Cornish Game Hens

I always see these little buggers on sale at Meijer and I finally felt adventurous enough to try my hand at making them. Turned out pretty good I think. It was fun getting our own little chicken on the plate!

Cornish Game Hen
Serves: 2

0. Thaw out the two pack of game hens... this takes a while if you are just throwing them in the refrigerator. Plan ahead!


1. Preheat the oven to 325 deg.

2. Rinse and pat dry the hens. Dismantle a whole head of garlic and seperate into 6 equal piles. Cut half a medium onion into large chunks, seperate into 2 piles.


3. Stuff 1 pile each of garlic and onion into the cavity of the hen. Take 1 pile of garlic and stuff it under the skin on the breast side of the hen and another pile of garlic under the skin of the backside. Repeat with the second hen.


4. Melt a half stick of butter. On both sides of the hen, slather with butter and season to taste (read heavily) with the following: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, parsley.


5. Take a roasting pan with a grate in the bottom. Put about a cup of chicken broth in the bottom of the pan (you may need to add more). Place the hens on the grate. Drizzle with remaining butter.


6. Bake for 1.5 hours, basting at 30 minutes and every 15 minutes thereafter. Seriously, do it.


7. Crank up to broil for a few minutes to get a crunch on the skin. Watch it or it will burn. Let the hen rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting into it. I served it with corn and the potatoes below.

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add some salt.
2. Quarter 3-4 large redskin potatoes and put into the water. Boil for 15 minutes. Drain.
3. Mash (or use a hand mixer) the potatoes with 3 wedges of garlic & herb Laughing Cow cheese, a few splashes of milk, salt and pepper, a blob of butter, and some of the pan drippings from the hen.