Date Night Doins BBQ For Two
Backyard Grilling, Barbeque Recipes, HowTo's, Ideas for Outdoor Cooking, BBQ, Grilling and Smoking
with Pellets, Gas, Charcoal and Wood using
Royall, Traeger, Char-Broil, CharmGlow, Brinkman,
and Weber Grills
Smoked Rock Cornish Game Hen
Smoked Cornish Game Hen
Patti and I have set one night a week just for us. It’s our date night. We usually put something special on the grill but sometimes we cook inside. We always eat outside on our patio where it is very comfortable with a rainforest theme. Wood burning stove, little lights, candles, lanterns and surround sound. We enjoy a little wine, or strawberry margaritas using frozen strawberries for ice, good food, music and sometimes a dance or two…
Last week we had a grill fire. The control valve on my grill was leaking gas, caught fire and melted the knobs. I guess after 5 years of rough duty, I think it was fair to retire the ol’ grill. She was used 4 or 5 times a week (on a slow week) 52 weeks a year… I could really make that ol’ grill dance. (Charbroil)
Well, now I am trying my moves on one I did some horse trading, so we’ll see how she does. This week we stuffed some Cornish game hens and put them on the rotisserie, threw in some bacon stuffed twice baked potatoes, roasted garlic and Mango Margaritas. She did all right first time out, but I think another few times around the patio we will be like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers.
Ingredients: Cornish Game Hens
1 Hen for each person
Ingredients: Stuffin
1 box of your favorite stuffing mix
Minced garlic to taste
Minced sweet onions, to taste
1 cup of defrosted frozen spinach, drained
Directions: Stuffing & Hens
Make stuffing according to package using ¼ less liquid, add garlic, onions and spinach. Using a spoon, fill the cavities of the hens with the stuffing. To keep it from falling out on the rotisserie just tie their legs together with a cotton string. Then, place on to the rotisserie and step back…
Add your stuffing.
Ingredients: Potatoes
1 large baking potato per person
2 strips of bacon, crumbled
3 Tbsp. sour cream
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. sweet onion, minced
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper
1 Tsp. coarse black pepper
1 chipotle pepper, minced
Preparing Grill: Medium Indirect Heat
Preheat your grill to low-medium heat (300) and turn off one side so you will be cooking with indirect heat. Add your wet hickory chips over the fire and oil the grill. A cooking spray is easiest for this. (Note: you can add your hickory directly to the grill or you can use foil smoke packets.(Two handfuls wet chips and one dry, fold foil into a packet, poke holes in it with a fork and you’re good to go.)
Note: I use a spray bottle when cooking on the grill filled with a Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke mix that keeps things moist and adds tons of flavors. (Mix is 3 parts Worcestershire with 1 part liquid smoke)
In The Smoke
Twice Backed Potatoes on the grill.
Directions: Hens
I don’t know what the best dance step is here, sometimes I put the rotisserie on the grill before my fire is ready, ( no smoke in your eyes ) and sometimes I have my fire going well before I put the rotisserie on. The only thing that matters is that the grill is clean and ready to go. You want the birds to go at around 300 with lots of smoke for about 3 hours and you reach an internal temperature of 180.
Directions: Potatoes
Wash your potato and poke some holes in it so it does not explode when you put it into the microwave. Coat with olive oil and put into the microwave for 5-7 minutes. Let cool enough so that you can handle. Cut in half length wise, using a spoon to scoop the insides into a bowl. Add all ingredients into the bowl with scooped out potato. Using a fork mash the potato, mix until smooth. Using a spoon, pack the potato mixture back into the potato skins and pile it high and tight. You’re set…
Place potatoes on the warming rack or a cool spot of the grill. (Every grill has one) They won’t take as long to cook than the chicken. You are just reheating them and melting the cheese, so just let them hang out in the smoke 20 minutes before the chicken is done. Check your hickory, making sure you have plenty loaded on. Adding more chips as needed. Give everything a spray of the Worcestershire mix now and then.
Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. Take it and run with it….
Enjoy,
Ken & Patti
