Cooking with coffee part two

Another successful coffee experiment for dinner tonight!  On a cooking competition show I watched on Sunday the contestants had to make pressed chicken. This looked intriguing to both myself and my father. So I decided to try it. Being me I had to experiment a little with it. It was a bit complicated but turned out really good. 

I took a semi thawed Cornish game hen, split it mostly down the middle (but kept the skin connected) and removed as many of the bones as I could (getting frost bite!). I then made a dry marinade of Starbucks VIA instant (A Christmas gift) Italian Roast and dried French onion soup mix. Once again no real measurements. I just mixed until I liked the flavor.I put that in a pan and let it sit covered overnight in the fridge. I used the VIA because while not being a fan of instant I do like using it in baking and cooking. 

The cooking was fun! I put the skin side down in a hot pan (with a bit of bacon grease and a bit more of the Via Italian Roast) and weighed it down by putting a baking dish on top of the game hen with a twenty pound weight (my dad thought that looked funny) and let it fry for about ten minutes (just until the skin was brown and cripsy  - not burned).  Then flipped it and finished frying.

The game hen was moist and juicy. The coffee added a nice flavor to the crispy skin. I am not a fan of chicken skin but liked the way this tasted.

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