My mother used to make this for Easter dinner. The rice stuffing is a perfect partner for the hens. Packaged wild rice mix can be used as well.
Cornish hens are one of my favorite main dishes for fall and winter entertaining. Stuffed with a wild rice, cranberry, and apple stuffing and roasted with an apple cider glaze, these elegant hens are a gorgeous alternative to turkey. Don’t miss the sommelier wine pairings to complete the meal!
Sometimes, you’ll see Cornish hens marketed as “poussin,” or “spring chickens,” though there are some differences between them. Poussins can be any breed of immature, small chicken, not just the specific breeds above that define Cornish hens.
Poussin chickens are traditionally a bit leaner than Cornish hens, and tend toward the smaller end of the weight chart. Whenever I find poussins at poultry farms, they are right around one- to one and a quarter pounds.
DIRTY RICE STUFFED CORNISH HENS :
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 small white onions, diced (about 1 cup)
1 small green pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/2 pound chopped chicken livers
1/2 cup chicken gizzards, chopped
2 to 3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tablespoon ground dry oregano
1 tablespoon dry, ground thyme
1/4 chopped parsley
2 cups cold, cooked white rice
4 12-ounce Cornish hens
3 tablespoons soft butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions :
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large saute pan, heat olive oil. Add onions and green pepper and saute.
Add livers and gizzards and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Add garlic, oregano, thyme and parsley. Combine and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove mixture from the heat and cool thoroughly.
Combine stuffing with rice. Divide and stuff hens immediately prior to cooking. Tie legs closed. Brush hens with butter and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until hens are cooked and temperature of stuffing is 155 degrees.