This recipe only has a few ingredients so the prep on this is really easy. The only thing to remember is that Cornish Hens usually come frozen so be sure to allow enough time to thaw before you need to prepare them. This is almost a foolproof recipe too, so you can prepare the hens and then just place them in the oven and work on other dishes. As long as you don’t undercook or overcook them, they’ll be great!
This is what the rub looks like when it is all chopped up. I usually use an ulu for this kind of chopping, but a chef’s knife or santoku knife work just as well.
I use poultry shears to cut the hens in quarters for serving. First cut down the breastbone, then the backbone to get two halves. Cut carefully between the thigh and the breast to properly separate the hen into four pieces.
For a full dinner menu featuring these roasted hens, consider the following:
- Potato Stackers
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Brussels Sprouts, Walnuts, and Cranberries
- Smashed Potatoes
- Green Salad
- Dinner Rolls
- Tiramisu
Roasted Cornish Hens
Equipment
- Roasting pan Glass or metal both work
Ingredients
- 3 Cornish hens
- 1 med onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 sprigs rosemary, fresh
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 cup white wine maybe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Clean hens by removing any excess fat or wayward feathers. Rinse inside and out, pat dry.
- Finely chop rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper until you have a nice uniform rub mixture. You can add more of any ingredient according to preference.
- Sprinkle a little salt and pepper inside each hen and place 1/4 of the peeled onion inside. Rub the outside of each hen with the garlic and rosemary mixture. Place breast side up in a roasting pan. Generously pour over olive oil. There should be enough to make puddles on the bottom of the pan. Place in oven.
- Roast until the breasts are starting to brown, then turn over. Be careful as the bottom side may stick and you want to avoid tearing the skin, if you can. Continue to roast until the bottom of the hens are brown. Turn again and pour over wine. Depending on the size of the pan, you may need more or less wine. DO NOT pour cold, white wine into a hot glass dish; Pyrex or not, it will shatter. It's OK if the oil is starting to brown, but you want to pour on the wine before the oil burns. Continue to roast until the hens are done and the wine, oil, and hen juices have made a creamy sauce. Total roasting time is about an hour.
- Place the hens on the serving platter and strain some of the pan juice mixture over the top of the hens. You can any place extra in a small bowl or gravy boat to pass.