Chef John Ash & his Cider Brined and Smoked Game Hens

Chef John Ash, an icon of Sonoma County’s culinary history and  “father” of Wine Country cuisine, is also a renowned food and wine educator.  His philosophy of letting fresh seasonal ingredients be the “star” of the dish along with his expertise and charismatic teaching style draw cooking enthusiasts from all over.  John’s commitment to fresh. seasonal recipes has been showcased in his restaurant, John Ash & Co. since 1980.  His books John Ash Cooking One-on-One: Private Lessons in Simple Contemporary Food from a Master Teacher, From the Earth to the Table: John Ash’s Wine Country Cuisine and American Game Cooking showcase Johns desire to author cookbooks that describe the how and why of regional, sustainable cooking beyond providing delicious and approachable recipes.

Here is a great video of John describing why Sonoma County reminds him of Provence.

Enjoy this delicious holiday recipe using brining, a technique which adds both flavor and moistness to the meat.

Cider Brined & Smoked Game Hens

Serves 6, pairs perfectly with Ferrari-Carano 2007 Reserve Chardonnay

This brine works equally well with chicken or turkey. Brining is sort of a magical process that adds both flavor and moistness to the meat. In this recipe I’m using a covered barbecue to both cook and smoke the birds. You want to make sure to use the indirect heat method (described below) in the barbecue and monitor both temperature of the barbecue and the birds with a thermometer. The objective is to cook the birds slowly enough so that they can pick up a rich smoky flavor and you also want to be sure that they are cooked through before removing them.

For the Brine:

1 quart apple cider

1/2 cup sodium reduced soy sauce

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup kosher salt

6 cups water

2 medium oranges, sliced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped ginger

3 whole star anise

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

3 whole bay leaves

6 whole game hens, split with backbones removed

Olive oil

Woods chips for smoking

Add the apple juice, soy sauce, sugar, salt and water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer stirring all the time to dissolve the sugar and salt.  Add the oranges, ginger, star anise, garlic and bay leaves and simmer for a minute or two then remove from heat and cool.

Add the game hens to the cooled brine making sure they are completely covered.  Refrigerate for at least 4 – 6 hours, turning occasionally.

Prepare the grill according using the indirect heat method and also the smoking wood of choice according to the grill manufacturer’s instructions.  Remove the hens from the brine and pat dry.  Brush hens liberally with the olive oil, place on grill and cook/smoke until done.  Birds should reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees in the thickest part of the meat.  Depending on heat of barbecue it should take approximately 40 minutes.  Let birds rest loosely covered in foil for at least 5 minutes before carving.

The Indirect heat method

With this method you want to cook the food with the heat source off to the side. It’s essential that you have a grill with a good tight fitting lid so that so that the heat, as it rises, can bounce off the lid and the inside surfaces of the grill to slowly cook the food evenly on all sides. It’s the preferred method for cooking large cuts of meat and whole birds. The method is simple. You first put a drip pan in the center of the charcoal bed and then arrange hot coals on either side. The cooking grate goes over and then you arrange the food (in this case the hens) over the drip pan. This method prevents flare-ups and the drip pan allows you to capture the juices to make a sauce or gravy.

John Ash © 2009

More recipes on www.chefjohnash.com and http://chefjohnashblog.com/