Roasted Cornish Hens With Black Olive Butter Recipes

ROASTED CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Set the Cornish hens out to come to room temperature about 1 hour before cooking. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and set a rack to the middle position of the oven.
• While the hens are coming to room temperature, make the basting sauce. In a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, combine the olive oil and butter.
• Once the butter has melted add the shallot, garlic, rosemary and lemon slices. Allow to simmer for 3 minutes and then remove from the heat to cool and infuse.
• Stuff each hen with 1-2 onion wedges, 1 lemon wedge, 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 rosemary sprig halves, 2 sage leaves. Tie the legs together with butcher twine, in a crossed position but not overly tightly.
• Spray the sides of an 11-inch by 13-inch baking pan (this helps prevent the sides of the hens from sticking to the pan while cooking), add remaining lemon slices and any of the onion wedges that were not stuffed into the hens (separate them into pieces).
• Baste the hens fully and place them with breasts up in the baking pan. Cook on 425 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Lower the heat to 350 and cook an additional 20 minutes. When an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees remove the pan from the oven.
• Allow the hens to rest for 15 minutes before serving. Reserve the flavorful pan juices to drizzle over the hens when serving.

CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place the sliced onion in the bottom of a roasting pan. Remove the giblets from the hens, and rinse them inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outsides dry. Place the hens on top of the sliced onion.
• Pack the cavities of the hens with the cornbread stuffing.
• Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the hens. Rub the hens with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Roast the hens for 30 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.
• Melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Break the cornbread into pieces and place the pieces in a large bowl. Add the onion mixture to the cornbread. Add the celery, chicken stock, parsley, salt and pepper, and mix together.
• Yield: 2 servings

ROASTED CORNISH HENS WITH BLACK-OLIVE BUTTER

Steps:

• Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 500°F.
• With motor of a food processor running, drop garlic cloves into processor to finely chop. Add shallot and pulse until finely chopped. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then add garlic mixture (do not wash bowl of food processor), pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic begins to turn golden, 3 to minutes. Return garlic mixture to food processor and add olives and capers. Pulse until olives and capers are finely chopped. Add 5 tablespoons butter and pulse until smooth.
• Brush baking pan with oil (1 tablespoon).
• Working with 1 hen half at a time, slide your index finger under skin on each breast and around legs, including drumsticks, being careful not to tear skin. Place 1 tablespoon olive butter under skin on each half hen, then massage skin over thigh, drumstick, and breast to distribute butter.
• Arrange hen halves, skin sides up, in baking pan. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in small skillet, then brush evenly over skin of hens. Sprinkle hens evenly with remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt.
• Roast hens until golden and just cooked through, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer hens to a platter, then straddle baking pan over 2 burners and add wine. Deglaze pan by simmering over low heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits with a wooden spoon, 2 minutes. Transfer pan sauce to a small serving bowl and skim fat with a spoon. Serve hens with sauce.

BAKED CORNISH GAME HENS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• In a small bowl combine the 1/2 cup melted butter, onion, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic, basil, oregano and parsley.
• Season hens inside and out with salt and pepper to taste, then stuff with equal amounts butter/vegetable mixture. Place stuffed birds in a 9x13 inch baking dish, breast side up. Drizzle with 1/4 cup melted butter.
• Cover dish and bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove cover and brown at 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).

HERB-ROASTED CORNISH GAME HENS

Steps:

• Place parsley, rosemary, thyme, garlic, lemon, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Blend until finely chopped. With machine running, add olive oil.
• Loosen skin from the hens. Put 1 tablespoon of herb mixture under skin of each hen, smoothing to cover breasts. Place the birds on a large rimmed baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove hens from refrigerator and bring to room temperature (about 1 hour). Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place hens on a clean rimmed baking sheet (it's okay if they touch). Brush butter over surface of hens and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast in oven, rotating pan once until golden brown and cooked through (meat thermometer should read 165 degrees when placed in the thigh), about 50 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let stand at least 15 minutes before placing on individual plates. No carving necessary!

CORNISH HENS THE EASY WAY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Rub each hen with a lime half. Drizzle the hens with olive oil, and season with chili powder, cumin, kosher salt, and pepper. Place hens on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.
• Roast hens 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue roasting 30 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).

ROASTED CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Pat dry Cornish hens in and out with paper towels.
• Rub the insides of Cornish hens with salt and pepper. Stuff the insides with minced garlic.
• In a bowl, combine 5 tablespoons of softened (not melted) butter, 2 tablespoons olive oil, Italian seasoning, fresh thyme, and generous amounts of salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
• Place Cornish hens breast sides up in a large roasting pan or ovenproof braising dish. I used a 3.5 quart Staub cast-iron pan.
• Rub this herb mixture all over the outside of Cornish hens. Sprinkle the outside (breast side) of cornish hens with a small amount of additional Italian seasoning and sprinkle with more salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Roast Cornish hens at 400 Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
• During these 15 minutes, while the cornish hens are baked, prepare the vegetables. Remove yellow leaves from Brussels sprouts and slice each in half. Peel the sweet potatoes (medium size) and cut them into cubes.
• After the Cornish hens have cooked for 15 minutes, remove the roasting pan from the oven. Add cubed sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts (halved) to the bottom of the pan. Raise the cornish hens and add some sweet potatoes underneath the birds. As you do this, mix the veggies with the butter and the juices released from the birds. Arrange the veggies around the birds. Sprinkle veggies with more salt and freshly ground black pepper. Rub the outside (breast side) of Cornish hens with more butter (1 tablespoon or more).
• Roast the Cornish hens for about 40 more minutes, until an instant meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165 °F. Make sure the thermometer does not touch the bone. Also, use the meat thermometer before the 40 minutes up (after the first 25 or 30 minutes).
• Remove the hens from the oven and let them rest for 10 minutes.
• Transfer baked Cornish hens and roasted vegetables to a platter. Serve Cornish hens whole or cut in half. Decorate with fresh thyme sprigs.

FRENCH - STYLE POT ROASTED ROCK CORNISH GAME HENS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F Heat the olive oil in a large flame-proof casserole and add the onion, garlic and bacon; sauté 5 to 6 minutes, until the onion has softened.
• Brush the hens with a little melted butter and season well.
• Lay the hens on top of the onion mixture and place the other vegetables around hens. Add the chicken stock, wine and herbs.
• Cover and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and brush with the remaining melted butter; bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until golden.
• Transfer the hens to a warmed serving platter and cut each in half with poultry shears.
• Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and arrange them around the hens. Cover with foil and keep warm.
• Discard the herbs from the pan juices. In a small bowl mix the butter and flour to form a paste. Bring the liquid in the pan to a boil and then whisk in teaspoonfuls of the paste until thickened.
• Season the sauce and serve with the Rock Cornish hens and vegetables, garnished with fresh herbs.