Sunday’s Grilled Game Hens

Maybe it’s old-school thinking, but there is just something about chicken and Sundays that, in my mind, naturally go together. Go to church, come home and have a great Chicken Supper. Roast chicken, fried chicken. It really didn’t matter. It was chicken on Sunday.

Here; all these countless years later, and I still love Chicken Sunday Supper. Oh sure, I’ll change things up with a Roast Beef or a Pork Tenderloin, but my heart will always love Chicken Sunday best. Far too many warm memories wrapped up in a Chicken Supper. Holding on to those memories are so important, especially now. I miss my father so very much. It’s been more that three months since we saw one another. I am so grateful that we were able to celebrate his birthday as a family. With any luck, we’ll see one another at my niece’s wedding in June. Although I must confess, I’m hoping for a small family gathering for Memorial Day. At this point, I’m not holding my breath.

California is a strange place to be. We opened our beaches, some city and county parks, but kept the stay-at-home order in place. Such mixed signals. To help with crowd control, parking lots were closed. I think they were trying to open areas up for the people who lived there rather than people to travel there. Where I live, golf courses; tennis courts and basketball courts were opened. I can see how social distancing while engaging in these healthy activities works. Personally, I cannot wait for hair salons to open.  When you have short hair like I do (sort of a butch-spike thing); you gotta maintain regular clippings. As for Hubby, years ago I became the family barber. While I had hung up my clippers, they have now come out of mothballs. He looks human, I look like a mop-head.

Okay, way off track again. Let’s get to our Sunday Chicken, shall we?

Heat gas grill or build a nice bed of coals for direct cooking.

Remove and discard neck and giblets from game hens. With kitchen scissors, cut each game hen along both sides of backbone; remove backbone and discard. Rinse game hens with cold water; pat dry. Open game hens and flatten to butterfly.

Chop thyme and rosemary, place in a small bowl. Add olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix into a paste. Rub herb mixture over the outer surface of game hens. Set aside until ready to grill.

Once grill is at about 400 degrees, oil grate. Place hens about 6 inches from coals or heat source. Cook cut-side-down for 5 minutes. Turn and grill skin side down 5 minutes.

Stand game hens up, leaning against one another for support. Grill an additional 35 to 45 minutes or until fork-tender and juices run clear.

To serve, split hens in half along the breast bone to create four servings. Arrange chicken on a serving platter. For a light supper bursting with warm flavors, serve with Pan-Seared Asparagus and ripe tomato slices.

Author: Rosemarie's Kitchen

I'm a wife, mother, grandmother and avid home cook.I believe in eating healthy whenever possible, while still managing to indulge in life's pleasures. View all posts by Rosemarie's Kitchen