Not looking forward to the AARP membership offers or the … medical screenings that they’ll start recommending I get.
One regret about not being able to go back to 30 is that I just recently got REALLY into barbecue. Imagine if I’d been bitten by the BBQ bug way back then. I’d have 20 years of smoking experience under my belt.
C’est la vie. I’ll just have to double up on my barbecue to make up for lost time, I reckon. That includes preparing my favorite dishes in new ways.
Small Chicken, Bold Flavor
Take Cornish game hen. I’ve done this a few times, but pretty much the same way each cook – some basic all-purpose rub, maybe a barbecue rub, inject with broth, but that’s about it.
This latest attempt, I really wanted to try something different. It entailed prepping the bird in much the same way. I brined the hens for about two hours, patted them dry, and applied a homemade rub with spicy and sweet flavors.
On the smoker they went at 250 degrees. After about 90 minutes, I began to baste them every 20 minutes with a mixture I discovered in this video.
- ½ cup rum
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¾ cup honey
I flipped the birds each alternate time I basted. After about three hours total, and when the hens reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees, I took them off and let them rest for about 15 minutes
Tender and juicy with a sweet and salty flavor, these game hens were a great meal without a ton of time and effort needed. I’ll always enjoy my basic-rub version, but this is one recipe I’ll go back to again.
The Wine: 2019 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé
The wine I picked to pair was one I recently sampled during a class at Collier’s of Centreville focusing on South African wines. Normally, I might pair Cornish game hens with a white with strong acidity and citrus elements.
But since these birds were basted with a sauce that had a little more heft to it, I thought it best to level up. One of the wines tasted in the class was the 2019 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé.
It’s almost a cliché to say it, but there were strong elements of strawberries on the nose, along with light herbal notes (indicative of the grape varietal). The acidity made the wine refreshing and vibrant with some fruitiness.
While I enjoyed the pairing, I might actually try to go with a lighter red next time, perhaps a Pinot Noir. A good pairing with the sweet and salty elements of the hens, but I want to keep experimenting with pairings to partner with this recipe going forward. Stay tuned!
Now, about the wine itself. It comes from the Stellenbosch region of South Africa. A quick trip to Wine-Searcher.com, and I learned about this winemaking area:
Stellenbosch is perhaps the most famous wine-producing region in South Africa…Cabernet Sauvignon is the region’s most widely planted grape variety, and is often combined with Merlot to create Bordeaux Blend wines.
This terrain allows for a lot of variation in wine styles, and mesoclimates suitable for the cultivation of all sorts of grape varieties can be found among the exposed hills and sheltered valleys.
Granite and sandstone soils are found throughout Stellenbosch. Their high clay content means that while they are free draining they have excellent water-retention properties. Sufficient rainfall in winter allows growers to keep irrigation to a minimum.
The region’s climate is relatively hot and dry, although a maritime influence comes from False Bay in the south. Cooling southeasterly breezes wash through the vineyards in the afternoons, refreshing the grapes after the morning’s hot sun.
To learn about the producer, I visited their website. It’s definitely a winery that has established itself as one of the premier winemakers coming out of South Africa.
When Mulderbosch founder, Larry Jacobs, bought the farm in 1989 the community referred to the property as “vuilplasie”, Afrikaans for “dirty little farm”. Shortly after, he partnered with Mike Dobrovic, known as the South African Mr Sauvignon Blanc, and together they cleaned up the property and planted the first vineyards… Soon, Mulderbosch gained international traction with a growing list of accolades and awards.
Mulderbosch Vineyards focuses on producing quality wines that respect and preserve age-old winemaking traditions whilst remaining aware of the benefits of modernisation.
Within our functional winery we have a range of stainless-steel tank sizes, all with efficient temperature control, and over the years we have accumulated a good selection of neutral 500L barrels which play an important role in the maturation of several of our wines. All of our wines can be enjoyed upon release, but with careful cellaring will mature for a further 10-15 years.
Mixing it up with the game hens and enjoying rose with a lot of flavor and freshness… it was a good day.
Next up, I make beef ribs. The kind that tipped over Fred Flintstone’s car. Ready for that one?
Cheers!