Marinated Cornish Game Hens With Sweet Chili Sauce

Total Time: 8 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 5
• 4 stalks fresh lemongrass, outer leaves discarded and root ends trimmed
• 2/3 cup coriander, well washed, chopped (roots or stems)
• 1/2 cup shallot, chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, large
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger, chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup asian fish sauce, preferably naam pla
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk, well stirred
• 3 (1 1/2 lb) cornish hens, butterflied (backbone and breastbone removed)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup rice vinegar or 2/3 cup vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves, large, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• fresh ground pepper, to taste

Recipe

• 1 marinade: thinly slice lower 6 inches of lemongrass stalks, discarding remainder of stalks.
• 2 in a food processor or blender, finely grind together sliced lemongrass, coriander, shallot, garlic, and ginger root.
• 3 add brown sugar, curry, pepper, salt, fish sauce, and 1 cup of the coconut milk and puree.
• 4 quarter each hen and divide the hen between 2 large plastic zip lock bags and divide the marinade and seal the bags, pressing out all air.
• 5 put bags in a large shallow dish and marinate hens, chilled, turning bag once or twice overnight.
• 6 preheat oven to 450 degrees f. and line a large shallow roasting pan with foil.
• 7 remove hens from the marinade, reserving marinade, and arrange hens, skin side up, in the prepared pan. roast 20-25 minutes until cooked through.
• 8 while hens are roasting, in a small saucepan, combine reserved marinade and remaining 1 cup of coconut milk and cook sauce at a slow boil, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, and strain through a sieve into another small saucepan to keep warm.
• 9 serve hens with the marinade sauce and/or the sweet chili sauce.
• 10 for the sweet chili sauce, in a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. cool sauce to room temperature. sauce may be made up to 3 days ahead and kept chilled, covered. serve at room temperature though. (yield: 1 1/2 cups).