Ingredients

  • 4 cornish hens 3/4-1 lb each
  • 50 milliliters vegetable oil
  • 3 medium onions coarsely chopped
  • ¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 225 milliliters chicken stock
  • 300 grams pecans ground
  • 675 milliliters pomegranate juice 3+ pomegranates
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • salt and pepper
  • ¾ cup pomegranates
  • mint leaves for garnish

Directions

1. Halve each quail, remove backbone or quarter each duckling. Rinse well and pat dry.
2. Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium heat and brown the birds well on all sides. Set aside. If you are cooking duck, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat.
3. Add onions to drippings and sauté until soft. Stir in turmeric and continue to cook until onions turn golden, about 12 minutes.
4. Deglaze with chicken stock. Stir in the nuts and pomegranate juice and heat until sauce is barely boiling. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the sauce, uncovered, fo 20 minutes.
5. Stir in the lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and salt and pepper. Return the birds to the casserole and mix well to coat with the sauce. Simmer, covered, until the birds are tender, about 30 minutes for quail, 1 1/2 hours for duck.
6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350*F/175*C/GM 4.
7. Uncover the casserole and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and if serving duck, skim off the fat.
8. Serve sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and garnished with mint leaves.

Notes
Serving Ideas:Original serves 4. Serve w/ Rice with Potato Crust


Categories
Game, main course, main courseChicken
Keywords
Game, main courseChicken, main course
MacGourmet downloadCornish Hens with Walnut & Pomegranate Sauce. To import, drag image to your MacGourmet recipe box.