Finally! Something Useful!

That's right. I have finally learned something very useful here at college. AMAZING recipes! We do a lot of cooking in my Nutrition Science class...and today we made some amazing dishes. I'm going to share my favorites. None of these took more than an hour and a half to make. They all turned out great!

MY FAVORITE RECIPE OF THE DAY!:

Tropical Cornish Hens

3 (1lb) Cornish hens
3/4 tsp Black pepper
Vegetable cooking spray
1/4 cup Frozen orange juice concentrate-thawed and undiluted
1 tbsp+1&1/2 tsp Bourbon
1/4 tsp Garlic powder (Chopped garlic doesn't work as well)
2 (per hen) Banana
3/4 cup Fresh mango, peeled and diced
3/4 cup Pineapple chunks, unsweetened

Sprinkle hens with pepper, and place in a foil-lined roasting pan that has been coated with cooking spray.

Combine orange juice, bourbon, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Brush the hens with this mixture.

Bake at 425F for 1 hour, basting frequently with orange juice mixture.

Add banana, mango, and pineapple to hens and pan. Drizzle remaining orange juice mixture over hens. Bake for 20 more minutes, or until fruit is thouroughly heated and hens are done.

That's the recipe we used in class. There were some alterations that the group who made these chose not to do, which I think would have made them a lot better.

1- Fill bottom of roasting pan with a bit of pineapple juice...helps moisten and flavor the hens.
2- Using a syringe, inject the hens with pineapple juice just under the skin. Same effect as above.
3- Grate orange peel onto the hens, which crisps with the skin as it cooks, and gives it a more intense flavor.

Coq Au Vin

8 ounces Bacon
1 tbsp Oil
4 whole Chicken breasts (boneless works best)
16 tiny (4 small) Onions (Tiny work best)
1 pound Fresh mushrooms
1 & 1/3 cups Red wine
1 cup Chicken stock
1/2 tsp Thyme
1 per breast Bay Leaf
4 crushed Garlic cloves
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Flour
2 Tbsp Fresh Parsley

Dice bacon slices. Place in saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, drain.

Add oil to frying pan, place over moderate heat. Add blanched bacon. Saute until brown. Remove with slotted spoon, DO NOT DRAIN PAN!

Increase temp. to high, and add chicken breasts. Brown well on all sides. Remove. DO NOT DRAIN PAN!

Add onions and mushrooms to pan and saute until brown. remove and set aside with bacon. Now you may drain the pan.

Add wine and stock to the pan, bring to a boil. Tie thyme, bay leaf, and garlic in cheese cloth and add to pan. Return chicken to the pan. Stir in mushrooms, onions, and bacon.

Remove mixture to covered casserole dish and bake at 350F for 30-40 mins, until chicken is done.

Place chicken on a platter. Strain, but keep the liquid. Top the chicken with bacon, mushrooms, and onions. Cover.

Place retained cooking liquid back into fry pan. boil over high heat until mixture is reduced by 1/3.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in flour and cook until light brown. Stir constantly. Add the cooking liquid slowly while stirring with a whisk.

Sprinkle chicken with fresh topped parsley. Serve as desired.

Okay, this recipe turns out a lot better of you cut the chicken breasts into pieces after cooking them and simmer them in the final cooking liquid. The chicken turns out much juicier and much more flavorful.

Well, those were my 2 favorites of the day. I am most definately keeping some of these recipes for future reference!