Recipe for sauce for roasting little chickens (poussins}?!
Answers: I want to cook 8 tiny chickens in the oven - has anyone a good and simple recipe please for a sauce. And how long do I cook them? Thanks
I would brine them- marinate in 1 quart water and 1 cup salt and seasoning ( try replacing 2 cups of the water with apple cider, adding a crushed clove of garlic or the equivalent ( a tsp of the crushed refrigerated stuff) some rosemary sprigs, some honey- last time I made a brine I added apple butter) Basically you need a mix of sweet, salty and season...
put the poussins in zip lock bags or other covered container and marinate in the brine overnight- RINSE well prior to cooking and if you use the apple mixture- put 1/4 of an apple in the cavity prior to cooking.
Or try this recipe and adjust for 8:
1 cup EACH kosher salt and cane syrup
1 teaspoon (or a little more) crab boil
2 to 3 cups water
2 hens (with skin loosened around breast so brine can penetrate)
1 lemon, juiced (reserve juice for sauce) and quartered
Garlic toes, smashed
Oil
1 cup (about) chicken broth
Increase amounts as needed. Start this recipe at least a day in advance. And remember, you might need to add on thawing time if the hens you purchase are frozen.
2 Servings
In a big sealed plastic zip-top bag, dissolve the salt and syrup in one cup of water, then add crab boil. Put hens in the bag and add just enough water to cover birds. Let sit overnight (or at least 8 hours) in refrigerator. Remove hens from brine, pat dry with paper towels, stuff each with two lemon quarters and several garlic toes, and brush skin with oil.
Roast at 400 degrees for an hour (or until it reaches an internal temperature of 180), basting occasionally with accumulated juices.
Deglaze pan with chicken broth and reserved lemon juice, then reduce by half to make a sauce. DO NOT ADD MORE SALT!
Variation: Use smoked garlic instead of fresh. Squeeze out a head of smoked garlic, mash it and black pepper into a paste to put under the skin, then put the garlic husks inside the hens.
I would make a veloute for the chickens, using the liquid that comes out during roasting, mixed with chicken stock and white wine, cooked down until 1/5 of the original volume. (you can start the stock and white wine with a bay leaf when you start cooking the chix, then add the juices to the sauce just before serving) I would put strips of bacon on the chix cause they can dry out easy, and probably cook them on high for about 30-45 min.. but you should really use a thermometer if your unsure.
I would brine them- marinate in 1 quart water and 1 cup salt and seasoning ( try replacing 2 cups of the water with apple cider, adding a crushed clove of garlic or the equivalent ( a tsp of the crushed refrigerated stuff) some rosemary sprigs, some honey- last time I made a brine I added apple butter) Basically you need a mix of sweet, salty and season...
put the poussins in zip lock bags or other covered container and marinate in the brine overnight- RINSE well prior to cooking and if you use the apple mixture- put 1/4 of an apple in the cavity prior to cooking.
Or try this recipe and adjust for 8:
1 cup EACH kosher salt and cane syrup
1 teaspoon (or a little more) crab boil
2 to 3 cups water
2 hens (with skin loosened around breast so brine can penetrate)
1 lemon, juiced (reserve juice for sauce) and quartered
Garlic toes, smashed
Oil
1 cup (about) chicken broth
Increase amounts as needed. Start this recipe at least a day in advance. And remember, you might need to add on thawing time if the hens you purchase are frozen.
2 Servings
In a big sealed plastic zip-top bag, dissolve the salt and syrup in one cup of water, then add crab boil. Put hens in the bag and add just enough water to cover birds. Let sit overnight (or at least 8 hours) in refrigerator. Remove hens from brine, pat dry with paper towels, stuff each with two lemon quarters and several garlic toes, and brush skin with oil.
Roast at 400 degrees for an hour (or until it reaches an internal temperature of 180), basting occasionally with accumulated juices.
Deglaze pan with chicken broth and reserved lemon juice, then reduce by half to make a sauce. DO NOT ADD MORE SALT!
Variation: Use smoked garlic instead of fresh. Squeeze out a head of smoked garlic, mash it and black pepper into a paste to put under the skin, then put the garlic husks inside the hens.