How to deliciously cook chicken gherkins

On store shelves you can find an unusual type of bird that resembles a quail - the gherkin chicken. But it is only related to the quail by its small size.

The gherkin is not as bony, fattier and is a small broiler carcass. More expensive farm gherkins are free-range and therefore have less fat.

Miniature chickens have the same nutritional properties as regular boiler chicken, but their meat is more tender.

Therefore, the calorie content of gherkin chickens is high - 139.7 kcal (plus or minus 10 kcal). This is due to the peculiarities of keeping and fattening.

Important! Gherkin chicken meat is non-dietary. It is purchased as a delicacy.

How to cook delicious gherkin chickens?

If you have young broiler carcasses weighing from 400 to 600 g in your hands, it’s time to learn how to cook them properly. A proven recipe and correct recommendations will help you get an ideal delicacy in all respects and fully enjoy its excellent taste.

Pre-soaking the carcasses for 30 minutes in a brine of 1.5 liters of water, 3 tbsp. will help preserve the juiciness of the meat. spoons of salt and 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar.
After soaking, the carcasses need to be rinsed, dried and marinated, choosing the appropriate recipe.
Gherkin chicken dishes can be prepared in a frying pan, in the oven, on the grill, in an air fryer or using a slow cooker.

Chicken gherkins - recipe in the oven

Even a laconically baked gherkin chicken in the oven is many times tastier, juicier and softer than regular broiler chicken, and if you supplement the carcass with an exquisite marinade or original accompaniment, the delight from eating such a delicacy will know no bounds. A little garlic and rosemary will make the bird taste inimitable.

chicken gherkins – 2 pcs.;
garlic – 5-6 cloves;
rosemary sprigs – 5-6 pcs.;
butter – 50 g;
salt pepper.

Rub chicken carcasses with salt and pepper.
Fry a couple of cloves of garlic and two sprigs of rosemary in oil.
Lubricate the chickens with aromatic oil, and put the remaining garlic and rosemary inside.
Place the baking sheet with the carcasses into an oven preheated to 200 degrees, and pour the juices over the bird from time to time.
In 30-40 minutes, the chicken and gherkins will be ready.

Chicken gherkins stuffed in the oven

Chicken gherkin stuffed with filling will be even more tender and juicy. In fact, you can use any mix of ingredients as filling: fried mushrooms with onions and vegetables, steamed raisins with prunes, or other ingredients. The following is a recipe for poultry with rice, pumpkin, herbs and spices.

chicken gherkins – 2 pcs.;
sweet pumpkin – 150 g;
rice – 150 g;
soy sauce – 4 tbsp. spoons;
grain mustard and honey - 2 teaspoons each;
tangerine – 1 pc.;
curry, paprika, pepper, dill - to taste;
oil – 20 ml.

Mix mustard, honey, tangerine juice, oil, seasonings and 2 tbsp. spoons of soy sauce.
Rub the marinade over the chickens and leave for an hour.
Boiled rice is mixed with chopped pumpkin, soy sauce, seasonings and herbs, and filled with poultry carcass.
Cooking the gherkin chickens is completed in an oven preheated to 170 degrees, placing them in the device for 40 minutes.

Chicken gherkin in the sleeve

Chicken gherkins, the recipe for which will be described below, are cooked in a sleeve, thereby keeping the oven and baking sheet clean. Another undeniable advantage of this method of oven heat treatment is the magnificent tender and juicy taste of the resulting meat. Even larger than average specimens will turn out tasty and soft.

chicken gherkins – 2 pcs.;
spices for poultry, oil and lemon juice - 1 teaspoon each;
garlic – 4 cloves;
soy sauce – 30 ml;
salt pepper.

Rub the chickens with a mixture of soy sauce, garlic and spices and leave for 30-60 minutes.
Place the carcasses in a sleeve on a baking sheet and place them in an oven preheated to 200 degrees.
Baked chicken gherkins will be ready in 30 minutes.

Chicken gherkins - recipe in a frying pan

Chicken gherkins fried in a frying pan are, in fact, nothing more than the Georgian dish of chicken tabaka. The delicacy is prepared simply and quickly, and its taste outshines all other options for preparing poultry. Delicate in taste, surprisingly piquant and appetizingly ruddy, the meat is worthy of serving at any table, even a festive one.

chicken gherkins – 2 pcs.;
spices - to taste;
garlic – 4-6 cloves;
oil – 50 ml;
salt, ground black pepper.

The bird is cut along the belly, unfolded and beaten.
The carcasses are rubbed with a mixture of salt, pepper, spices, squeezed garlic, and left for 30 minutes.
Next, the chicken gherkins are fried in hot oil in a frying pan under pressure, browning on both sides.

Chicken gherkin in the air fryer

An air fryer is perfect for cooking poultry. And if you are the happy owner of such a device, it’s time to cook delicious and rosy chicken gherkins in it. You can use your favorite spicy set as a marinade or use the mix suggested in this recipe.

chicken gherkins – 2 pcs.;
mayonnaise – 100 g;
lemon – 0.5-1 pcs.;
garlic – 3 cloves;
curry and paprika - 1 teaspoon each;
sugar - a pinch;
salt, pepper, herbs.

Mix mayonnaise with garlic, spices, sugar, salt and pepper, rub the mixture on the bird, and leave for an hour.
Lubricate the carcasses with lemon juice, put lemon slices and sprigs of herbs into the belly.
Place each gherkin chicken on the grill, on the middle grill, pour a little water on the bottom of the device and cook the delicacy for 30 minutes at 250 degrees.

Gherkin chickens on the grill

The following recipe will help you prepare a delicacy over the coals on the grill. In this case, the marinade for gherkin chicken is prepared using sunflower or olive oil with the addition of black pepper, paprika, thyme and pressed garlic. Optionally, you can add chili powder.

chicken gherkins – 3 pcs.;
oil – 100 ml;
paprika, pepper and thyme - 0.5 teaspoon each;
salt.

Chicken carcasses are cut lengthwise along the belly, unfolded and beaten a little.
Mix the ingredients for the marinade and rub the mixture on the bird.
After 30 minutes, you can start frying the bird over the coals, placing it on the grill.
In half an hour, a delicious snack with a smoky aroma will be ready.

Content requirements

How to hold

Cage and floor type of rearing is suitable for the Cornish chicken breed.

Birds kept in cages have fattier meat than their peers raised on the floor and kept free-range.

On 1 m² of chicken coop floor, 4–5 heads of adult birds and 9 heads of young birds are placed.

Multi-tiered cages make it possible to rationally use the space of a small poultry house. 10–11 adult birds per 1 m² are placed in cages.

About the poultry house and walking

The poultry house is built in a place protected from the winds. The walls are lined with mesh or sheets of galvanized iron to protect the chickens from rodents.

The optimal height of the poultry house is 1.8 m. The windows are located on the south side, taking into account the rule: for 8–10 m² there is 1 m² of glazed surface.

To prevent the Cornish from gaining excess fat, a walking area is set up for them next to the poultry house. Birds can exercise at any time of the year, leaving the room through a hole. A hole is made at floor level and surrounded by a vestibule. The exit from the vestibule to the street should be on the side of the first opening.

Climate and litter

The permissible humidity is 60–70%, so the poultry house is equipped with ventilation. In small chicken coops, they use windows or holes in the wall that are closed in cold weather. Large rooms are equipped with supply and exhaust ventilation.

Heating must be provided in the poultry house to maintain a constant temperature of 18–20°C in winter.

Sand or a mixture of ash and dry clay is poured into an ash bathtub measuring at least 1.2×0.8×0.3 m.

Ash or lime is poured onto the floor of the chicken coop, then covered with a layer of straw, sawdust or shavings. As it gets dirty, new layers of litter are laid on top.

In the spring, the floor in the chicken coop is cleaned, washed with caustic soda, and the walls are whitened with lime milk.

Inventory

The perches are planed from smooth wooden blocks with a cross-section of 4x6 cm and nailed at a distance of 30 cm from the wall and at a height of 90 cm from the floor.

Nests are made according to the size of the chickens and arranged in 1-2 tiers at a height of 60–70 cm from the floor.

Feeders are used for their intended purpose - for dry food, wet mash, grass. For dry food you can use bunker containers.

Trough, vacuum or nipple drinkers are filled with fresh water every day.

Chicken in the oven (a simple recipe for every day)

This dish takes no more than an hour to prepare, so it can be prepared not only as a holiday roast, but also for a regular dinner with family or friends.

We will need:

2-3 chickens weighing 400-500 grams;
butter – 50 grams;
garlic – 5-6 cloves;
rosemary – 6 sprigs;
black pepper - to taste.

For the marinade:

about 1.5 liters of water,
3 tbsp. l. salt,
2 tbsp. l. Sahara.

Cooking process:

Prepare the marinade by adding salt and sugar and stirring thoroughly. Let the meat soak, leaving it in the marinade for 30 minutes. This will make the meat even juicier and reveal its true flavor.
After marinating, rinse and dry the meat. Rub it with pepper and spices. There is no need to add salt, because... the chicken is already saturated with marinade.
In a frying pan or small saucepan, melt the butter and fry the garlic until darkened, adding the rosemary sprigs.
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Coat the chickens with oil and place in a baking dish. The meat should be in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.

To prevent the chicken from becoming dry, periodically pour in the released juices.

If the skin of the chicken turns golden, the dish is ready. If the meat is ready, but there is still no crust, experienced housewives use a grill with airflow.

Original name and taste properties

Why are chickens called “gherkins” and what do they have in common with the species of small cucumbers? There are two assumptions about how this dietary product got its interesting name:

1.due to the size. The same comparison with small young cucumbers;

2.from the name of the bird breed (“Cornish hen” - from English “Cornish chicken”). This is a popular meat breed. They are also used for breeding broilers.

Important!

Gherkins and broilers are different types. So the first ones weigh about 2-2.5 kg, and the gherkins do not exceed 800 grams. Their meat is also juicy, soft, high in protein and low in fat. Suitable for various heat treatments: boiling, baking, frying and grilled dishes.

Gherkin chickens are the healthiest bird!

In its composition, gherkin chicken contains many useful vitamins, macro and micro elements: PP, E, A, B vitamins, potassium and phosphorus.

The high protein content and low fat content makes this meat one of the main items in the diet of athletes and people leading a healthy lifestyle. This dietary composition is suitable even for patients suffering from hypertension and diabetes. If you cook such meat on a regular basis, without adding a high-calorie side dish to it, you can easily strengthen the immune system, restore the general strength of the body after suffering from colds (especially if you cook chicken in broths), and strengthen the heart and blood vessels.

Chicken in white wine

This dish is very high in calories and will require not the simplest ingredients - which makes it all the more interesting to prepare. Introduce your loved ones to your new culinary recipe!

Ingredients:

Chicken gherkin 2-3 pcs;
Lettuce (leaves) – ≈50 grams;
Cherry tomatoes – 8-9 pcs.;
Chicken broth – 200 ml;
White wine (dry) – 200 ml;
Basmati rice;
Champignons – 100 grams;
Onions – 1 pc.;
Cream – 50 grams;
cloves, allspice.
Paprika – 5 grams;
Khmeli-suneli – 3 grams;

Cooking method:

Prepare the carcass. To do this: cut the chicken down the breast, separating the backbone. Beat the meat, rub with salt and spices and leave in the refrigerator for 20-25 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180-190ºС.
Grease the carcasses with oil and place on parchment previously greased with oil (sunflower or olive). Cook for 25-30 minutes, basting occasionally with broth.

For the sauce: chop the onions and mushrooms and fry them in vegetable oil, adding a little salt and pepper to taste in a small saucepan. Add the remaining broth (50 grams) and, bringing to a boil, add cream. Next, bring to a boil again, stirring constantly over low heat. Then remove and beat in a blender. Finish cooking by placing the sauce in a steam bath and adding wine.

The nutritional value

Vitamins

Choline 118 mg
PP Vitamin PP (NE) 6.2042 mg
H Vitamin H 8.4 mcg
E (TE) Vitamin E (TE) 0.3 mg
C Vitamin C 2 mg
B12 Vitamin B12 0.4 mcg
B9 Vitamin B9 3.3 mcg
B6 Vitamin B6 0.5 mg
B5 Vitamin B5 0.8 mg
B2 Vitamin B2 0.2 mg
B1 Vitamin B1 0.07 mg
A (RE) Vitamin A (RE) 40 mcg
PP Vitamin PP 3.1 mg
A Vitamin A 0.04 mg

Macronutrients

Co Cobalt 10 mcg
Mo Molybdenum 5 µg
F Fluorine 130 mcg
Cr Chromium 8 mcg
Mn Manganese 0.015 mg
Cu Copper 68 mg
I Iodine 4 mcg
Zn Zinc 1.26 mg
Fe Iron 1.5 mg

Microelements

S Sulfur 180 mg
Cl Chlorine 76 mg
P Phosphorus 210 mg
K Potassium 300 mg
Na Sodium 100 mg
Mg Magnesium 25 mg
Ca Calcium 10 mg

Baked chicken gherkins or how to cook chicken gherkins, shades of nuances:

Ingredients:

Instructions

We wash the carcasses and dry them with a paper towel.

We cut the gherkins along the breast bone as for tapaka chickens.

Prepare the marinade: mix nutmeg, ginger, squeeze the garlic through a garlic press, add lemon juice, oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything.

Coat the chickens well with the marinade, place them in pans, mix again, cover with a lid and put in the refrigerator for 2-8 hours.

Place the chicken on a baking sheet, skin side down. Place the baking sheet on the second level from the bottom in the oven, preheated to 220 degrees in grill mode. Cook for 20 minutes.

Turn the chickens over to the other side and place in the oven for another 20 minutes. Here you need to focus on your oven, I keep it on the second level from the bottom for 10 minutes + 10 minutes on the second level from the top

Take out and serve. Enjoy!

How to cook Chicken Gherkins in Spiced Butter

Chicken carcasses - 2 pieces;
Butter - 100 grams;
Honey - 1 teaspoon;
Paprika - 1/2 teaspoon;
Marjoram - 1 pinch;
Dried rosemary - 1 pinch;
Ground allspice - 1 pinch;
Salt - To taste.

Prepare all the necessary ingredients. Soak the chickens in cold water mixed with salt and sugar (based on 1 liter of water, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar). Leave in a cool place for 2-3 hours. Mix softened butter with all the spices and honey. Mix well. Transfer the aromatic oil into a small bag or onto cling film, form into a sausage and place in the refrigerator. Dry the carcasses with paper towels. Cut the frozen butter into circles. Place a few circles of butter under the skin of the chickens on the breasts, and generously spread the rest over the entire surface and inside. Place the quail dish, covered with foil, in the oven preheated to 180 degrees for 40 minutes. Then remove the foil, pour the juice from the mold over the quail carcasses and bake for another 20-30 minutes until golden brown on top and completely cooked inside. Gherkin chickens are ready! Serve hot and enjoy your meal!

Innings

How does the chicken gherkin recipe recommend serving the dish? As they say, there is no limit to culinary imagination. One housewife will place a large green lettuce leaf on a plate, place a chicken carcass on it, and serve the side dish in a separate bowl. The other, on the contrary, will prefer to put the main dish on a side dish base. The two serving options combine a large amount of fresh herbs and a delicious sauce. It can be regular mayonnaise mixed with chopped garlic, or a complex multi-ingredient sauce. Although, to be honest, chicken gherkins are delicious on their own, even without side dishes and sauces.

Baked poultry with potatoes

Everyone knows small cucumbers called gherkins. Small broiler chickens have the same name. In English it sounds like Cornish hen, which means “Cornish hen”. Currently, chickens weighing 350 g or more are called gherkins. Their meat is juicy and tender. These qualities make it possible to simply and quickly prepare delicious dishes from them.

Ingredients for 1 serving:

chicken gherkin – 1 piece;
potatoes - 2 medium-sized tubers;
garlic – 2 cloves;
vegetable oil – 1 teaspoon;
lemon juice – ½ teaspoon;
thyme – ½ teaspoon;
salt - to taste.

The cooking process is quite simple.

Rinse the gherkin, dry it and coat it with a marinade of vegetable oil, lemon juice, chopped garlic and salt. The chicken can be left to marinate in a cold place for several hours or baked immediately.
Peel clean potatoes, cut into large slices and mix with a mixture of vegetable oil, salt and thyme.
Place the potatoes on a greased baking sheet and place the chicken on top.
Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 200 degrees.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Checking the readiness of the meat is simple - just pierce the breast with a wooden skewer or a regular knife. If clear juice comes out, you can be sure that the dish is ready.

When the potatoes and chicken are ready, do not immediately remove them from the oven. It’s better to let them stand there for about 10 minutes. After that, you can serve them.

If desired, potatoes can be replaced with bell pepper. In this case, you will get a new dish, no less attractive than when combined with potatoes.

Description of the breed

Birds of the Cornish breed are white in color. The feathers fit tightly to the body. The physique is massive: wide back and chest. Muscles are visible on the limbs. Chickens are short. Roosters are taller, their necks are longer, their limbs are strong and widely spaced. The metatarsus are massive, bright yellow. The head is proportional to the body. Roosters have a large leaf-shaped comb with teeth on their heads. Males have well-developed earrings.

Males always guard females. Feeding begins only after his family moves away from the feeders. A family is usually formed of 20 females and 1 male. 2 roosters do not get along in the same family. They constantly have fights over chicken.
The hens sit well in the nest.
You can get 150 eggs from them per year, weighing 62 g.
The breed is a late ripening breed. The hen lays her first clutch at 8 months.
The young grow quickly. At 2 months, a chicken normally weighs 1.3 kg. Chickens are raised for meat. They are slaughtered at the age of 4-5 months.
The weight of an adult rooster is 5 kg, a chicken weighs 4.5 kg.
Both cockerels and chickens are used to obtain meat. Some females, which are highly egg-laying, are left to produce offspring.

Chickens differ in color by gender. Hens have dark stripes on their backs. Cockerels have yellow down. At 10 days, individuals can be distinguished by their plumage by examining the feathers on the wings. In chickens they have different lengths. Cockerels have the same feathers.
Experts advise purchasing young animals at the age of 10 days. They are already accustomed to the food and to certain living conditions. The survival rate of Cornish chickens is 98%. The indicator is considered high.

Stuffed bird

Stuffed chicken is an excellent healthy and satisfying dish. It harmoniously combines poultry and side dishes.

To prepare the dish you will need the following products:

gherkin – 1 piece;
rice – 70 grams;
pumpkin – 150 grams;
soy sauce – 2 tablespoons;
honey – 1 teaspoon;
vegetable oil – 1 teaspoon;
salt, pepper - to taste;
brine - 3 tablespoons of salt and sugar for 1 liter of water.

Let's take a step-by-step look at how to cook stuffed chicken.

Rinse the chilled or defrosted chicken under running water and place in brine.
Boil the washed rice until half cooked.
Cut the pumpkin into small cubes.
Mix rice, pumpkin, add half a portion of soy sauce.
Prepare the marinade by combining the second half of the soy sauce with honey, vegetable oil, salt and pepper.
Remove the chicken from the brine, pat dry with a paper towel and brush with the prepared marinade.
Stuff the bird's belly with a mixture of rice, pumpkin and soy sauce.
Pour 1 cm of water into a baking dish and place the chickens in it.
Place the pan in the oven, the temperature of which should be about 170 degrees.
Bake for 30 minutes, basting the gherkins with the resulting juice from time to time.

Further use

Until 1946, despite its excellent meat qualities, Cornish chickens were little used in poultry farms. The reasons for this were: low egg production and egg fertilization, poor hatchability and slow fledging of the young.

For many years, poultry farmers have carried out breeding work aimed at improving the production qualities of Cornish chickens.

From 1959 to 1973, white Cornish dogs came to the USSR from the USA, Canada, Japan, and Holland.

Today, the Cornish chicken breed is considered promising for the creation of early-ripening meat broiler chickens.

Cornish roosters, when crossed with Plymouth Rock and Cuchin hens, are the basis for breeding two- and four-line industrial crosses, the best of which weigh 1.6–1.7 kg at the age of 7 weeks.

The most popular: crosses Neva-2, Broiler-6 and Baltika-4.

Chicken gherkin in the sleeve

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins – 2 pcs.;
spices for poultry, oil and lemon juice - 1 teaspoon each;
garlic – 4 cloves;
soy sauce – 30 ml;
salt pepper.

Preparation

Rub the chickens with a mixture of soy sauce, garlic and spices and leave for 30-60 minutes.
Place the carcasses in a sleeve on a baking sheet and place them in an oven preheated to 200 degrees.
Baked chicken gherkins will be ready in 30 minutes.

Chicken gherkins - recipe in a frying pan

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins – 2 pcs.;
spices - to taste;
garlic – 4-6 cloves;
oil – 50 ml;
salt, ground black pepper.

Preparation

The bird is cut along the belly, unfolded and beaten.
The carcasses are rubbed with a mixture of salt, pepper, spices, squeezed garlic, and left for 30 minutes.
Next, the chicken gherkins are fried in hot oil in a frying pan under pressure, browning on both sides.

Subtleties of breeding

Cornish roosters and hens are ready to breed at 25–27 weeks of age.

When kept on deep litter, there are 10–12 hens per 1 rooster. Roosters mate 5–10 times per day.

In homestead conditions, close to natural ones, 15–20 hens are produced from 1 rooster.

White gherkin chickens are born with yellow fluff and weighing 35–40 g.

The hen takes care of her children herself, and the necessary conditions are provided for those hatched in the incubator.

The young animals, dried and heated in the incubator, are planted in boxes on paper bedding in the amount of 30 heads per 1 m².

Temperature from days 1 to 5: 29–30°C, from 6 to 10 — 26°C. Then the temperature is lowered by 3°C daily until it reaches 16–18°C.

Chicken gherkins - a recipe for cooking on the grill

A fragrant and tender dish can also be cooked over coals - chicken gherkins on the grill will be even tastier than the usual kebab. You can cook them whole by threading the carcasses onto a large skewer or skewer, or by spreading them over the breast and placing them on the grill.

Ingredients:

3 birds;
3 tablespoons soy sauce;
A tablespoon of olive oil;
A tablespoon of paprika powder;
A teaspoon of hot chili;
A tablespoon of honey.

Mix all the ingredients and coat the inside of the carcasses well.
Tie the legs and wings with culinary thread so that the bird has a beautiful shape.
Thread the carcasses onto a skewer, one at a time, or three at a time, one after another.
To prevent the carcasses from spinning on a skewer, take one that is not round in cross-section, but square or twisted.

Next, on a skewer, spread the marinade over all the carcasses and leave for about 30 minutes. During this time, prepare not too hot coals and fry until the meat is cooked.

What it is?

The meat of domestic laying hens does not have a very high taste value. That is why breeders are actively working to create a whole class of breeds focused exclusively on producing high-quality meat products. Cornish chickens, which appeared during the period of food shortages in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, quickly gained popularity. Broiler birds of this breed are characterized by early maturity and gain weight easily and quickly.

Wanting to know what gherkins are and how they are grown, modern farmers most often rely on the experience of many generations of British farmers. It was they who once began to be the first to breed broilers solely for the purpose of obtaining a large amount of meat. In just 1–3 months, chickens gain the weight necessary for slaughter, and the productivity they demonstrate exceeds that of adult chickens of other breeds.

It is no wonder that the Cornish breed is now raised on hundreds of farms around the world and is considered one of the best meat producers.