garnish with sliced oranges, orange zest, and fresh herbs if desired
serve with wild riceoptional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees on Roast. (If you don’t have a Roast Setting, use Bake)
Either place hens on a rack inside a roasting pan or line a pan with foil or parchment paper and place hens breast-side down. (You’ll know you have done it correctly if the wings are on top and the drumsticks are touching the bottom of the pan)
Season hens with salt and pepper.
Place pan on middle rack of the oven and cook for 45 minutes undisturbed.
While Cornish hens are cooking, mix marmalade, orange juice, dijon mustard and gluten free soy sauce together. Set aside.
Once hens have cooked for 45 minutes and skin is browned, start to brush sauce on the hens every couple of minutes over the next 15 minutes, until skin turns golden and is browned in spots. Total cooking time is one hour.
Remove hens from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Serve with wild rice (or your favorite grain) and any extra sauce and garnish as desired. I used orange slices, orange zest, mixed field greens, and sage.
Notes
Cooking times will need to be adjusted if your hens are smaller or larger than 1-1 1/2lbs.When working with raw poultry always use a separate cutting board and be sure to wash it and the counter thoroughly. I have a dedicated cutting board for poultry.This sauce can easily be served with roast chicken.Apricot jam or preserves can be used as a substitute for the orange marmalade.