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Cornish Hens with Raspberry Sauce

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: dinner
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cornish hens, dijon mustard, gluten free, raspberry preserves, rosemary, thyme
Servings: 1 cornish hen/person
Author: GFchow @ gfchow.com

Ingredients

  • 2 Cornish Hens approximately 1 1/4 lbs each, trimmed of any excess skin and pat dry
  • 1/3 cup raspberry preserves I use Bonne Maman
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary or thyme finely chopped, and few sprigs for garnishing
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to season the hens

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Line a roasting pan with foil and then place a roasting rack inside of the pan and spray with oil. Both of these suggestions allow for easier pan and rack clean up.
  • Season all sides of hens with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
  • Place hens on the rack breast-side down. You’ll know you’ve done it correctly if the wings are facing up.
  • Transfer the pan to the middle rack in the oven and cook for 40 minutes undisturbed. The skin will be browned and crispy.
  • While the hens are cooking, make the sauce. Place the raspberry preserves, Dijon mustard, water, and rosemary or thyme in a bowl and mix until combined. Set aside.
  • Remove pan from the oven and brush on the first coating of the raspberry sauce all over the hens - sides, front and back. Place pan back in the oven. Repeat saucing after 5 mins. The sauce will be caramelized and baked-on. If this isn’t the case, heat the broiler and broil hens for one minute or less (keep a close eye of them to avoid burning!). Saucing time is 10 minutes, total cooking time is 50 minutes.
  • Remove pan from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
  • Transfer hens to individual plates or a platter. Serve with wild or black rice and garish with thyme or rosemary sprigs.

Notes

Resist saucing the hens before the final 10 minutes of cooking to avoid burnt sauce with undercooked hens.
Cooking time will need to be adjusted if your cornish hens are larger than 1 1/4 lbs. If the cornish hens weigh closer to 2lbs. increase the cook time by 10 minutes for a total cook and saucing time of 1 hour.
If you want the hens to cook more quickly, consider spatchcocking them or completely cutting each hen in half. Cooking time will be 10-15 mins less, unless cooking larger cornish hens. To spatchcock a hen, place hens breast side down on work surface. Then cut along both sides of backbone with kitchen shears. Remove backbone. Turn chicken breast side up and splay open by pressing down on breastbone with your palms until you hear it crack and chicken is as flat as possible.