This would be a good dish for a small Thanksgiving dinner, like only one to four people, who have no real need to cook the whole turkey dinner.
Looking at this now (the picture was taken over a year ago), I realize I could have done much better with my plating. Bunches of sage leaves nestled around the birds would have been a lovely touch, along with a few berries, or some kale or lettuce underneath. Live and learn. At PrettyFood, we’re mounting the learning curve just as you may be, dear reader.
Ingredients:
- 4 cornish game hens
- 1/2 stick butter, plus 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 green onion
- 4 stalks celery
- 1 medium green pepper
- 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp. dried sage
- 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
- salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Dice the onion, green onion, celery and green pepper. Melt the half stick of butter in a skillet over medium low heat and put in the garlic, along with the diced vegetables. Saute until tender. Add just a bit of salt and pepper to the mixture.
Mix the herbs together with the salt and pepper. Put half of the herb mixture in with the vegetables. Reserve the other half.
Wash and dry the hens. Divide the tablespoon of butter into four pieces and slather it all over the birds. Top them with the reserved herb mixture.
Place the vegetable mixture into the cavity of each bird. Place the birds into a shallow baking dish. Bake for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Use your meat thermometer to check for doneness. Some folks cover theirs for the first half of the cooking process to help seal in the moisture. Suit yourself.
Nicely browned and ready to come out of the oven! A word to the wise: Use large tongs and be ever so careful when you are moving them from the baking sheet to your platter or plates. There is a point at which they go from tender to fall apart tender and if you’ve crossed that line, handling them roughly will result in a gnarly mess of hen and bones.
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