Monday, December 12, 2011

Cornish Hen's a Roastin'...

One the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...two Cornish Hens.  I finally made the cornish hens that we bought for thanksgiving.  I guess they were our Thanksmas dinner.  Things get so crazy around the holidays anyway, so it was kinda nice to have a fancy meal in between it all. 

Look at the beauts=) I will have to admit, I was kinda proud of them...and a little grossed out at the same time.  The whole ENTIRE bird thing kinda weirded me out.



I thought I'd share how I prepared them with you.  I realized as I was making them that I really didn't know what I was doing.  I looked up several different recipes and sorta made my own from a few I found.  The great thing about seasoning and marinating is that you can work with what you have in your kitchen!  They turned out really yummy too. 

Here's what I did:

In a large bowl, combine onions, olive oil, some sort of cooking wine or whatever you have in your fridge ( we happened to have some raspberry lambic which gave it a great flavor!), some rosemary leaves, fresh crushed garlic, and cilantro.



Next, tie up the hens (also called trussing) and rub them down with olive oil and some rosemary powder, salt, and pepper.

*Tying up the hens helps to keep in the juices as they bake.



Then, put the hens in the bowl of marinade. Cover. Soak over night. 



Turn the oven to 400. 
Put the hens in a baking dish with the juices from the marinade. Stuff the hens with the onions and marinade.  Bake the hens for about 30 minutes and then turn the oven down to 350.  Bake for another 1 and a half hours (or until golden brown and done all the way through). 

*While baking: every once in a while, use some of the marinade juice in the pan to rub over hens.  This will keep them moist.



They should look like this when they are done.





I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!  We had them with some fresh home-made applesauce and mini apple pies for dessert.  I'll show you a fun trick with those tomorrow!  Mmmmm...holiday cooking.  It's so much fun. 

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