Oktoberfest food: Cornish Game hens and more

Oktoberfest is perhaps one of my favorite times of year, for the food, the beer, the merriment, and the welcoming of the coming fall.  A celebration that began as a royal wedding reception – yes, the original also lasted two weeks – brings out some of my favorite dishes, from brats and sauerkraut to cabbage rolls and soft pretzels.  Strangely enough, I haven’t made much of it on my own.  It always seemed too complicated, though now knowing the sausage making process, brats will have to happen in our kitchen soon.

This week I made foods I’ve never attempted before.  My experience in cooking German food minimal to say the least. I remember helping my Grandma make the best cabbage rolls in the world, but I’ve never attempted them myself.  The recipes I bring you this week are courtesy of Food Network Magazine.  Combined, they make a hearty meal with a slice of rye bread.

For this first recipe, one game hen will feed two people, and the going rate for them is cheaper than I remembered, which is always a good thing.  The pumpkin seeds are a little hard to find – my local grocery didn’t carry them prepackaged, but they can be found on most trail mix bars this time of year.  The excess pesto is a great dipping sauce to for the chicken.

• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup pepitas (hulled green pumpkin seeds)
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon plus large pinch of paprika
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 Cornish game hens (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds each), gizzards discarded
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees

To make the pumpkin seed pesto: Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil, the pepitas, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a large pinch of paprika (about ¼ tsp.) in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, shaking the skillet, until the seeds begin popping and some turn brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely – we popped ours in the freezer a few minutes to cool them down. Pour the seeds and oil to a food processor; add 1/2 cup water, the parsley, scallions, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pulse until pureed. Remove about 3 tablespoons of the pesto for the hens and set aside the rest for serving.

Slide your fingers under the breast skin of each hen to loosen. Slide 2 heaping teaspoons of the pesto under the skin of each hen, then rub the skin to distribute the pesto.

Mash the garlic and 2 teaspoons salt with the flat side of a chef’s knife to make a paste. Combine with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon paprika in a bowl, then rub all over the hens. Refrigerate, uncovered, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Put the hens on a rack in a shallow roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Roast, rotating the pan halfway through, until the skin is golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees, about 1 hour. Let rest 15 minutes, then cut each hen in half. Serve with the reserved pesto.

This side dish I made with bratwurst, but it would also go well with the game hen – a mean that very well with Spaten’s Oktoberfest brew, the official beer of the Munich Oktoberfest (and my husband’s favorite.). It’s a simple dish, and doesn’t take much time at all.  At first glance, it looks a little daunting, but the first half of it is prep work.  Once you get down to combining ingredients, there’s nothing to it.  The original recipe had you form the potatoes into cute little patties to fry, but my mixture turned out too wet, and impossible for the patties to hold together, so I threw it all in the pan together, for a big skillet of German hash browns.

• 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 pound sauerkraut, drained and squeezed dry
• 1 Tbsp. Dill or parsley
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp. All purpose flour
• 1 tsp. Extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying

Stab potatoes with a fork to vent, then put in the microwave for a few minutes to soften, about five minutes.  Remove from let cool until you can handle them, cut in half lengthwise.  Grate on the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl.

Add the drained and dried (this step is important) sauerkraut to the potatoes, next adding the herbs, eggs, scallions, salt and pepper to taste.   Stir in flour.  Heat the oil in a large skillet, dump in mixture, stir until golden brown, about 6-8 minutes.

Tip of the week: Much like the pirate code, recipes are more guidelines than concrete law.  If you like everything in a recipe but one ingredient, feel free to replace it, omit it, or try a different technique with it.  Cooking is an art, make the masterpiece your own.