Thanksgiving for One (or a parent and young child) This year [2007] my son spent Thanksgiving and his birthday visiting his mother. I found myself at home on my own and this is what I made for Thanksgiving dinner. To make more, simply multiply all ingredients. (except perhaps the rice, for 3 servings probably use 2x the rice)

• 1 cornish hen (for this occasion, it can be called a MicroTurkey)
• 1½ cup cooked wild rice
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 6-8 oz crimini, porcini, or 'baby bella' mushrooms, sliced (maybe 10-15 loose)
• 2T minced chives, shallots, or onion
• 1t white pepper
• 1t black pepper
• 2T sea salt
• 1t sage, marjoram, or thyme (optional, I don't use)
• lemon juice (I've always wanted to try blood orange but always end up using them on pork roasts)
• 1 bottle good beer (I use Ommegang Witte, a belgian-style white/wheat beer, or Corsendonk pale ale, a genuine Belgian - buy a 250ml bottle and get two glasses plus dinner. Use white wine if you must)
• Lots of butter :)

Note: One hungry adult will often eat most of an average 1-lb cornish hen. Two adults and a child could eat two birds plus a few side dishes. Don't forget to remove any 'extras' in the body cavity... ;) I find that frozen cornish hens thaw nicely in the fridge for 24-36 hours - just move to fridge before bed Tuesday or at breakfast time Wednesday, and prepare Thursday.

Note: I procure most of my spices online, from the good folks at The Spice House, in Chicago. Specifically, this recipe uses Ground Muntok White Pepper, Coarse Ground Black Telicherry Pepper, and Portuguese Saltcreme sea salt. I absolutely love all three.

First rinse bird off with water, outside and especially inside, and pat dry outside with a paper towel. Then 'wash' bird outside with lemon juice. (for multiple birds do this in a dish and reuse lemon juice)

Combine peppers and salt and rub well into skin of bird, and set aside. (on a platter in the fridge is good) If you wish, sage, marjoram, and/or thyme can be added to rub, 1t. The same can be added to stuffing when tossing. (I don't)

Cook rices according to package directions - the goal is 2 to 3 cups of cooked rice, combined. (yes, that's more than most people will eat, but some is stuffing inside the bird, and some provides a bed to serve the bird upon) Plan for about an hour to cook wild rice.

When rices are done or near done, put a few tablespoons of butter in a small sautee pan/skillet with sliced mushrooms. (obviously NOT a small pan for several servings) Sautee for a few minutes, while you toss rices in a casserole dish with 1T butter. When mushrooms are ready, toss them into the rice mix, and sautee chives, shallots, or onions for a couple minutes in the butter remaining in the pan, then transfer butter and all to the rice mix. Add 1t lemon juice, 2T-3T beer, plus any small leftovers from pepper/salt blend, and toss to mix.

Fill bird cavity with mushroom & rice mix, probably about 1/4 of it. Don't pack tightly!

Lay bird in a roasting pan, add enough beer & water (50/50 mix) to 1/2" depth, and cover with foil. Also cover remaining rice/mushroom mix, and set it aside.

Cook in preheated 425° oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil from roasting pan and add covered rice/mushroom casserole dish to oven. Brush skin of bird with butter, then cook for another 20-35 minutes, until juices run clear when meaty part of bird is pierced with a fork. (I use a chilled stick of butter to 'brush' the bird, unwrapping one end and using the other as a handle - just be careful not to 'brush' all the spices off the skin)

NOTE: You can vary temperature as needed for other dishes, 350° to 450° is fine, just expect that cooking time will be about an hour and a half at 350°, maybe 50 minutes at 450°, and uncover and butter around halfway through. Regardless of temperature, rice/mushroom stuffing should cook covered for 20-30 minutes. The rice is already 'cooked', but this helps some of the beer/rub/butter/mushroom/chive flavor permeate the rice, and ensures it's fully cooked /after/ adding in rub leftovers, which may include undesirable microorganisms from the raw hen.

Remove bird, leaving stuffing casserole dish in oven. Brush skin again with butter and let bird sit for a few minutes while table is prepared and side dishes laid out. Remove rice/mushroom stuffing from oven.

For a platter, you can lay a bed of mushroom rice stuffing and perch bird(s) on top. For individual plates either lay a whole bird on a small bed of stuffing, or precut bird and serve pieces.

Enjoy. If you used a good 250ml Belgian beer taken from the fridge for the recipe, and left the bottle out until now, it's probably perfect serving temperature... ;)