Spice up an ordinary poultry meal with Cornish hens. Add in sweet and tart flavors and you have a special dinner treat. If you prefer more tartness, use Granny Smith apples and apple cider. If you prefer it sweeter, use Red Delicious apples and apple juice.
Apple Rosemary Cornish Game Hens
Ingredients
- 1 1-3/4 lb. Cornish game hen, halved lengthwise
- 2-3 apples, peeled and diced
- 1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup apple juice or cider
- 2 teaspoons curry
- 2 twigs fresh rosemary, left whole
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- To create sauce, combine the apples, cranberries, maple syrup, apple juice, curry and rosemary twigs in a saucepan over medium-high.
- Stir frequently, blending all ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Decrease the heat to low, cover the saucepan and simmer, stirring frequently, until the apple pieces are very soft and berries have broken open and released their juices. This will take about 8-10 minutes.
- To prepare the hen: Rinse the hen halves and pat dry with paper towels.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the hen halves with rosemary twigs underneath, skin side up, on a foil covered baking sheet.
- Cover each hen half with sauce, coating generously.
- Roast the hen halves until golden and their juices run clear, about 25 minutes.
- Add juice from roasting to sauce and bring to a boil once again, then reduce and simmer for about 3 minutes, allowing it to thicken.
- Transfer hen halves to plates. Serve with sauce and use rosemary twigs as decoration.
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