Marinated Cornish Game Hens With Sweet Chili Sauce - cooking recipe

Ingredients

For the marinade
4 stalks fresh lemongrass, outer leaves discarded and root ends trimmed
2/3 cup coriander, well washed, chopped (roots or stems)
1/2 cup shallot, chopped
8 garlic cloves, large
1/4 cup fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 teaspoons black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup asian fish sauce, preferably naam pla
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk, well stirred
Hens
3 (1 1/2 lb) Cornish hens, butterflied (backbone and breastbone removed)
Sweet chili sauce
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup rice vinegar or 2/3 cup white vinegar
4 garlic cloves, large, minced
3/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
fresh ground pepper, to taste

Preparation

Marinade: thinly slice lower 6 inches of lemongrass stalks, discarding remainder of stalks.
In a food processor or blender, finely grind together sliced lemongrass, coriander, shallot, garlic, and ginger root.
Add brown sugar, curry, pepper, salt, fish sauce, and 1 cup of the coconut milk and puree.
Quarter each hen and divide the hen between 2 large plastic zip lock bags and divide the marinade and seal the bags, pressing out all air.
Put bags in a large shallow dish and marinate hens, chilled, turning bag once or twice overnight.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. and line a large shallow roasting pan with foil.
Remove hens from the marinade, reserving marinade, and arrange hens, skin side up, in the prepared pan. Roast 20-25 minutes until cooked through.
While hens are roasting, in a small saucepan, combine reserved marinade and remaining 1 cup of coconut milk and cook sauce at a slow boil, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, and strain through a sieve into another small saucepan to keep warm.
Serve hens with the marinade sauce and/or the Sweet Chili Sauce.
For the Sweet Chili sauce, in a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Cool sauce to room temperature. Sauce may be made up to 3 days ahead and kept chilled, covered. Serve at room temperature though. (Yield: 1 1/2 cups).