Spicy Maple Cornish Hens Recipes

MAPLE-GLAZED CORNISH GAME HENS WITH CARROTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Stir together maple syrup and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Using kitchen twine, tie hen legs together, then tuck wing tips underneath. Place hens on a rimmed baking sheet and rub with 1 teaspoon oil; season with salt and pepper.
• Roast 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and add carrots, onion, garlic, and thyme. Toss vegetables with 2 teaspoons oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes.
• Brush hens with maple mixture. Continue to roast, brushing twice more, until juices run clear when hens are pierced between breast and leg or an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, about 15 minutes. Transfer hens to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toss vegetables with lemon juice. Carve hens and serve with vegetables.

MAPLE ORANGE CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• In small saucepan, whisk together maple syrup, orange juice, wine (if using) and rosemary. Bring to boil; boil for 3 to 5 minutes or until glaze is slightly thickened. Let cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, cut wing tips from hens. Using kitchen shears or sharp knife, cut along each side of back bone; discard backbone. Cut through breastbone to separate into halves. Trim off excess fat and skin. Gently loosen skin from each half of hens, leaving skin attached at back side. Startinng at breast, ease in orange rind over flesh under skin.
• Place hens, skin side up, on foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; brush with 1/3 of glaze. Roast in 375 F oven, brushing with glaze twice, for 45 minutes or until browned and juices run clear when hen is pierced.
• Arrange hens on serving platter; garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs and orange slices, if desired.

CORNISH HENS WITH MAPLE-MUSTARD GLAZE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine first 4 ingredients in small saucepan. Cook over low heat until butter melts, stirring until well combined.
• Pat hens dry. Tie legs together to hold shape. Place in small baking pan. Season with salt and pepper. Brush with maple mixture. Roast until juices run clear when hens are pierced in thickest part of thighs, basting occasionally with glaze, about 1 hour.

SWEET-AND-SPICY CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• In a saucepan combine the jelly, the lemon and lime juices, the Worcestershire sauce, and the jalapeño and heat the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until the jelly is just melted. Pat the Cornish hens dry, sprinkle them with salt and black pepper, and arrange the halves, skin sides down, on a rack in a foil-lined roasting pan. Brush the halves with some of the sauce and roast them in the lower third of a preheated 500°F. oven for 15 minutes. Baste the halves with the sauce, turn them, and roast them, basting them after 7 minutes, for 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear when a thigh is pricked with a skewer.

CREOLE CORNISH GAME HENS (CREOLE CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Inject the breasts of the hens with the injection sauce (contamination prevention - always pour a portion for the current use into a separate container so that the injector needle never touches marinade that will go back into the refrigerator after it has touched raw poultry).
• Coat the inside of each hen with Bayou Magic sausage mix (this ingredient can be a bit hard to come by outside of South LA, but worth the search for those who like things spicy; great on other wild game as well).
• Sprinkle each hen with poultry magic, then sprinkle with paprika for color.
• Bake until fully cooked: 50-60 minutes (about 20 minutes per pound).

BROILED CORNISH HENS WITH SPICY SALT

Steps:

• Adjust broiler rack of oven so that it is about 6 inches from heating element. Preheat oven on broil setting. Place a large skillet or broiling pan into oven, and heat for 10 or 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, toast peppercorns in another dry skillet over medium heat, shaking occasionally, until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Grind to a powder in a spice mill or a coffee grinder or with mortar and pestle. Sprinkle about one teaspoon of ground peppercorns over skin side of hens; sprinkle with a bit of salt as well. Combine remaining powder with an equal amount of salt, and set aside.
• Carefully remove skillet from oven, and put hens in it, skin side up. Broil without turning, moving pieces as necessary to brown evenly, about 20 minutes, or until nicely browned and cooked through.
• Remove birds to a plate, and drizzle with a little of their pan juices and lime juice. Serve, passing spicy salt at the table.