
1 Cornish game hen
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp paprika
salt
pepper
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse hen under cold water, removing and discarding innards. Pat dry with paper towel. Season generously with salt and pepper and with 1/4 tsp each cumin, coriander and paprika. Set hen aside.
2. Mix honey, vinegar and olive oil in a small saucepan with remaining cumin and coriander and bring to a boil over medium heat. Allow mixture to reduce, stirring occasionally with a whisk until glaze coats the back of a spoon.
3. Brush glaze onto the hen, setting aside any remaining glaze. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes (until juices run clear), basting with remaining glaze every 10 minutes. Allow hen to rest 5-10 minutes before serving.
-Laura
