Recipe: Roasted Honey-Wine Cornish Hens with New Potatoes

ROASTED HONEY-WINE CORNISH HENS WITH NEW POTATOES

"Thyme-accented Cornish Hens, a honey of a dinner."

2 Rock Cornish hens (1 to 1 1/4 lbs each)
12 small red thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and quartered (each about 2-inches in diameter)
1/4 cup dry white wine or apple juice
2 tablespoons Safeway Select Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
Thyme sprigs (for garnish)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Reserve Cornish hen necks and giblets for other uses. With poultry shears or a sharp knife, split each hen in half, cutting along backbone and breastbone. Rinse hens and pat dry.

Place hens, skin side up, in a shallow 10x15-inch baking pan; scatter potatoes, cut side down, around hens.

Bake in lower third of a 500 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together wine, mustard, honey, and chopped thyme.

Baste hens liberally with mustard mixture. Continue to bake, basting liberally about every 5 minutes, until potatoes are tender when pierced and meat near thighbone is no longer pink; cut to test (about 15 more minutes).

TO SERVE:
Place one hen half and a fourth of the potatoes on each of 4 individual plates; garnish with thyme sprigs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 4 servings
Source: Safeway Selecy, December 2000