Cornish Hen with all the Fixings

Looking for a romantic dinner for two? Perhaps Cornish Hen with all the Fixings. This is a recipe that has been in my family for a long time. I believe my dad’s mom gave this to my mom and I really enjoyed it. My mother made this about 3-4 times per year. Cornish Hen is a nice alternative and a bit more elagant of a meal. A benefit of a cornish hen is they have a great flavor. To be very honest I bought these because they were on sale 2 for 1 and I like a deal. You can also utilize the bones and make a great stock for soups.

Cornish Hen Recipe
Ingredients

6 Cornish Hens
12 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 orange cut in 6 pieces
2 tablespoons dried sage
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup salt
1 stick butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove any parts inside cornish hen and rinse with cold water. Soak in cold water with 1/4 cup of salt for 20-minutes. Remove, rinse and pat dry with paper towel.

Set cornish hens in a roaster with a rack. Mix sea salt, pepper and sage together and add a pinch of mixture inside cornish hen. Stuff one slice of orange inside and two rosemary sprigs. NOTE: You can use stuffing instead of oranges for inside cornish hens.

Rub butter over cornish hens and sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and sage mixture.  Add water to pan until about 1/2 inch deep.

Place in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20-minutes then reduce heat to 350 degrees cooking for 40-minutes or until 180 degrees. Baste turkey every 10-minutes.

NOTE: If stuffing the cornish hens add 20-minutes to baking time.

Remove from oven and cover with tin foil for 10-minutes.

Cornish Hen Gravy

Cornish Hen Gravy

Cornish Hen Gravy Recipe
Ingredients

6- tablespoons vegetable oil
8 peeled shallots halved
2 sprigs thyme
4 sage leaves
2 bay leaves
3-cups chicken or turkey stock
8 tablespoons flour
two garlic cloves peeled
1 cup white wine
Pan drippings from Cornish Hen
salt and pepper

In a sauce pan heat oil over medium high heat adding shallots until brown about 12-minutes. Add garlic and saute for 2-minutes. Add flour and stir constantly until smooth about 1-minute. Add stock and whisk. Add thyme, sage and bay leaves, pinch of salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium low stirring occasionally for 10-minutes. Cover and remove from heat and let rest until cornish hens are finished.

When cornish hens are finished using a strainer pour sauce into a glass bowl to remove all content. Pour back into sauce pan and return to stove over medium low heat.

Place roasting pan with drippings on stove over medium high heat adding wine and deglaze the pan. Pour drippings in a gravy separator and allow fat to rise to the top about 2-minutes. Return sauce pan to stove over medium high heat pouring in pan drippings without fat whisking constantly for 1-minute.

French Green Beans Wrapped in Bacon

French Green Beans Wrapped in Bacon

French Green Beans Wrapped in Bacon
Ingredients

6 slices fried thick bacon (not real crispy)
1 lb French green beans
Zest of 1-lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt

Fry 6-slices of bacon until done but not crisp. Remove bacon to paper towel to drain. Add water to a separate large skillet about 1-inch deep and bring to a boil. Add 1-tablespoon salt and add beans just to blanch about 2-minutes. In a large glass bowl filled with water and ice place beans in water to shock and stop cooking.

In large skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat adding beans, pinch of salt, toss gently for 1-minute adding lemon zest. Place beans in 6-equal bundles and wrap bacon around beans and serve.

Mashed Potatoes with Chives

Mashed Potatoes with Chives

Mashed Potatoes with Chives
Ingredients

4 baking potatoes peeled and cut in half
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 shallot minced
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
Salt and pepper

In a large pot place potatoes and cover with water bringing to a boil and reduce heat to medium low cooking for 15-minutes. Drain well.

In a small saucepan, add olive oil, shallots and garlic and saute over medium heat for 3-minutes careful not to brown. Combine cream increasing heat bringing to a boil until cream is reduced to about 1-cup and remove from stove.

Using a ricer pass potatoes through into a glass bowl. Add butter and fold until melted. Gradually pour cream stirring constantly until potatoes are smooth and creamy. Add a pinch of salt, fresh ground pepper and chives.

Cranberry Sauce with Pears

Cranberry Sauce with Pears

Cranberry Sauce with Pears
Ingredients

2 pears, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 lb fresh cranberries
8 cloves
1 teaspoon anise seeds
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups Riesling wine

In a medium saucepan melt butter over medium high heat. Add pears cooking until brown for 10-minutes stirring every 2-minutes. Place anise seeds, cinnamon stick and cloves in cheesecloth and tie adding to saucepan. Add cranberries, sugar, lemon zest, wine simmering for 15-minutes stirring occasionally. Remove spices and place in a bowl. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled.

Cornbread Stuffing with Cherries and Chestnuts

Cornbread Stuffing with Cherries and Chestnuts

Corn Bread Stuffing with Cherries and Chestnuts
Ingredients

8 cups fresh cornbread cut into 1 inch pieces and toasted (Jiffy Cornbread Mix)
1 cup dry cherries
16 oz chestnuts chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups turkey stock
2 garlic cloves minced
2 celery stock chopped
1 sweet onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
10 bacon slices fried crisp and chopped
5 tablespoons chopped sage
1 egg beaten

Place cornbread on a non-stick baking sheet and place in a 400 degree preheated oven for 15-minutes.

In a saucepan add stock and bring to a boil then add cherries and remove from stove and hold.

In a skillet fry bacon until crisp and transfer to paper towel and chop. Reserve 2-tablespoons bacon drippings and over medium heat add celery, carrots, garlic and onion, pinch of salt and pepper sauteing for 8-minutes.

In a large glass bowl add cornbread, mixture, chestnuts, sage and bacon. Add beaten egg in pot of stock and whisk and pour over stuffing mixture. Add pinch of salt and pepper and gently fold. In a large baking dish spray non-stick spray or grease with butter adding stuffing. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1-hour.

Baby Carrots with Butter and Brown Sugar

Baby Carrots with Butter and Brown Sugar

Carrots with Brown Sugar
Ingredients

1 pound baby carrots
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
Salt and pepper

In a large skillet add water about 1 1/2 inches deep and bring to boil. Add carrots and blanch for 2-3 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl of ice water to shock and stop cooking.

In large skillet over medium heat add butter until melted and add sugar. Stir for 1-minute and add carrots and saute for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

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Comments

  1. gerber says:

    this menu is good lot to work but is good

    1. Michael Van Horn says:

      Thank you Gerber…I appreciate your kind reply. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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