Recipe: Cornish Hen Recipes (4)

Hi Dana, Here you go...

BetsyMargarita Grilled Cornish Hens
Posted to recipelink.com by: Terry,Tx on Thursday June 11th 1998 07:54:09 PM
Recipe By : Southern Living-Summertime
Serving Size : 4

1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup tequila
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons orange liqueur
2 cloves garlic -- minced
4 (1 lb) Cornish hens
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Combine first 5 ingred. in heavy-duty zip-top bag; add hens. Seal and chill 8 hrs, turning occasionally. Remove hens from marinade; reserve marinade. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour marinade into a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 min. Prepare grill by piling charcoal or lava rocks on each side of grill, leaving the center empty. Place a drip pan betweem coals. Coat food rack with cooking spray, and place on the grill. Arrange the hens on rack over drip pan, and grill, covered with grill lid, over med-high heat (350-400 degrees) 35 min. Brush with reserved marinade; and grill 25 more min. or until done.
NOTES : Cornish hens may be baked, covered, at 325 degrees for 1 hr.

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Bronzed Birds
Posted to recipelink.com by: Nancy (CA) on Saturday December 19th 1998 10:39:41 PM

3 game hens (about 20 oz. each)
2 cloves garlic
1 t. salt
1/2 t. freshly ground black peppoer
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. Gran Marnier or Bourbon
1/2 c. butter, melted
Place hens in shallow baking pan. Crush garlic with salt, then combine with all remaining ingredients. Brush hens generously and bake (uncovered) at 350 until bronzed, about 35-40 minutes, basting often.

You can also "doctor up" a package of Uncle Ben's White and Wild Rice Mix and stuff the birds before baking. Add sauteed celery and onion, a dash of poultry seasoning, maybe some chopped pecans and (if you use Gran Marnier on the birds) a touch of orange zest.

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ROCK CORNISH HENS A L'ORANGE
Adapted from source: The Uncommon Gourmet by Ellen Helman
Makes 6 to 8 portions

"Hens are roasted in a hot oven until brown an crisp, then covered with a divine orange sauce."

2 large oranges
4 plump Rock Cornish Hens
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Orange Sauce (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Quarter one orange, leaving the peel on. Peel the second orange and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. Set the slices aside for garnish.

Season the hens with salt and pepper. Insert and orange quarter inside the cavity of each hen. (This keeps the chicken moist.) Place the hens breast side up in a shallow roasting pan.

Bake for 1 hour, basting occasionally with the pan drippings. If you see the hens getting too brown, turn them over - breast side own to crisp the underside.

Remove the hens from the oven and cover with the orange sauce. (This much may be done several hours in advance, if desired.)

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and return the hens to bake 15 to 20 minutes more.

To serve, slice each hen in half down the mid-line, remove the quartered orange, and discard it. Garnish with an orange slice, and serve any extra orange sauce alongside.

ORANGE SAUCE

3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef consomme
3 tablespoons port wine
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
Grated peel of 1 orange
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1 tablespoon butter

Boil the sugar and the vinegar in a saucepan over high heat for several minutes until the mixture turns into a rich brown syrup.

Remove from the heat and add the consomme. Return the syrup to the heat, stir to dissolve the mixture, and simmer for 1 minute.

Add the port, cornstarch mixture, and orange peel. Simmer 4 to 5 minutes until the sauce is clear and slightly thickened.

Whisk in the Grand Marnier and butter, remove from the heat, and serve immediately, or may be stored in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, warm over low heat until hot.

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ROAST GAME HENS WITH APRICOT MARSALA SAUCE

4 Cornish game hens, rinsed and patted dry
4 Tbsp. sweet butter
3 large bay leaves
1 small bunch fresh thyme (about 1.1/2 inches diameter)
1/2 tsp. allspice berries
1 tsp. black peppercorns
fine sea salt
freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup Marsala
1/2 cup dried apricots
1.1/2 cups dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
1 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (from bunch, see above)
1 tsp. finely minced orange zest
1 Tbsp. lightly toasted, coarsely chopped almonds

Oven - 475 degrees.
Season the inside cavity of each hen with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 Tbsp. piece of butter, 1/2 large bay leaf and a couple sprigs of thyme. Melt remaining butter and brush the skins with it, then season all over with salt and pepper.

Set on a rack over a baking sheet or shallow roasting pan and allow to come to room temperature for 15 minutes or so while oven heats. Roast on the top shelf for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 425 degrees and continue roasting another 25 minutes until birds are done.

Make sauce - strip thyme leaves off the stems of the remaining sprigs and set leaves aside. Place stems along with remaining bay leaves, allspice, and peppercorns in a small piece of cheesecloth or paper coffee filter and tie securely. Place herb bundle in a 1 quart saucepan along with dried apricots, Marsala, and wine. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until apricots are tender.

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring stock to a boil and reduce to 3/4 cup. Strain apricots out of the first pan, returning liquid and herb bundle to smaller saucepan.

Return Marsala-wine saucepan to stove and reduce to 1/2 cup. Add shallots and cook another 10 minutes until wilted and tender. Remove from heat and add reduced stock and reserved chopped apricots. Remove herb bundle squeezing out all juices and discard. Keep warm until hens are ready.

Finely chop reserved thyme leaves and measure 1 teaspoon. Combine with chopped parsley, nuts and orange zest.

When hens are done, remove from oven and allow to rest on rack for 10 minutes before serving. Pour off any juices from pan (deglaze with a little water if caramelized) and degrease. Add juices to sauce. Then taste sauce for seasoning. Serve warm hens on mashed potatoes with some chopped chives added to it or soft polenta surrounded by sauteed green beans. Ladle warm sauce over birds and sprinkle generously with herb-nut mixture.

Use your favorite recipes for mashed potatoes preferably with chopped chives and also for sauteed green beans.