Molasses is a staple in my kitchen.
In the winter it’s used to flavor baking: cookies and cakes.
In the summer it’s used to flavor barbecuing: sauces and glazes.
The only problem I had after moving here was trying to figure out what the British call it so I could figure out what the French call it.
I found ‘black treacle’ which, supposedly, is the same as blackstrap molasses, at the British shop.
Click here to Pin Grilled Hens with Molasses Glaze
PrintGrilled Hens 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.
This serves 2 but we usually have leftovers.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 50
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Grilling
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- Tie legs together with kitchen string and fold wing tips under back.
- 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.
- When done, remove from heat, cut string and serve.
- Serve whole or cut each bird in half.
Notes
They can be baked in a shallow roasting pan in a 400F oven for the same amount of time – until done, basting the same.
You can toss in a few apple wood chips at the start of cooking for a bit of smokey flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 recipe
- Calories: 451
- Sugar: 24.3 g
- Sodium: 587.5 mg
- Fat: 15.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.2 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 48.7 g
- Cholesterol: 217.5 mg
Another favorite: Grilled Cornish Hens with Honey Mustard Glaze
I take photos of my potager every week. It gives me a visual record to compare years and progress.
This year is very slow.
I picked the first, barely ripe tomatoes yesterday. 3 of them. Other years I hade a counter full and the freezer already half full.
We have yet to pick a zucchini or summer squash – they form but don’t get pollinated so they die.
Normally my onions are dried, braided, and hanging in the cave. They’re still in the ground.
Everything was very slow to start. This is a photo from July 3. I had planted everything by the middle of May, so it’s almost 2 months in the ground.
However – the sun came out and things finally started growing. Fast.
This photo is from July 20, 2 1/2 weeks later.
I have great hopes that there are a lot of little winter squashes starting to grow under all those lovely leaves.
I can buy both treacle and molasses here in Australia, but would need to hunt. I have never heard of black treacle ….but that means nothing ! Maybe it’s available. I know recently up in the far north of the country I was seeing molasses available for cattle, large vats of it as a feed supplement.
Black treacle is just like molasses – to me. I haven’t had molasses in so long I can’t be sure. Lucky cattle!
Ah yes, black treacle. My British grandmother used to lament the lack of that here “in the states” every time she cooked or baked. She always condemned our molasses as being ‘weak, oh so weak…’
My garden is producing cukes, a few larger ones, lots of tiny, thumb sized ones, but once again, the leaves are starting to yellow and I’m afraid the thumb sized ones won’t have time to mature before the leaves die. I don’t get why that happens, but it happens every year. I’m getting jalepenos and other similar peppers so fast, I can’t keep up and my green beans are doing nothing as are my tomatoes. I have now got lots of tomatoes, but they’re not turning red. They’re just hanging there. It’s been a very odd year.
I think I used to get black-strap molasses – or something like that. I remember there being a light one and a dark one and I bought the dark.
There must be a glut of cucumber here at the moment as they are really cheap. They’re the ‘English’ cucumbers (which would also be the French cucumber) which are the long, ridged cukes. I prefer the ones I grew up with in the U.S. which I can buy occasionally in summer but they’re more expensive. They’re called Noa Cucumbers.
It has indeed been an odd year.