Friday, October 7, 2011

FFwD - Olive-Olive Cornish Hens


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).




22 comments:

Kayte said...

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.

Cakelaw said...

LOL 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!

Anonymous said...

Your hens look perfect! I really enjoyed them as well. Happy FFwD!

Anonymous said...

That 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.

Cher Rockwell said...

These 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.
You are a brave soul!

The Blonde Duck said...

What's the difference between Cornish hens and chickens?

Beth said...

Photo styling aside, this chicken looks great! The more recipes I see from this book, the more I'm tempted to buy it myself.

SoupAddict said...

LOL! 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.

Ei said...

Yours 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.

Elaine said...

Your 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!

Cher Rockwell said...

These hens were tasty, but the path to get there was a little scary...
Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

I'm sad I couldn't take part this week, but your description sounds delicious!

Kris' Kitchen said...

Good 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.

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Glad you enjoyed this! Had to laugh about the conversation above :)

Marie said...

Funny comment about the bird-- but it does look great!

Betsy said...

You 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.

Kayte said...

Me 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!

Anonymous said...

How delightful!!

Frankly Entertaining said...

I 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!

Elin said...

Your chicken looks good :) I love the olive tapenade and I shall be making this again :)

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

This sounds so tasty and would be so flavoursome with the olives on it. And I do love a crispy skin! :)

Anonymous said...

This 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.

As for foodstyling, there's a reason I rely on closeups!