Cornish Hens Recipe

cornish hens recipeA delicious, easy, and special recipe for two is my Cornish Hens with Orange/Wine Sauce. I have been married for 48 years and this was one of the first recipes I made for my husband on Valentine’s Day. It is among his favorites and whenever I want a special dinner for two, I make Cornish Hens. Not only is this convenient for two, but I have also made this many times for dinner parties of four and even six. Just double or triple the recipe and you will have a dish that is sure to impress. Anyone just starting to cook will enjoy the simplicity of this recipe and the gourmet touch it presents!

Ingredients:

Serves: 2

fresh cornish hens

  • 2 Cornish Hens
  • 1 box Long Grain & Wild Rice (Uncle Ben’s original recipe)
  • Olive oil or 2 Tbs. softened butter/margarine
  • Poultry seasoning (or Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic)
  • 6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
  • 3/4 cups red dry wine (Burgundy, Chianti, Abruzzo)
  • 4.5 oz jar sliced or button mushrooms drained

Directions:

(I just made my first YouTube video and chose this Cornish Hens recipe for it. So you can watch me prepare it in person!)

  1. Preheat oven to 375 °.
  2. Cook Long Grain & Wild Rice according to directions on package. Set aside and allow to cool.
  3. Thaw orange concentrate and add wine and drained mushrooms. Set aside.
  4. Stuff Cornish hens with cooked rice and tie legs together to hold stuffing in hen.
    stuffed cornish hens
  5. Coat hens with olive oil (or coat with softened butter) and sprinkle seasoning all over Cornish hens.
    coating cornish hens
  6. Place in shallow roasting pan and roast until cooked. 35-40 minutes.
  7. When hens are brown and skin crispy pour orange, wine, mushroom mixture over hens. Roast 20 minutes, basting occasionally, till skins are crispy and wine sauce has thickened.

Serving Directions:

Serve immediately. Place sauce in gravy boat and serve along with Cornish hens. A green vegetable (peas, broccoli) completes the meal. Enjoy!

easy cornish hen recipe

4 Responses to “Cornish Hens Recipe”

  1. Laura says:

    I always wanted to make these! Thanks for a great recipe!

    Laura

  2. Mary says:

    Laura,

    It is an easy and delicious recipe that is sure to impress. After roasting the Cornish hens they can be kept in a warm oven up to 35-40 minutes.

    Enjoy!

  3. LauraM says:

    Hi Mary,
    Great video! I just want to know how long you cook the birds for if I don’t want to add stuffing inside and also can you substitute white wine instead of red? I’m considering making my own poultry seasoning from scratch if it’s less expensive…
    Thanks!
    Laura M.

    • Mary says:

      Hi Laura:
      Cook the cornish hens the same amount of time whether stuffed or not. I have not tried white wine but I think it would work just as well. Great idea to make your own poultry seasoning. Hope you will share the recipe with us. Thanks for commenting.

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