Slide sage leaves under the skin of the breast of the hen, using 2-4 sage leaves per hen. Use your fingers to pull and loosen the outer skin away from the breast meat so you can insert the leaves. Use your fingers to apply the garlic butter and work quickly. If the bird is still cold, the butter solidifies quickly and is difficult to spread.

• Place 1 orange wedge and 1 sprig of rosemary in cavity of each hen.
• Remove from heat and serve with game hens.
• If you are looking for an easy dinner recipe, these Cornish game hens are elegant but easy to prepare and perfect for a special occasion dinner party.
• Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Gently loosen the skin under breast of the hens with your finger and slide a lump of lemon butter underneath. Pat the skin dry and season all over with salt and pepper. The trick to keeping any meat juicy and tender, especially chicken, is to cook it until it is the right internal temperature. Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165F. We use and internal probe thermometer to test the temperature and pull the Cornish hens out of the oven right when they comes to temp.

Recently Published Recipes

However, make sure to use a meat thermometer cooking games online to ensure that the thigh, breast and any other thick parts have reached 165 F . Guests sometimes think that having a whole hen to themselves might be a little too much, but tell them not to worry. The hens are a little deceiving in size.

Easy, simple & delicious recipe for How to Roast a Turkey will have your guests swooning. Typically, cooked poultry is stored in a refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or less for no more than two days. Refrigerated leftovers will be safe to eat for up to 4 days.

Recipe ingredients

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used. Allrecipes is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family. We seem to forget about them and overlook them except during the holidays.

Roasted Cornish Hens recipe

Simply pat the hens dry with a paper towel before applying the butter, sage and garlic mixture. You want the skin as dry as possible so it gets nice and crispy. Place hen on an elevated roasting rack breast-side up with 1 cup of water under it for added moisture. Cook for 1 hour, or until the thickest part of the breast hits 160 degrees. Take out of the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Place it on a roasting pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the skin becomes crispy and nicely browned.

I would recommend fully defrosting the frozen cornish hen and then cooking. For faster defrosting, you can defrost in a bowl of water in the sink. Add the salt, sugar, garlic, peppercorns, ground mustard, and onion powder to your pot.