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Spatchcock Cornish Game Hens with a Lavender Dry Rub & Meyer Lemon Buerre Blanc

A complete dinner on a sheet pan, elegant simplicity. You will need to begin a day in advance for brining.

We caught up Chen & Sam of Lavineyard Farms this weekend at the local farmers market & were gifted three gourmet lavender products from their culinary line. The first of which is a lovely & fragrant lavender spice rub that graces the hen above. My first experience with the taste of lavender was a lavender lemonade, I still remember the off, soapy taste. Chen explained to me that there are hundreds of species of lavender with differing purpose. Some are very fragrant, for soaps & tinctures & such. But then there are culinary grades that are used for cooking. So do not be quick to dismiss the possibility of lavender in cooking & cocktails just make certain that what your using is meant for culinary. I assure you, this recipe will make you a convert.

We begin by brining the hens to infuse flavor & moisture. Spatchcock is a method of preparing poultry or game hens by removing the back bone & pressing down on the breast, thus laying the bird essentially flat. This method is pure magic because meat wants to be cooked on the bone & with the skin intact but laying the chicken flat makes it cook quickly & evenly. A dry rub & a heavenly French sauce makes this recipe a keeper.

SERVES 4

• 2 plump Cornish game hens

Brine

• 1 qt. water

• 3 Tbsp. Salt (many chefs use Kosher here but any are fine, I use pink Himalayan)

• 2 Tbsp. Turbinado sugar

• 3 lemon slices

• 3 bay leaf

• 1 Tbsp. pepper corns

Rub

• 1 Tbsp. butter or ghee

• 1 Tbsp. Lavender Spice Rub (or dry rub of choice, or salt & pepper to taste)

1.) Remove giblets from cavity of hens & place in a gallon size ziplock bag. Whisk together brine ingredients & pour over birds. Seal & brine overnight. An hour & a half before you intend to serve, remove hens from brining liquid (discard liquid) pat dry with a kitchen towel.

2.) Using kitchen shears, spatchcock by removing back bone (illustrated below) from each hen, flip right side up & press down firmly on breast bone flattening out bird. Rub down top side off birds with butter or ghee & season with Lavender Rub. Prepare a sheet pan (or two) with parchment for easier clean up, brushed with olive oil.

3.) Now, preheat the oven to 375f. This allows the birds to begin to come to room temperature which will help them cook more efficiently. Cook until golden & until an internal temperature of 165f is reached, about 30 minutes. Allow them to rest at least 10 minutes before serving to redistribute the juices. These are delicious on there own but the Meyer lemon Beurre Blanc sauce below takes the dish to a whole new level. If desired, serve with Maple Roasted Baby Butternut Squash & Asparagus with a Blood Orange Reduction & Toasted Hazelnuts.

How to spatchcock. Lay bird breast side down. Using sharp kitchen shears, remove the backbone as illustrated above. Flip bird over & press down firmly on the breast bone, flattening the bird out.

Meyer Lemon Beurre Blanc Sauce

Beurre Blanc is an example of classic French cuisine. Beurre is French for butter & Blanc is of course white. So this is a white wine & butter sauce. It is a bit like a woman in that it is slightly tempremental. Though it consists of only a few simple ingredients, it takes some finesse to master this emulsification. Reducing the liquid to the proper degree is essential or your sauce will be thin. The rate at which you add the cold butter is also important as the sauce can only absorb so much butter at a time. It does not hold well (you can keep it warm, not hot for a bit, stirring occasionally) & it does not reheat well so make it very close to service time. Excellent with fish, chicken, seafood & vegetables.

SERVES 4

• 1 shallot finely minced

• 2 bay leaf

• 3 pepper corns

• 1/2 cup white wine

• 2 Tbsp. Meyer lemon juice

• 2 Tbsp. heavy cream

• 1/2 cup butter, cubed & cold

• salt to taste

Add shallots through white wine in a small sauce pan over medium heat, cook for a few minutes then add cream. Reduce mixture to au sec (almost dry) you should have about 1 oz. of liquid left in the pan. Reduce heat to low & begin whisking in butter a few cubes at a time allowing it to incorporate, then add more. When all of the butter has been added & is almost completely melted remove from heat, strain, season with salt & fresh herbs if you wish. Use immediately.

The tool displayed in the image above beneath the pan is called a heat diffuser the purpose of which is to further soften heat when low is not low enough. Useful for keeping a delicate heat on volatile sauces. The one we used is an old soul but the one recommended above is by Norpro with excellent ratings.