Cornish Game Hen with Bacon and Onions

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I made this for the first time last night and this recipe is definitely a keeper! I don't have a 12 inch cast iron pan, so I used my 11 inch high sided calphalon unison oven-safe pan instead and it came out GREAT! (I DID have a brick, however, which I also used I let the birds cook for an extra 10 minutes or so to be on the safe side, and they came out the perfect temperature. I also threw in a few garlic cloves in addition to the baby onions and by the way, I used Birds Eye Frozen pearl onions right out of the bag and they cooked to perfection - lovely caramelization on them. Saved me a BUNCH of time, too! And then, to add perfection to perfection, while the birds were resting on the platter, I tossed 5 ounces of baby spinach into the cooking pan and cooked it quickly in the juices that remained - DELISH!!!

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I was disappointed with this recipe. It was far messier than I expected it to be. The cast iron plus the hens plus the brick was so heavy I could not safely move it into the oven. The hens did take about twice as long to cook. The skin burned but was still not crisp. It just ended up being much more difficult than I had expected, which would have been fine if the hens had been amazing, but they were just ok. Too bad!!

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It was really good. I made 3 hens instead of two so I just added the extra and used a second brick/skillet. The only thing I can say negative is that this recipe is labor intensive, not hard to do as far a complexity but takes a lot of time. I also had to cook in the oven 2.5 times longer than it says. I just used a digital thermometer to get the thickest part done. It came out golden brown, juicy and tasty.

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I had to triple the recipe for my family, but the skin didn't get crispy. Aww. Maybe include whether a recipe can be doubled or not so people will know whether to try it. The bacon/onions were yummy, but the skin was pale/plain. I had plenty of hot bricks, but maybe too much juice from the hens. Won't do again unless it's 1-2 hens.

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Made this for Thanksgiving 2009...excellent flavor and taste and soooo moist! Everyone loved it!! I usuaully don't repeat the turkey alternative for the next year, but I'll make an exception this year.

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Not a pearl onion fan, so I diced up a Vidalia Sweet Onion, and some Yukon Gold potato's and OMG!!!! was a HUGE hit!!!!

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Great way to do cornish hens! I rubbed them down with cajun seasoning (ok, Essence! a few hours before cooking. After cooking as Alton instructed, I left them in the oven an extra 5 minutes with the heat off, then let them rest at room temp for 10 minutes...PERFECT!!!

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Thsi dish was so easy to make and the hens were delicious.
I will be making this dish alot whenever we need something a little special. The bricks were easy to use and I was lucky enought o be able to get my late grandmother's large cast iron skillet. The only thing I had to change was they needed a little more time in the oven but that was not a big deal about 10 extra minutes to get them up to temp.
My husaband loved this meal nad he hates cornish hen and my two very picky children (ages 2 and 6 asked for seconds. I have given this recipe to my mom and sister it is so good.
Next time I will add more bacon and onion because the kids ate them all. LOL

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Mmmmm....this was tasty and impressive. My only problem was that it took way longer than advertised to cook. But that could have something to do with the fact that I put the chix in skin side up rather than down, and I put three birds in an extra large pan. Once I discovered my mistake, I used the extra cooking time to flip the birds (ha and get a little color on the skin.

I was dreading butchering the birds b/c I was a little intimidated, but it was quite easy. Watch the episode.

I'm a little allergic to onions, so I used shallots and garlic cloves. While the chicken was resting, I deglazed the pan w/white wine and cooked everything down, then added a bit of cornstarch slurry. Spooned some on each bird, topped w/bacon, and YUM!

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When I first saw this recipe I wasn't all that impressed - it seemed too easy with too few ingredients. But Alton had never let me down before so I gave it a shot. Something strange and wonderful happens with the combination of bacon fat, chicken fat and the onions. I was really blown away - perhaps my favorite Alton recipe of all time (and that's saying a lot.