Cornish Hens

Last winter, my boyfriend and I stared "Sunday Night Dinners" with our best friends. We go over to their house, drink wine, watch tivo and relax. Last weekend was our first dinner of the winter and we cooked Cornish Hens.

Now, this was Carrie's idea. I've never had a cornish hen before but she wanted to try something different so we tackled them head on. Cooking these turned out to be a blast. We had to "truss" the hen and we had no clue what that meant. So, we went online and watched a cooking "how to" video and quickly became pros. No butcher string? No problem. We searched the house for string and found a yo-yo. No recipe? Again, no problem. We made that up too...

Cornish Hens Shaw and Vazz Style

2 1/2 cups of chicken stock

3 Carrots, peeled and chopped

1 bag of pearl onions, skin peeled

8 cloves of garlic, chopped

Fresh thyme sprig

Fresh rosemary sprig

4 Cornish hens (We did one per person but you could do 2 for 4 people)

1/2 stick of butter

Butcher string

A baster

For rub:

Paprika

Onion Powder

Sea Salt

Garlic Powder

Sage

Thyme

Pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Boil a pot of water. Dump bag of pearl onions and cook for 3 minutes. Drain, flash in cold water and peel skins.

Get butcher string and truss hen. (For the how-to video, click here) Get large roasting pan. Rub hens with spice mix (above). You can buy rubs pre-made at stores and those work well, too. Place trussed hens in pan. Add carrots, onions, garlic, herbs and chicken stock.

Place in oven and cook for 1 hour. Baste hens with juices and brush with butter every ten minutes. Serve warm.

Cornish Hens