Stuffed Cornish Game Hens with Cranberry Glaze

"This recipe was e-mailed to me by a friend. I made it this year for Christmas Eve dinner with great raves and success so I wanted to share it with you."
 
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photo by Chef Jean photo by Chef Jean
photo by Chef Jean
photo by Chef Jean photo by Chef Jean
photo by Carla C. photo by Carla C.
photo by Carla C. photo by Carla C.
photo by ncmysteryshopper photo by ncmysteryshopper
Ready In:
1hr 45mins
Ingredients:
17
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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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

  1. I love Cornish game hens because they are easy but look so classy! This recipe was awesome. I did use more honey in my glaze and was in a hurry so I just used a box stuffing and added a handful of Craisins. Delish!
     
  2. 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.
     
  3. This was really delicious! I loved the stuffing and they cooked up just perfectly. The only problem I had was the glaze turned out very thick and there was no way to strain it, so I just spread it on the hens anyway. The flavor was great so I didn't really worry about it!
     
  4. 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!
     
  5. 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!
     
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