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Roasted Cornish Hens with Cornbread Stuffing

Looking for a special meal that doesn’t break the bank?  Cornish Hens may just be the answer.  These little “devils” are usually available in the frozen food section of your grocery store.  Watch for a sale and they can be about $2 per hen.  I have served them for all kinds of occasions, even as the main course  for 24 of us at our dinner club Christmas party.  They are usually about a pound or so, and depending on what you stuff them with, the side dishes you serve and the appetite of your guests, you may cut them in half.  Serving half works well as they will look good on the plate, and are easier to eat; plus they provide more than enough food.

The hens take well to all kinds of stuffing.  I show them here with a cornbread stuffing but they are equally delicious stuffed with wild rice.  Add a vegetable and a green salad ( served under the hens for appearance) and you have a meal that looks as good as it taste.

Here is a side story about the Christmas dinner club party.  This was a combination of two neighborhood clubs getting together to celebrate the season.  Everyone was responsible for a course or wine or dessert.  We chose to do the main course and decided on the Cornish Hens stuffed with wild rice.  The person in charge of the party was supposed to give us a total headcount on how much to prepare.  We were told there would be 22 of us for dinner.  We set up two tables, one in our dining room (for 12) and one in our eat-in kitchen (for 10).  So everyone shows up and sits down; we begin to bring the food out to the tables.  Suddenly my wife comes up to me and says, “We are two short; the headcount was off by two.”  Apparently the party planner forgot to count us in the total.  My wife was a little distraught about this, what to do?  So we each grabbed a bottle of wine and one of us went into the dining room and the other into the kitchen and “circulated”; pouring wine and adding to the conversations.  Giving my wife a nod we quietly switched rooms and performed the sommelier’s duties  in the other room.  I guess we did a pretty good job as to this day no one who attended the party realized the “cover-up”.

Roasted Cornish Hens with Cornbread Stuffing

Makes sure the hens are completely thawed, dried and cleaned inside. Sprinkle salt, pepper inside, and all around the outside of the hens; sprinkle the hens with the oil. Heat the oil in a skillet; add onions and sauté until just translucent. Add cornbread broken into bite sized pieces. Add sage, figs, peeled pears and stir. Add chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Cool before stuffing the Cornish hens. Bake in a baking pan at 350° for about 40 – 45 minutes, until an internal thermometer registers 165°. Remove hens from pan, add additional broth to make a pan gravy and serve.

Note: any stuffing leftover after stuffing the hens put in a separate ovenproof container and bake for 20 minutes.

(Look for more recipes like this at emealsforyou.com)