Roasted Orange Tarragon Cornish Hens Recipes

ORANGE GLAZED CORNISH HEN

Steps:

• Mix olive oil, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, lemon zest and juice, orange zest and juice, garlic, salt, and black pepper together in a large resealable bag. Add hens, seal bag, and coat hens with marinade. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, flipping the bag 1 or 2 times to redistribute marinade.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Mix orange juice, soy sauce, honey, 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, onion, ginger, and black pepper together in a bowl.
• Remove hens from marinade and transfer to a roasting pan, discarding leftover marinade.
• Roast hens in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Brush hens with orange glaze and roast for 5 more minutes. Flip hens, brush with more glaze, and roast until meat is no longer pink in the center, about 5 more minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place the sliced onion in the bottom of a roasting pan. Remove the giblets from the hens, and rinse them inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outsides dry. Place the hens on top of the sliced onion.
• Pack the cavities of the hens with the cornbread stuffing.
• Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the hens. Rub the hens with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Roast the hens for 30 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.
• Melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Break the cornbread into pieces and place the pieces in a large bowl. Add the onion mixture to the cornbread. Add the celery, chicken stock, parsley, salt and pepper, and mix together.
• Yield: 2 servings

CORNISH HENS ROASTED WITH TARRAGON AND ROOT VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Wash the potatoes under cold running water. Salt and pepper inside of birds cavity. Add tarragon to cavities. Rub each bird with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place in roasting pan. Toss all vegetables with remaining oil, salt and pepper and place around birds. Place in oven on middle shelf. Lower temperature to 400 degrees. Roast for 50 minutes. Remove tray from oven and drape with aluminum foil. Allow bird to rest for 7 minutes before serving. Place birds on plates with vegetables around. Garnish with tarragon and serve with mustard.

ORANGE HERB ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Pour the chicken broth into a small roasting pan, and set aside.
• Loosen the skin from the breasts and thighs of the chicken. Stuff the butter pieces evenly underneath the skin of the chicken, and place into the roasting pan. Squeeze the orange halves over the chicken, and stuff the orange halves into the chicken cavity. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper to taste, then rub in the minced garlic. Drizzle the melted butter all over the chicken, then lay the herb sprigs onto the breast and around the legs.
• Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Uncover and baste the chicken with the pan juices. Continue cooking until the chicken is no longer pink, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), 1 to 2 hours. Baste the chicken every 10 to 15 minutes after you uncover it. Once cooked, allow the chicken to rest out of the oven for 10 minutes before slicing.

ROASTED ORANGE-TARRAGON CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Remove and discard giblet, if any. Rinse hens inside and out and pat dry. Loosen skin from the breasts and place hens in a large resealable plastic bag.
• Whisk orange juice, orange zest, tarragon, garlic, mustard, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Whisking continually, slowly drizzle in olive oil until combined. Pour marinade over the hens in the bag, making sure to get some under the skin. Seal bag and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Remove hens from the bag, letting excess marinade drip off; pour remaining marinade into a small saucepan and set aside. Place hens in a small roasting pan and season with salt and pepper. Tie legs together with kitchen twine and tuck wing tips underneath.
• Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue cooking, basting with pan juices every 10 to 15 minutes, until hens are golden brown and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), 25 to 30 minutes more.
• Transfer hens to a serving plate, pouring any cavity juices back into the roasting pan. Tent with aluminum foil and keep warm.
• Scrape pan juices and pour through a strainer into the saucepan with the reserved marinade. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Season sauce with salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Serve Cornish hens whole or cut in half. Spoon pan sauce over hens to serve.

LEMON TARRAGON ROAST CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Rinse hens and pat dry, then arrange, skin sides up, in a large shallow baking pan (1 inch deep). Stir together butter, shallot, zest, tarragon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.
• Loosen skin from meat all over hens (including thighs and legs) with your fingers, being careful not to tear skin. Rub half of butter under skin and remaining half on top. Sprinkle hens with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Roast hens in middle of oven until cooked through and skin is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

TARRAGON-LEMON ROASTED CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Remove giblets from hens if they're present; reserve for future use.
• Rinse hens throughly under running water; pat dry.
• Rub olive oil over both hens.
• Season hens, inside and out, with salt and pepper.
• Season hens with tarragon including the cavities of the birds.
• Rub spice well into the skin.
• Place one teaspoon of garlic into the cavity of each hen.
• Quarter the half of lemon and place one quarter inside of each cornish hen's cavity as well.
• Place hens into a roaster and pour warmed chicken broth into the roasting pan.
• Dot both hens with margarine or butter.
• Cover pan and roast in a 400 degree oven for 50 minutes basting occasionally.
• Remove the cover and allow birds to brown for 10 minutes.
• Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

ROAST CORNISH GAME HENS WITH ORANGE-TERIYAKI SAUCE

Steps:

• Whisk first 5 ingredients in bowl to blend for marinade. Place hens in plastic bag. Add 1 cup marinade; seal bag. Let hens marinate 1 hour at room temperature or refrigerate up to 3 hours, turning bag occasionally. Reserve remaining marinade.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Place rack on large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange hens on rack; drizzle with marinade from bag. Roast hens until cooked through and brown, basting occasionally with reserved marinade from bowl, about 1 hour.
• Transfer hens to platter. Scrape juices into pan; add broth and any remaining marinade. Bring sauce to boil. Season with salt and pepper; spoon over hens.

TASTY TARRAGON CORNISH GAME HENS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Make basting sauce by melting butter in small sauce pan and stirring in wine (or broth) and tarrgon.
• Sprinkle inside of each hen with salt, pepper, tarragon, and garlic.
• Lightly coat outside of hen with olive (or other) oil.
• Liberally sprinkle outside of hen with garlic salt.
• Tie hen legs together if possible (I've also made these without doing this step).
• Place hens in oven.
• Let hens cook about 15 minutes before starting to use the basting sauce. After each basting, I will occasionally sprinkle more garlic salt over the hens.
• Continue to baste hens every 15 minutes or so until done. If hen wings or top start to darken too much, cover those areas with foil.
• When hens have finished cooking, remove to serving platter.
• optional - I place the strained drippings in a bowl (skimming off some of the butter) and use this as a 'gravy' for the hens and any suitable rice/potato dish that may accompany them.
• Use your meat thermometer to determine doneness as it varies according to hen weight.