I have game hens I'd like to roast for tomorrow's dinner. I've done them
before with a bread stuffing and we loved the hens but hated the stuffing.
Does anybody have a tried and true stuffing such as a rice stuffing or
something other than a bread stuffing? The roasting recipe I use is the
following:
* Exported from MasterCook *
Roast Stuffed Cornish Game Hens
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Chicken Company
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups kosher OR
1 cup table salt
6 Cornish game hens trimmed of extra fat -- rinsed
well
1 recipe stuffing -- heated until very hot
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine
Dissolve salt in 5 quarts cold water in small clean bucket or large bowl.
Add hens breast side down; refrigerate 2 to 3 hours. Remove, rinse
thoroughly, pat dry, and [censored] skin all over breast and legs with point of a
paring knife.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk
balsamic vinegar and oil in small bowl; set aside. Spoon 1/2 cup hot
stuffing into cavity of each hen; tie its legs together with 6-inch piece of
kitchen twine. Leaving as much space as possible between each bird, arrange
them breast side down and wings facing out, on large (at least
19-by-13-inch) wire rack, set over equally large roasting or jelly-roll pan.
Roast until backs are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove pan from oven,
brush bird backs with vinegar and oil glaze (reblending before each bird),
turn hens breast side up and wings facing out, and brush breast and leg area
with additional glaze. Returned pan to oven, add 1 cup water, roast until
meat thermometer inserted into the stuffed cavity registers about 150
degrees, about 15 to 20 minutes longer. Remove pan from oven again, brush
birds with reblended glaze, return pan to oven, add another 1/2 cup water to
pan and increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Roast until birds are
spotty brown and cavity registers 160 degrees, 5 to 10 minutes longer,
depending on bird size. Remove birds from oven, brush with remaining glaze,
and rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour hen jus from roasting pan into small saucepan, spoon off
excess fat, add vermouth or wine, and simmer over medium-high heat until
flavors blend, 2 to 3 minutes. Drizzle about 1/4 cup sauce over each hen and
serve, passing remaining sauce separately.
Brining the birds breast side down ensures that the meatiest portions are
fully submerged. Pouring a little water into the roasting pan at the 25
minute mark, once the birds have been turned, both prevents them from
smoking during cooking and makes instant jus, eliminating the need to
deglaze the pan over two burners. To enrich the flavor of the jus to use as
a sauce, pour it into a small saucepan, spoon off the fat that collects on
the surface, and simmer it with a little vermouth or white wine.
Serves 6
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 62 Calories; 7g Fat (93.9% calories
from fat); 0g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol;
18604mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat.
NOTES : Followed this recipe carefully with 2 game hens and it turned out
GREAT! The chickens were moist, even the breast meat, and the sauce was
surprisingly good. I used a bread stuffing which was a mistake. Next time
I make them I either will stuff them with a rice type stuffing or I'll roast
them unstuffed and serve a starch dish on the side. We each only ate half a
hen so had a plenty of leftovers.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0