Receta A Sheet Pan With A Plan: OXO Makes Your Holiday Meals Magic.
I love OXO products, and when looking for great design, ergonomic ease, and long lasting quality, that's the brand I reach for. So, when OXO offered me a chance to try out some of their roasting equipment for my holiday cooking, I jumped at the opportunity. This time of the year is when the cooking ramps up around here, and that is something coming from someone who seems to always be cooking, or baking. December is usually the most hectic month as it includes, Christmas, Channuka, our wedding anniversary, my husbands birthday, and New Years Eve. We always have family and extra guests visiting this time of year, so by the time December is over, I'm usually ready to give the company feasting a rest til Valentines day.
The good folks at OXO sent me a number of items to try, my task was to use them all to turn out something special. I received a Good Grips Flavor Injector for brines and marinades. This is a nifty little tool, that comes with two injector heads, one for thinner brines and marinades and one for thicker marinades. Until I used this I never knew injecting marinades could be so easy. I have permanently said goodbye to soaking in brine, now it's all about the injector.
I also got a Non Stick Pro Half Sheet Jelly Roll Pan which is sturdy, scratch, stain, and abrasion resistant, with nicely rolled square edges and a micro-textured pattern.
This beauty is extremely easy to clean up (always a plus), and it's commercial grade! I really work my cooking materials hard and most of what I use is commercial grade, (especially since I've been menu consulting for CocoaPlanet) the tougher the better, and it's great to find a product for the home that measures up to what I'd find in a restaurant supply store.
I also received a Chefs Precision Digital Instant Read Thermometer. (see above) I already had bought one of these, but I had the old model, this new thermometer has a swivel head which does not involve one jamming their head in the oven like a fugitive from Hansel and Gretel to find out how ones meat is doing, Plus the case it comes in has the proper temps listed for whatever you might be cooking. Sweet.
The items on the left are Silicone Roasting Racks. (again, above) They elevate whatever happens to be cooking, allows the air to circulate around the food as it cooks, and did I mention they are a breeze to clean up? Well they are! Dishwasher safe baby!
So with all this great equipment what to cook? I decided to test drive my new pan with an old favorite that I hadn't bothered cooking for a zillion years. Game Hens. I always found them troublesome to cook properly but with all this great stuff, they were a breeze.
Pomegranate Marinated Game Hens
Here's What You Need:
2 Game Hens
3 Tbs pomegranate molasses
1 Tbs olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup of pomegranate arils
Here's What To Do:
Mix together the pomegranate molasses, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Draw the marinade into the flavor injector using the wider head. Make sure the birds are thoroughly defrosted and dry. Place them in a Pyrex dish and inject them under the skin, into the meat at strategic points.
Cover the dish with foil and let the birds rest in the fridge overnight.
When ready to cook, mix another batch of the marinade and set it aside.
Take the birds out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the silicone roasting racks into the sheet pan.
Sprinkle salt and pepper inside the hens, and add some pomegranate arils inside each cavity.
Place them on the silicone roasting racks and tie the tiny drumsticks together with butchers twine.
Place them into the middle of the oven and roast them at 375 for about 1 hour.
During the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking, brush each game hen with the extra marinade you prepared.
Check the temp with the nifty digital thermometer.
I placed the birds on a bed of Basmati rice, cooked with cardamom, cloves, toasted cashews, and cinnamon.
I scattered pomegranate arils and torn mint leaves over the birds...
...and served them up.
They were flavorful thanks to the marinade injection, juicy and delicious!!!! This was the perfect meal for a busy weekday dinner even though it looks like something designed for company.
I want to thank OXO for giving me the opportunity to use these great tools and show you what they can do. I'm now hooked on that injector and can't wait to see what it'll do to a brisket! Coming up next, great holiday dishes, fancy or plain. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori