Hanukkah Dinner: Crispy Cornish Game Hens with Spiced Cranberyy-Honey Glaze

I think I've made cornish game hens once before.  They were on sale at the grocery store and I thought that they would make for a special Hanukkah dinner.  I did not add the red pepper to the glaze to make it kid-friendly.  The glaze turned out more like a cranberry relish/sauce. My daughter loved it though and even put some on one of her potato latkes.

Crisp Cornish Game Hens with Spiced Cranberry-Honey Glaze
Cooking Light, November 2006

Ingredients:

Hens:
2 (1 1/4-pound) Cornish hens
1 teaspoon thyme, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced

Glaze:
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed
1/4 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
Cooking spray

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425°.

To prepare hens, remove and discard giblets and necks from hens. Remove skin; trim excess fat. Split hens in half lengthwise. Combine thyme, salt, black pepper, and 2 minced garlic cloves. Rub surface of hens with thyme mixture.

To prepare glaze, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 minced garlic clove, and cook 1 minute. Add cranberries, juice, honey, cinnamon, and red pepper; bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes or until slightly syrupy.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add hens, breast side down; cook 3 minutes. Place hens, breast side up, on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Brush hens with half of glaze. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°, brushing occasionally with remaining glaze.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up. (Our skin didn't end up crispy and our glaze ended up more like a sauce than a glaze.)

Hannukah Dinner: Potato Latkes

I am Catholic, but my husband is half Jewish.  Our children are being raised Catholic, however, we do go to celebrate Hanukkah and Passover with his mom's side of the family.  This year, we won't be visiting his mom's family until sometime in January.  I thought that we should celebrate the holiday, even if it is just the four of us.  So, tonight we made potato latkes and Crisp Cornish Game Hens with Spiced Cranberry-Honey Glaze for dinner.  Then we lit the menorah and played dreidel with m&ms and pennies. Hopefully, later this week we'll make some sufganiyas (jelly doughnuts) and possibly some blintzes.  My daughter has also requested we make more latkes, since she loves them so much!

Potato Latkes

Ingredients:
4 cups peeled and shredded potatoes
1 small grated onion
2 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons matzo meal
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying
sour cream or applesauce optional

Directions:
1. Squeeze the excess water out of the potatoes before placing in a bowl. (we used our clean hands!)
2.In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, matzo meal, and salt together.

3.In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Place on paper towels to drain.  Serve hot with either sour cream or apple sauce.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up! Who doesn't like crispy, hot latkes?! (except my son!)