275585 Thu Dec 23 01:03:42 -0800 2004 10 31 Home Cooking 0 1451940 Having never tried these before, I decided to buy some on impulse. Now I need to cook them. Anyone have a good recipe? Greatly appreciate any and all help... Thu Dec 23 01:03:42 -0800 2004 0 MrEVan 1 1451963 Bake them just as you would bake a chicken. Serve with herbed stuffing, potatoes, a greeb veggie. They're beautiful on the plate. Thu Dec 23 09:41:09 -0800 2004 1451940 0 Ellen of SC 1 1451979 Here's what I do. Slip your index finger between the skin and the breast meat and loosen and open it up on both sides. Put some crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and oregano or whatever herb you like in there. You could also put a little blue cheese or feta in there. Salt and pepper the outside too, and you can put the lemon rinds in the pan if you like. Then cook long and slow, basting occasionally. I don't think two hours at 350 is too much, but I do like them to be well done and falling off the bone. Look them over at an hour and a half and see what you think. They are succulent and well flavored, clearly my favorite poultry. Thu Dec 23 10:53:01 -0800 2004 1451940 0 Aimless 2 1451988 I also like my Cornish Game Hens cooked well done. Just done has a raw taste to me and the meat is stringy/tough. I do not like banquet or restaurant Cornish Game Hens because they are not well done. (done well ?) Thu Dec 23 11:28:37 -0800 2004 1451979 0 Alan408 1 1451985 I promise you that you will never cook an easier or better Cornish hen than by using this recipe. I usually make this for big, festive family dinners - have them arranged in baking pan and ready to go into the oven about 35 to 45 minutes before I want to serve. They're delicious and extremely impressive. Serve one half per person with some of the veggies. Flash-Roasted Cornish Hens on a Bed of Veggies 4 cornish hens, split in half 4 onions, sliced 2 stalks celery, sliced 4 cups baby carrots 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tsp. crumbled dried thyme 2 tsp. crumbled dried rosemary 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 1 cup white wine Preheat the oven to 500o F (260 C). In a large roasting pan, combine the sliced onions, celery, baby carrots, and about half of the olive oil. Sprinkle with about half of the thyme and rosemary and toss together to mix. Onto this bed of veggies, place the cornish hen halves, skin-side-up. Brush with the remaining olive oil, and sprinkle with the remaining thyme, rosemary, and the salt and pepper. Set aside until about 40 minutes before you’ll want to eat. (If you’re serving an an appetizer and soup, begin roasting just as you sit down to dinner. And take your time.) Place the pan on the middle shelf of the preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes, undisturbed. Pour in the wine, stir the vegetables around a bit, and let roast until the vegetables are cooked and the cornish hens are nicely browned - about 15 to 20 minutes longer. Makes 8 servings. Note: Recipe can easily be multiplied to accommodate any number of eaters. Arrange hens in several pans, or one very large one, leaving a little room around each half to allow them to brown. Thu Dec 23 11:10:24 -0800 2004 1451940 0 Nyleve 1 1452003 I tried this once on a whim & it actually turned out rather well. Halve the hens, then flour & season & fry like chicken!! It's kind of a blast to have half of a hen all golden & crusty placed on the plate in front of you. Not to mention tastey to boot. If you have a big enough deep fryer you could try whole fried hens ala fried turkeys!! Thu Dec 23 12:52:07 -0800 2004 1451940 0 ocdreamr 1 1452069 My favorite recipe and one i made for my fiance as the 1st meal i cooked for him is awesome and impressive. Wash and dry hens. Pour a little olive oil over and into hens. Sprinkle inside and out with seasoning salt, pepper, and italian seasoning. Place several bay leaves and a sprig of rosemary inside each hen. Cut whole garlic in half and place inside cavity of hens. Cut lemon in half and place cut side up (up towards breast) inside each hen, plugging up opening. Pour approx a cup of water into pan and place into preheated 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then, cover loosely with foil and reduce temp to 350 and bake for another 45 minutes. Can keep in oven for upto additional 15-30 minutes (if guests are late). Serve with wild or brown rice mixed with chives and a green veggie (broccolini works well). Fri Dec 24 03:50:36 -0800 2004 1451940 0 dkotler 1 1452128 I have 2 favored ways of cooking game hen which I will describe loosely. 1) Comes from SF Chronicle cookbook: marinate the hens in a large plastic bag for 8 to 24 hrs. The marinade should cover the birds about halfway and then you can turn over midway. Marinade ingredients: 1 part vinegar (tarragon, champagne, or red wine) to 1 part water; sprigs of fresh thyme; few cloves of garlic; few scallions. Before cooking, rinse off marinade, sprinkle in and out w/ little S&P, stuff cavity loosely w/ large red seedless grapes and fresh thyme. Stuffing is optional but grapes get soft and delicious! Bake in oven at 400F til done, about 60-75 min. total. You can roast veggies in same pan. I like to serve w/ roasted sliced fennel and carrots. 2) Make mixture of diced unfried bacon, dijon mustard, fresh thyme. Separate skin from meat and stuff mixture as far into the bird as possible. S&P bird in and out. Throw some cut lemon, onion, garlic, and more thyme into cavity. Rub outside of bird w/ little olive oil. Bake as above. I like to serve w/ roasted potatoes and simple green salad. Fri Dec 24 17:10:36 -0800 2004 1451940 0 Carb Lover 1 1452192 I have stuffed and baked them in several ways. One way I like is with a stuffing of basmati rice (already cooked al dente), diced dried apricots, softly sauteed diced celery, diced green onion, slivered almonds, curry powder, salt and white pepper to taste (ingredients in order of larger amounts first). Mix them all up and stuff the hen. Put extra stuffing in a baking dish. Bake covered (at 350 degrees) until 1/2 done, then remove and spread with an apricot jelly glaze (just heat up some "All-Fruit" apricot jam) and return for the rest of the baking time uncovered. Cooking time depends on how many you have in the oven. Two usually takes about one hour in my oven, but can take up to 1-1/2 hours for more. See link for basic rules of baking poultry. Link: http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=129&id=909 Sun Dec 26 12:25:49 -0800 2004 1451940 0 kc girl 1 1452209 If you have access to a charcoal grill, marinate the defrosted hens in Paul Newman's Italian dressing, with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary if available, for several hours. Using kitchen shears (or a sharp knife), split the birds down the back and use the palm of your hand to gently flatten them so they lie as flat as possible, to help them grill evenly. (No steam roller necessary!) Grill over medium coals, starting on the bone side; turn a couple of times. They should be done in about 15 - 20 minutes. I made the mistake of referring to these birds as "guinea fowl" when I made them for my family one time. A few weeks later, my youngest son called me at my office and asked, "Hey, Dad, can we have guinea pigs again tonight?" It took me about 10 minutes to stop laughing. Sun Dec 26 21:05:58 -0800 2004 1451940 0 Kirk 1 1452213 Just wanted to thank everyone for their recipes. They all sounded great. I couldn't settle on one recipe so decided to pull portions from various recipes. Surprisingly it turned out good and my guests liked it. Cut the hens in half. Seasoned with S/P. Placed a sprig of rosemary and a slice of orange underneath the hens. Placed the whole thing on a bed of quartered red/white potatoes. Squeezed fresh orange juice over the whole thing and baked it for about 15 min. Then added garlic and shallots. Continue baking until hens are cooked. Hen and potatoes were removed. For a sauce I simply deglazed the pan w/ wine, added chix stock then processed it all (the garlic thickened the sauce). Yummy. Again....thanks to all Sun Dec 26 23:36:41 -0800 2004 1451940 0 MrEVan