Community Magazine January 2014

86 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE T H C H I C K I T C H E N ESTHER DEUTSCH Who says easy can't b e fabulous? Esther Deutsch, author of CHIC Made Simple shares her philosophy: If your food looks irresistible - it tastes as such. Her recipes are designed to look – and taste – like gourmet cuisine. Yet the recipes are so easy, they take just minutes. Apricot Balsamic Cornish Hens Good-quality balsamic vinegar is essential for infusing the sauce with an incredible flavor. Baking the chicken uncovered allows for a rich reduction to thicken the sauce and intensifies and concentrates the flavor. It also caramelizes the chicken, allowing you to reap the benefits of a flavorful, moist, and tender dish. For a pleasing presentation, serve the chicken with fresh halved figs and fresh or dried apricots and drizzle with the sauce. I have also used dried figs with equally spectacular results. Even simpler: Substitute the Cornish hens with a standard whole or quartered chicken. Ingredients: • 2 Cornish hens (4 chicken quarters or 1 whole chicken) • 4 cloves garlic • 4 sprigs thyme • 1 cup apricot jam • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar • Kosher salt • Fresh black pepper • 5 fresh or dried figs • 4 fresh apricots, halved and pitted, or 8 dried apricots, plus extra to garnish (optional) DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Rinse the Cornish hens and pat dry. In a roasting pan, sprinkle the cavities and outsides of the Cornish hens with the kosher salt and black pepper. Place 2 cloves of garlic and 2 sprigs of thyme in each cavity (if you are using chicken quarters, place the garlic cloves and thyme sprigs on top of the chicken). 2. In a small bowl, combine the apricot jam and balsamic vinegar. Pour the mixture over the chicken in the roasting pan. Add the figs and apricots to the pan and bake, uncovered, for 1½ hours. Before serving, drizzle plenty of sauce over the chicken, and each Cornish hen can be halved. Serves 4.