i'm not a player, i just cook a lot

this is what i cooked for lunch today for me an my nephew. we skipped breakfast, so we didn't mind having such a large lunch. you can easily cook this for dinner and serve with polenta and a salad afterwards.

Cornish hen and tomato casserole

1 large cornish hen cut into 1/8ths
4 or 5 small carrots or 2 medium carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 stock celery - top and bottom removed, chopped
half a can of Italian tomatoes, chopped (i used pastine) - reserve juice
1 clove garlic, minced
4 or 5 sprigs of fresh thyme, left whole
1 cup chicken stock
half a cup lardons
salt
pepper
oil for browning

1. heat oven to 350 and place a medium sized casserole dish, with lid, in there.

2. turn burner to medium high heat and place pan on top. heat for 3 or so minutes so the pan is very hot. add cooking oil to the pan and heat for 1 minute. add Cornish hen and brown on all sides then set aside in a bowl. drain about half the fat off being careful to reserve all the brown bits in the pan. reduce heat to medium. add onion to the oil and cook till soft, about 2 minutes. add lardons, garlic, celery, and carrots and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes, until veggies are soft. add stock and reduce by half. add tomato and juice and cook until heated through.

3. remove casserole dish from oven. remove top and add the hen and the contents of the pan. cover and cook for 45 minutes with lid on.

4. reduce heat to 300, remove lid and cook for an additional 15 minutes

5. remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. serve with bread, polenta, or over rice.