Photo: Individual Roasted Cornish Game Hens Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 (1-pound) Cornish game hens
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 orange, cut into 6 slices
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes, recipe follows
Directions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and position the oven rack in the center of the oven.
Rinse hens inside and out with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Tuck wing tips under the hens, then place them, breast side up, in a large roasting pan, alternating directions of hens so that they fit well in the pan. Rub the hens with 1/2 tablespoon each of the butter. Season the hens inside and out with salt and pepper. Place an orange slice inside the cavity of each bird. Roast hens for 10 minutes, then move them slightly in the pan to prevent them from sticking on the bottom. Continue to roast the hens until they are golden brown and the juices run clear, about 10 minutes longer.
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer hens to a serving platter. Cover loosely with aluminum foil while you prepare the sauce.
Pour off any excess fat in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place the roasting pan on the stovetop over high heat. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping the bottom of the roasting pan with a wooden spoon. When the wine has almost evaporated, add the orange juice and allow to reduce by half. Add the chicken stock and cook until sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately with some of the Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes.
Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes:
- 1 3/4 to 2 pounds sweet potatoes
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup bourbon whiskey
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Lightly rub the sweet potatoes with the olive oil. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending upon their size. Remove from the oven and let sit until cool enough to handle.
Peel the sweet potatoes and transfer the flesh to a large bowl. Add the cream, bourbon, brown sugar, molasses, and salt, and beat on high speed with a hand-held mixer until smooth. Cover to keep warm until ready to serve.
Yield: 4 servings
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By Candid1
Phoenix
on December 23, 2011
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They did taste great, although I made several additions to add more flavor. My family loved them and we will definitely make them again. Only issue was they took almost double the amount of time to be completely cooked through
By auxphono
on March 27, 2011
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The hens were juicy and had good flavor, however my cook time differed vastly from the 20 minutes as stated in the recipe. I think it was in part because I don't have a professional oven that heats perfectly and my hens were of varying sizes: some around a pound, some pound and a half. I spent about two hours on this rather than one, larger hens took more time obviously and the sauce took longer than I expected. I loved the sauce, it had great depth of flavor and was just subtly sweet. The pan's drippings were dark, so I thought maybe I burnt the heck out of it and shouldn't go forward with the sauce. I'm glad I threw my hands up and gave it a shot, at one hour and forty minutes into it I really was exasperated and said the heck with it. It didn't have a burnt flavor at all, instead a deep roasted taste. I didn't serve it with the potatoes that were recommended, instead with wild rice and steamed asparagus. Was lovely, only hesitant on giving it a five because cook time differed.
By missets_12155977
sierra vista, 41
on September 17, 2009
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We're at a high altitude and I was making all 6 birds, but my pan only fit three. I cooked the first three for 40min at 350 turning it to 400 for the last twenty minutes. Just check and turn them every 20 minutes and they're fine. When they were done I started on the sauce and put the hens on a drain pan for the rest of the juices and covered them with foil. The last three I did at 450 for half an hour and both sets turned out great!! I placed all 6 on the drain tray and placed them all back in the oven at 150/low to keep them warm while the Guest of honor (birthday Boy showed up. The smoke I had was minimal, skin crisped nicely, clean up was easy.
I did Change a few things on the recipe, I rubbed them down with butter, but also put a small peice of salted butter stick behind each wing, and two on top of the birds. After they were seasoned and the oranges were in them, I squeezed an orange slice over the top of them. The melting butter and extra orange tasted great on the skin.
Instead of the bourbon potatoes I made my own mashed potatoes. Boiled them with Salt, Fresh chives{white end} and Bay leaves. Took out the bay leaves at draining and added garlic, onion, and the rest of the fresh chives with the butter and milk while mashing. Complimented the chickens nicely, and gravy tasted awesome on them.
The whole meal took me about two hours to make start to finish, but that was because I had to do two rounds of chickens..... and my hubby ate all the potatoes with my kids so i had to make more before our friend got here : I did soft boiled carrots and green beans on the side, with butter bisquits. FILLING meal but looked great and was enough for everyone. plus while the chickens were sitting in the drain pan, and gravy was thickening, I had time to clean all the prep and cook dishes, so after dinner all I had were plates and serving dishes!!
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