This is a requested meal for Thanksgiving every year at my house. The hens are enough of a change from turkey to change it up, but not enough different that it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving. The usual sides for a Thanksgiving dinner go perfectly with this main feature. My favorites are: stuffing, salad, scalloped potatoes, and balsamic glazed colorful carrots.
I have tried these hens a couple of ways. The picture below is Bacon-Wrapped, Maple-Honey Glazed, Stuffed Cornish Hens. It is a fancy way of presenting this dish, however, when I made the stuffing on the side and omitted the bacon, I found that it not only cooked better, but you could taste the glaze a lot more which I was in favor of. Below the picture is the recipe for the latter.
The recipe below is for 4 hens each weighing 24 ounces. I have found that with the additions of all the sides, people tend to only eat a half of one hen.
Ingredients:
- 4 Cornish hens thawed
- 6 tbsps Honey
- 6 tbsps Maple Syrup I recommend the pure syrup
Cooking:
1. Mix the honey and maple syrup together and coat the outside and inside of the hens in half of the mixture
2. Cover the coated hens and refrigerate for an hour
3. Preheat oven to 350°
4. Uncover for another 30 minutes
5. Pour half of the remaining mixture onto the hens before placing them in the oven
6. Cook uncovered for 1 hour and 20 minutes
7. For the last 10 minutes, turn the oven up to 400° to get a nice scold
8. Either pour the last of the mixture directly onto hens, or serve on the side
9. Enjoy!
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