Last night, I made a recipe from the September 2006 restaurant issue of Bon Appétit. It was from the restaurant Watershed in Decatur, GA. It called for whole game hens - but alas a budget and really a lack of game hens in my shopping, led me to just use skin on chicken pieces. It doesn’t look as fancy but it really tasted great. I’ve done the rub the herb butter under the skin trick for a large turkey for Thanksgiving, and this didn’t disappoint either. The chicken stays really moist, and the outside crunchy from the butter. It also calls for grits. Even though I used to live in Atlanta, I never got into them, or really got what the big southern fuss was. I will admit though, I really enjoyed the grits with this recipe. The gravy from the shitake mushrooms gets all over them, and they’re buttery and salty. I accidentaly bought pre-cooked grits from TJ’s so I didn’t do the slow milk reduction with them, but they were still great. I also used the herbed butter from Rory’s Ribs so I didn’t make that part twice either. This recipe is not online, so here it is as it appeared in the magazine:

Serves 4

16 cups cold water

1 cup coarse kosher salt

4 1.5 lb game hens

12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

2 tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley

4 teaspoons minced shallot

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 lemon wedges

20 shitake mushrooms, stemmed

1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth

1. Stir 16 cups water and salt in large pot to dissolve salt. Add hens. cover; chill overnight.

2. Mix butter, 2 tablespoons chopped chives, and next 6 ingredients in small bowl to blend.

3. Remove hens from brine; pat dry. Place hens in large roasting pan. Using fingers, separate skin from breast and thigh meat. Rub 1.5 tablespoons herb butter under skin and 1 tablespoon over skin of each hen. Place 1 lemon wedge into cavity of each. Tie legs together.

4. Preheat oven to 425F. Roast hens until golden and thermometer inserted into thigh registers 175F, about 45 minutes (the chicken pieces took about 30). Transfer to plates; reserve juices in pan.

5. Melt remaining herb butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; saute until brown, about 6 minutes. Add broth; boil 1 minute. Add 4 teaspoons chives and pan juices. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over hens; serve with grits.

Creamy Stone-Ground Grits

2 cups whole milk

2 cups (or more) water

1/2 cup white stone-groud grits

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Bring milk and 2 cups water to boil in small suacepan. Gradually stir in grits. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until grits are tender, stirring often and adding more water by tablespoonfuls if mixture is thick, about 20 minutes. Add butter. Season with salt and pepper.