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.
