Stuffed Cornish Game Hens with Cranberry Glaze
photo by Chef Jean
- Ready In:
- 1hr 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 17
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
-
Glaze
- 2 1⁄4 cups cranberries, rinsed and drained
- 3⁄4 cup dry red wine
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
-
Game Hens and Stuffing
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1⁄3 cup minced onion
- 1⁄3 cup minced celery
- 1⁄3 cup cranberries, rinsed and drained,coarsely chopped
- 2 cups French bread cubes, 1/2 " thick
- 1⁄4 cup chicken broth
- 1⁄4 cup finely chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried sage, crushed
- 1⁄4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, divided
- 4 Cornish hens, giblets removed,thawed,rinsed and dried
- kitchen string
directions
- Prepare the glaze: Combine cranberries and wine in saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
- Stir in honey and continue to simmer 2 minutes.
- Strain glaze, stir in oil and set aside.
- Prepare the game hens and stuffing: Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat, add onion, celery and cranberries.
- Saute for 3 minutes.
- Add sauteed mixture to the French bread cubes.
- Let cool.
- Stir in chicken broth, parsley, sage, thyme, 1/4 Tsp.
- salt and 1/8 Tsp.
- pepper.
- Stuff game hens with the stuffing and tie drumsticks together with kitchen string.
- Place hens in a roasting pan.
- Brush some of glaze over each game hen and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
- Place in a preheated 450 degree oven for 20 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue roasting for 45 minutes longer.
- Baste hens with glaze and sprinkle with salt and pepper (salt& pepper is optional, I didn't do it) twice more during the cooking time.
- Remove hens from oven and let rest 5 minutes.
- Cut strings and serve.
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Reviews
-
Miss Judith, I cant thank you enough. To be honest I was terrified to make those delectable little chickens, As you can now guess i have never cooked a Cornish Hen before. My Christmas diner was amazing. Thank You. If you haven't tried this, do it your taste buds will thank you for it. I had them crispy glazed on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside, meat feel right off the bones and melted in our mouths.
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I recently came across this recipe and it looked delicious! I wanted to try this recipe with our Thanksgiving dinner - however between the fact that my husband strongly dislikes cornish game hens and turkey's are few and far between here to buy, I had to settle for a French Free Range Chicken for our Thanksgiving dinner. Now - I only used the "Cranberry Glaze" portion of this recipe with the directions as stated but with the additional variation of adding 1 cup chicken broth and 1 tablespoon thyme. I used a Dutch oven and cooked my bird breasts down for the first portion of cooking time - this gave such a moist and delicious flavour, I can not wait for another holiday moment to make this again!
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Very nice little hens! The glaze was very elegant and had a nice flavor. I liked the stuffing, but I would double the recipe next time and cook some in a casserole dish. The time was right on, the hens were moist and tender and perfectly cooked. The last 15 minutes I added the pan juices to the glaze and basted the hens. I also did not add additional salt and pepper when basting. This was a great Thanksgiving dinner for our small family!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Judith N.
United States