Rum Glazed Cornish Hens Stuffed with Sweet Plantains

This Christmas Obed and I spent our first Christmas alone…..well really our second Christmas, since we spent our first Christmas in the hospital.  Last year I was hospitalized on Christmas Eve with chest pains.  Turn out it was a pulmonary embolism, in laymen’s term….I had a clot in my lung. FUN!   Let me tell you that sucker hurt, but the doctor’s were kind and pumped me full of drugs.   The hypothosis was that the clot was brough on by the “I don’t want to get knock-up pills” that I had started taking 30 days, to the day, prior.   Obed and I got to spend our very first Christmas as a married couple in the hospital opening presents.  Although we did have quite a parade of friends and family come to visit.  No worries though, everything is back to normal, clot gone and treatment done.

So I consider this Christmas our first “real” Christmas, since we managed to stay out of the hospital this year and actually open presents under the Christmas tree, but it was our first Christmas away from family.  I wanted to make it a little special so I thought I would get “down-home” and a little “fancy” with some Cornish hens.  Although we were far from family and friends this year, it beats last year’s Christmas without a doubt and it was a white Christmas to boot. 

Let’s cook shall we……

In a blender combine garlic, onion, orange juice and lime juice with seasons sugar, cumin, oregano, lemon-pepper, black pepper, salt and cilantro.  Blend until thoroughly incorporated. Pour in the olive oil, and blend until smooth.

Divide marinade and marinate Cornish hens in large Ziploc bags for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.  Trim the ends of the ripe plantains and bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes, until skins are dark and begin to split. 

The plantain will also push out the ends.  Remove from oven and cool.  Once cool enough to handle, peel plantains, slice and place in a medium bowl.

Whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, garlic and rum in a small bowl.  Add 3 tbs of the butter rum mixture to the plantains.  Using a fork or potato masher, mash the plantains and set aside. 

Try not to eat them straight out of the bowl….you will be tempted.

Turn oven up to 400 degrees.

Remove Cornish hens from marinade and pat dry.  (Advisory:  This is a photo before marinating.  I forgot to take a photos after marinating….oops.)

I will confess that I thought these were so funny and cute I held them up by the wings, sang a little song and made them dance.  I was sure to call Obed over to watch.   He asked if I had taken any medication. 

Now brace yourself, this is when it starts to get frisky.

Using your fingers, gently separate the skin from the hen, season the hens under the skin and inside the cavity with salt and pepper, then rub the butter rum glaze under the skin and in the cavity.   Reserved half of the butter rum mixture for basting.

Loosely fill the cavities of the hens with mashed sweet plantains.  Tie up the legs with roasting twine.  (I was out so I used sewing thread….shhhhh…don’t tell)

Place in a roasting rack or pan and generously brush the skin of the hens with butter rum glaze.  Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hours, basting periodically with butter rum glaze and drippings, or until an instant reading thermometer inserted in thickest part registers 170 degrees.

Allow hens to rest, loosely covered with foil, for at least 10 minutes.

This chicken was fantastico!  I got many praises and grunts from the spousal figure.  He even took the bones of my plate and sucked them clean.  I know that sounds  a little gross, but well….whatever.

The chicken was tender and juicy, full of flavor and the glaze gave it a hint of sweetness.  You can easily do this same recipe substituting the hens for a whole chicken if you like. 

My favorite part were the sweet plantains.  They soaked in all the flavor of the chicken and were absolutely divine.  I will be making this again without a doubt.

Print Recipe

Rum Glazed Cornish Hens Stuffed with Sweet Plantains

Mojo Marinade

This marinade can also be used for steaks, pork and fish minus the sugar.

• 6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tbs of sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano flakes
• 1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup olive oil

In a blender combine garlic, onion, orange juice and lime juice with seasons sugar, cumin, oregano, lemon-pepper, black pepper, salt and cilantro.  Blend until thoroughly incorporated. Pour in the olive oil, and blend until smooth.

Divide marinade and marinate Cornish hens in large Ziploc bags for 2 hours or overnight.

Cornish Hens

• 2 3 lb Cornish Hens
• 3 large ripe plantains
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 3 1/2 tbs of brown sugar
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup of dark rum (I use Captain Morgan Spiced Rum)
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper or with a silicon mat.  Trim the ends of the ripe plantains and bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes, until skins are dark.  The plantain will also push out the ends.  Remove from oven and cool.  Once cool enough to handle, peel plantains, slice and place in a medium bowl. 

Whisk together butter, brown sugar, garlic and rum in a small bowl.  Add 3 tbs of the butter rum mixture to the plantains.  Using a fork or potato masher, mash the plantains and set aside.

Turn oven up to 400 degrees.

Remove Cornish hens from marinade and pat dry.  Using your fingers, gently separate the skin from the hen, season the hens under the skin and inside the cavity with salt and pepper, then rub the butter rum glaze under the skin and in the cavity.   Reserved half of the butter rum mixture for glazing.

Loosely fill the cavities of the hens with mashed sweet plantains.  Tie up the legs with roasting twine.  Place in a roasting rack and generously brush the skin of the hens with butter rum glaze.  Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hours, basting periodically with butter rum glaze and drippings, or until an instant reading thermometer inserted in thickest part registers 170 degrees.  (If skin begins to brown before hens are ready tent with aluminum foil.) Allow hens to rest, loosely covered with foil, for at least 10 minutes.

Serving suggestion :  Arroz con Gandules (Rice and Pigeon Peas)

Tostones (Fried Plantains)

This is a quick and easy post of one of my favorite side items.   Plantains are an awesome vegetable because there are countless different ways to prepare a plantain, fried, boiled or mashed they are always delicious.  One of the most common ways of preparing a green plantain is to make Tostones.  As a kid I loved these things.  I would probably eat more of them then I would my actual meal.

The name for Tostones comes from the word “tostado” which means to toasted.  They are incrediably easy to make and I have yet to serve them to a person who doesn’t enjoy them.  I like to cut mine at a 1 inch diagonal so they come out thin and crispy.  If you cut them too thick they can be very dry.   One very important thing is that you cannot skip the first fry.  Green plantains are very hard and have to be par-cooked in order to be able to mash them.  If you try to mash before the first fry you are going to hurt yourself and end up with a mess.

Lets make tostones shall we?

First peel your plantain.  If you don’t know how go here.

Cut your plantain diagonally into 1 inch slices.  You usually get about 6 slices per plantain.

Fry the plantain slices over medium heat, until golden in color and soften.

They should look a little something like this.  Drain them in a plate lined with paper towels.

If you don’t have a tostonera which is a press for making tostones, take a paper bag and place a plantain slice on it.

Fold the bag over on the plantain slice and using a can, saucer or what ever you have on hand, press down on the plantain slice.

TA-DA! Flat plantain!

Then dredge the flat plantain in a bowl of salted water and drop back into the frying pan.  Stand back because it will spit at you.

Fry until golden and crisp, drain in plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

I like mine with a bit of ketchup on the side.  Some people do a mix of mayo and ketchup and some like a garlic sauce on the side.   I choose ketchup.

Yum!  You don’t have to have them with ketchup but that is how I like mine.

Trust me they will be all gone in just a few minutes.  I have to hurry before Obed comes and steals them.  He is hovering behind me….back off holmes!

Print Recipe

Tostones (Fried Plantains)

• 3 green plantains
• salt
• water
• oil for frying

Peel plantain and cut diagonally into 1 inch slices.

Fry the plantain slices over medium heat, until golden in color and soften. Drain them in a plate lined with paper towels.

If you don’t have a tostonera which is a press for making tostones, take a paper bag and place a plantain slice on it. Fold the bag over on the plantain slice and using a can, saucer or what ever you have on hand, press down on the plantain slice to flatten.

Dredge the flat plantains in a bowl of salted water and drop back into the frying pan. Stand back because it will spit at you. Fry until golden and crisp, drain in plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

Serve with ketchup or garlic sauce.

Bacalao (Salted Cod Salad)

Bear with me while I write the post.  I am suffering from a lack of sleep after piping that I think where 1,500 petals last night on to some cupcakes, which I will be posting later.  Me very sleepy, fingers a little cramped.

When I was a kid my grandmother would make this salad and it was one of the few things I would refuse to eat.  Great way to start off a food post huh? Of course I don’t think anyone can successfully feed a child salted cod.  If you have please let me know.  After much protest from both me and my sister this was no longer  offered in our household. 

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Pastelón (Sweet Plaintain “Lasagna”)

Every once in a while I just have to go back to my roots.  I just have to do some down home cooking.  This is how Puerto Ricans do lasagna….Oh Yeah!  When I was in Florida my mother-in-law had suggested that I make a patelón to post on my site.  Why I haven’t thought of it sooner is beyond me, because it has to be one of my favorites.  It has the perfect combo of savory and sweet, of juicy and cheesy, of wanting to lick your plate and then lick your face………………………………………Sorry went into a trance of savory memories.  Ohhhh so good.

This a disclaimer, I take no responsibility for enlargement of waist lines, addition of dimples to the thigh and buttocks area or lectures from your cardiologist.  Proceed at your own risk.

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Mofongo con Camarones (“Mashed” Plantains with Shrimp)

Wondering where I was going with my last post?  Probably not, but it wasn’t for no reason.  How to Peel Plantains helps us with this recipe. Last night I thought I would do some “down home cooking” and made Mofongo con Camarones (Mashed Plantains with Shrimp).  I love mofongo it is one of my favorite ways to eat plantains, but it isn’t exactly figure friendly.  Last night I decided I was going to make an effort to make it a little more figure friendly.  I do not really know if I managed to accomplish it but it turned out pretty darn good, except for the fact that I was a little heavy handed with the garlic, so I will be cutting it in the recipe.  If you want more garlic you can always add more.

Also, my initial plan on how to prepare the dish did not go over so well, so I had to make some adjustments to “save” it.  Because of this my visual step-by-step “tutorial” is going to be a little incomplete.

Mofongo is usually made by cutting plantains into slices and deep frying them until they are cooked through.  Then you transfer them into a mortar and pestle and mash with garlic and pork rinds.   I tried to make it a little more “friendly” by baking the plantains instead of frying them.

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Do you Know How to Peel a Plantain?

Growing up in a Puerto Rican household I became very familiar with the plantain and I LOVE THEM!  You can eat them like 20 different ways, fried, boiled, baked, covered in cheese….the possibilities really are endless. I remember when I was about 15 years old, my parents sent me ahead of them to PR,  to live with my Abuela (Grandmother). My Abuela made great use of me and had me peeling plantains, yucca and potatoes almost everyday. It wasn’t easy but I am grateful because now I can peel a plantain with my hands tied behind my back……well not really, but you know what I mean.

Do you know how to peel a plantain?  Do you know what a plantain is?  Plantains look like a big mutated banana, but unlike a banana you do not eat these raw.  Plantains do become sweeter and ripen turning the skin yellow and black.  The skin also becomes softer and thinner when ripe.  Depending on what dish you want to prepare you will need the plantain either ripe or green. 

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