GAME HENS WITH CREOLE GRAVY Recipe

I was up until 5 AM this morning – and wide awake again after a brief 3 hour snooze; so hopping in the car to go anywhere was out of the question: with nowhere to go, and the house already cleaned after days of weather and government imposed house isolations … I thought I’d thaw out the Cornish Hens I bought a few months ago, and bake them for Supper – I’d bought them on the spur of the moment one day while aimlessly wandering the grocery isles; Bob didn’t like these little birds … and that may have been what was behind them ending up in the castle freezer: I’m trying to break loose of my old routines and establish new ones in my new life.

Anyway; even though they are spendy little things, the hens came home with me that particular day – and today they are being baked ;-)

As with every recipe I make, and share … I tweak the directions a bit to suit my own methods, so my pics/videos may not line up exactly with the text … but I post the original recipe in its entirety for recipe purists.

MPO is that recipes are a guideline – not instructions set in stone ;-)

This recipe was delish! And the house smelled yummy while the hens baked :-D

Tonight’s Supper … and a freezer meal too.

GAME HENS WITH CREOLE GRAVY ~ 4 servings

Game Hens:

4 16- to 20-ounce Cornish Game Hens * ½ teaspoons freshly ground Black Pepper * ¼ teaspoon Hungarian sweet Paprika * ¼ teaspoon dried Thyme, crumbled * ¼ teaspoon ground Sage * 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper * ¼ cup (1/2 stick) Butter, melted

Creole Gravy:

2 Tablespoons all-purpose Flout * 2 cups rich Chicken Stock * ½ cup finely chopped Onion * ¼ cup finely chopped Green Bell Pepper * ¼ cup finely chopped Celery * ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce * pinch of dried Thyme * pinch of ground Sage * pinch of Cayenne pepper * chopped Green Onions

Instructions:

For hens: Preheat oven to 375-degrees.

Hen wings carefully secured with toothpicks; ankle bones tied together with string.

Mix salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, sage, and cayenne in a small bowl. Rub over hens. Brush with butter. Arrange hens breast side up on a rack in roasting pan.

My idea; in hopes of cutting out grease spatters on my recently cleaned oven.

Cook 20 minutes. Baste with drippings. Cook until hens are brown and meat thermometer registers 180 – about 1 hour … could be 1-1/2 hours, depending on the oven used.

After slipping the hens into the oven, I cleaned up: a LOT of paper towels, soapy hand washing, and bleach solution were used on hands and surfaces while getting the birds oven-ready – I am a clean freak with food prep. Especially with chicken and pork.

While the hens baked, I gathered gravy ingredients.

After an hour, the hens were flipped to brown the backsides; also, there was blood in the cavity drippings, so I added another 30 minutes cooking time.

Remove hens from oven and transfer to a heated platter and tent with foil.

Baked hens resting while I made the gravy; toothpicks were removed.

For gravy: Spoon 2 Tablespoons of fat from the roasting pan into a heavy medium saucepan. Heat over low heat. Add flour and stir until roux is light brown – about 4 minutes.

Degrease pan drippings; add stock to roasting pan with drippings and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Set aside. Add vegetables to roux and cook until tender, stirring occasionally – about 10 minutes. Whisk in pan drippings and all remaining ingredients except green onions. Cook, over low heat until thickened to consistency of whipping cream, stirring occasionally – about 20 minutes.

SMELLED SO GOOD!

Spoon some gravy over game hens. Garnish with green onions. Serve, passing gravy.