Having an elegant Sunday or holiday dinner for two is simple with these Lemon Herb Roasted Cornish Hens. Each hen is the perfect size for a single serving, making it ideal if it’s just you and your honey for dinner. Learn how to make a flavorful compound butter to transform these little hens, how to
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I was asked by a viewer of my Facebook Live videos if I could do a video all about alternative centerpieces to turkey for the holidays. I thought this was such a great idea that I decided to make a whole series about it!
With these videos, I tried to show some gourmet, but economical, alternative roasts that anyone could do no matter what size of gathering that they had. I thought that some roasted Cornish hens would be a perfect alternative to turkey for those who aren’t a huge fan and only have one other person to share the holidays with.
My other videos highlighted these other roasts:
- Whole Roasted Duck with Pomegranate Soy Glaze
- Honey Mustard Glazed Rack of Pork
- Stuffed Lamb Breast with Apple Cider Pan Sauce
Roasting Cornish Hens is easy todo while adding a sophisticated feel to a holiday or Sunday dinner. I’ve got afew tricks to share with you that will help you make these little birds taste extra special.
How Do You Roast Cornish Hens
Lemon Herb Compound Butter for Roasted Cornish Hens
I truly believe that if you want a roast to turn out beautifully, you need to show it some love right in the beginning. This can be brining a roast for 24 hours, it can be perfectly mixing spices together for a specific taste. This recipe happens to have a compound butter!
With my turkey breast recipe, I both brine the turkey and use a compound butter to get maximum flavor. With these little hens, I figured that a compound butter would be just fine with giving the meat as much flavor as possible.
Making a compound butter is super simple. All it involves is adding some seasonings to some softened butter and there you have it! I love compound butters because they’re super versatile andcan be added to anything. They’re fantastic with steak, chicken, fish, pork, and even bread!
Trussing a Cornish Hen
Another super important part to trussing any roast is trussing! Trussing ensures that all parts of the roast will be evenly cooked and even in color. I trussed my leg of lamb but trussing a leg of lamb and trussing a game hen are very different.
Before I truss my Cornish Hens, I stuffed them with some savory herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme), celery, and some slices of lemon. This helps infuse more flavors into the bird that are complimentary to the compound butter.
First, I fold the wings of the hen back behind its shoulders. This keeps the wings nice and close to the body of the hen, ensuring that the wings won’t be dry while roasting. Taking a piece of butchers twine, I wrap up and around the wings, creating a criss-cross pattern behind the back of the bird. Next, I wrapped the twine around the legs tying them tight together. I finished off by tying the twine in a nice knot around the “ankles” of the bird, pulling the twine taut.
If you need a video of how to truss a game hen, be sure to check out my Facebook Live video.
How Do You Cook Cornish Hens in the Oven
After the Cornish hens are buttered and trussed, it’s time to get them in the oven.
I like to roast my Cornish hens on a wire rack over a sheet pan. This allows the skin to get nice and crispy. However, there is a risk to tearing the skin on the wire rack if you just put the bird on the wire rack.
My solution to this was to place the hens on slices of lemon that sat on the rack. That way, when I went to flip my hens over, the skin didn’t stick to the rack.
It is important to note, as I talked about in my whole roasted duck post, that you need to start roasting poultry with the breast facing down. Everyone knows and complains that the breast of poultry
To prevent the breast from getting so dry, roast with the breast down so that the juices from the thigh baste the breast meat. Flipping the bird over halfway through cooking allows the top skin to brown and crisp for a beautiful presentation.
I had quite a bit of my compound butter leftover after buttering the meat of my hens so I opted to put some on the backside of the birds as well. As the butter melted, it left a nice trail of herbs and seasonings down the backside flavoring that skin as well.
I roasted my Cornish Game Hens at 350 for over one hour. As always, I used an oven-safe meat thermometer to help tell me when my hens were at a safe temperature to pull from the oven. It is important to note that you need to be careful where you insert the thermometer in poultry.
With other roasts, it’s just fine to put the thermometer in the middle of the roast for the most accurate reading. For poultry, the thermometer must be put into the thigh because the thigh meat takes the longest to cook. However, a huge mistake that everyone makes at least once is putting the thermometer to close, or even touching, the thigh bone of the bird. Doing so will give you an inaccurate reading since the bone cooks faster than the meat does.
Once my hens reached 160 degrees, I pulled the rack from the oven and allowed the hens to rest before serving.
What to Serve with Cornish Hens
Since Cornish Hens are chicken, everything goes with chicken. Here are a few side suggestion, though:
For more side dish ideas, both for the holidays and Sunday dinners, check out 20+ Unique and Gourmet Holiday Side Dishes.
You could also shred the meat, from leftovers, and put them into your favorite salads, like these:
I hope that you enjoy this recipe and that it helps you and your loved one be able to have a memorable holiday dinner without all of the leftovers! This recipe would also be great for a special date night! Leave a comment down below (with a rating) and let me know how this recipe worked for you!
Happy eating!
For a full holiday dinner, be sure to check out these posts:
- 18+ Easy and Gourmet Holiday Party Appetizers
- 15+ Main Dishes for a Non-Traditional Holiday Dinner
- 35+ Must-Have Holiday Dessert Recipes
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Lemon Herb Roasted Cornish Hens
Having an elegant Sunday or holiday dinner for two is simple with these Lemon Herb Roasted Cornish Hens. Each hen is the perfect size for a single serving, making it ideal if it’s just you and your honey for dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 cornish hens
- 2 celery sticks, cut in half
- 1 lemon, sliced into 4 slices
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
- To taste salt and pepper
Compound butter
- 1 shallot, minced
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 lemon zested
- ½ tablespoon rosemary, minced
- ½ tablespoon thyme, minced
- To taste salt and pepper
Instructions
Compound Butter
- Mix all ingredients together until well combined in a small bowl. Set aside.
Cornish Hens
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a wire rack over a sheet pan and place lemon slices on the pan in two rows.
- Rub compound butter under the skin of the hens until well buttered. Feel free to butter the inside of the hen as well.
- Stuff the hens with celery, lemon, and herbs.
- Truss hens so that wings and legs are close together. Place trussed hens ,breast side down, onto lemons on the sheet pan. Stick an oven safe thermometer probe into the inner thigh of the two hens, being sure to not hit the bone. Place rack into oven and roast for about an hour or until thermometer reads 160 degrees. Be sure to flip hens over halfway through cooking.
- Once hens are done roasting, pull them from the oven and allow them to rest, making sure the juices are clear. Serve with favorite sides.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 2 Serving Size 1Amount Per ServingCalories 1118Total Fat 93gSaturated Fat 42gTrans Fat 2gUnsaturated Fat 44gCholesterol 459mgSodium 864mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 4gSugar 4gProtein 59g
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