Grilled Cornish Hens with Molasses Glaze; Eyes before Ease

The French may carry the whole idea of language purity a bit too far at times but at least they don't deliberately torture it.

The language police in France have, over the years, banned English words: Walkman, software, email, and countless others.

It doesn't work.

Well it works officially.

Unofficially everyone says 'Bon Weekend' on a Friday.

But they take pride in their language and don't intentionally abuse it.

You will never see the French equivalent of the 'Koffee Kup Kafe'.

It's like fingernails on a blackboard for me, just to type that.

And, what really irritates me, is, if the purpose was alliteration, Coffee Cup Cafe works just as well.

On principle, I would never buy a koffee from these people.

Why would someone name an educational child's toy 'PlaySKOOL'?

Less egregious, but so well-known one doesn't even think about it: U-Haul; Shop Rite; Xcel Energy

While Googling this subject…

Google, by the way, is a misspelling. They registered it incorrectly.

It was meant to be 'Googol' – which is a very large number: a 1 followed by 100 zeros or 1 raised to the power of 100. (Which is a very small number compared to a googolplex, or 1 raised to the power of a googol)

The catalog company, Lands' End, did a similar thing, registering the name with the apostrophe in the wrong place (it was meant to be Land's End, after a headland in Cornwall.)

While Googling this subject I came across the spelling equivalent of 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves', the current, fun book on punctuation (yes, it's fun…. Yes, I read it):

'Eyes before Ease; the Unsolved Mysteries and Secret Histories of Spelling'.

I don't think the French have entertaining books on either spelling or grammar…. They just have no sense of fun!

On the other hand, they all speak intelligibly.

And they provide me with these lovely little chickens…. Perfect for 1 person.

Cornish Game Hens would be the substitute.

Grilled Cornish Hens (Poussin) with Molasses Glaze

The combination of molasses, vinegar and soy sauce gives the chicken a flavor reminiscent of Peking Duck and leaves the crisp skin a lovely mahogany color.

2 Cornish game hens or poussin (little chickens)
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs molasses
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 lemon squeezed or 2 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp finely ground black pepper

Tie legs together with kitchen string and fold wing tips under back (at first joint) – keeps them from flapping. Rub birds with olive oil.
Mix all remaining ingredients together in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling and simmer a minute or two.
Cook hens on barbecue grill over indirect heat, covered, for 45 – 60 minutes or until done. Brush with the glaze immediately and 3 or 4 more times while cooking. Chicken is done at 160 F (70C) on your meat thermometer and/or the juices run clear when pierced with knife. Or they can be baked in a shallow roasting pan in a 400F oven for the same amount of time – until done, basting the same.
When done, remove from heat, cut string and serve – don't forget finger bowls (it's messy) and bone bowls (to keep your plates tidy). Serve whole or cut each bird in half.

Note:  Mon mari likes to toss in a few apple wood chips at the start of cooking for a bit of smokey flavor.

In addition to the above, for the week of August 14 we have Glazed Salmon, Tomato Consommé, Pork Tenderloin with Ginger Barbecue Sauce, Tomato and Zucchini Tart and more….

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