How to Debone A Cornish Game Hen Recipe
Last Thursday night, Gordy and I did a dinner class at Rolling Pin, Boneless Cornish Game Hens. I love when I can convince him to do a class with me, we have so much fun cooking together and always have such a great time at Rolling Pin. The students love him, and why shouldn't they, he is a great guy!
Not sure if I have mentioned this before in any of my posts, but I do not enjoy working with raw poultry....I don't mind cooking with poultry, but when it comes to cutting up a raw chicken or deboning them, I JUST DON'T LIKE IT! A couple of years ago my mom came home from a cooking class all excited because she learned how to debone a Cornish Game Hen. I could not wait to learn. I love the little guys, but they are so hard to eat with all the bones. They are so elegant stuffed with wild rice and plated with a simple salad, but they are not so elegant to eat, you really have to go with the "caveman approach" to get all the meat off the little bones! I stood ready with my knife and kitchen shears, ready to learn, but as soon as we took the little buggers out of their little bags, I was finished and Gordy had to take over. Luckily for us, he was there! He has since become a real pro! When I can get them fresh and he has some spare time on the weekend, I can usually talk him into deboning 6 or 8 and then I freeze them, all ready for a Elegantly Easy Dinner! I just thaw them overnight in the fridge, stuff them and bake them, how easy is that.
You can buy the frozen hens in most grocery stores, and I have been able to find some very large frozen Cornish Hens at Sam's Club, but the problem is, you have to thaw them before you debone them and then cook them within a day or two. (I don't defrost uncooked chicken, and then refreeze it uncooked)
The Perdue hen is fresh, purchased from our local Publix and these are the Cornish Hens we are using in the video below. The Tyson hen is frozen and is back in the freezer to be cooked at a later time.
After our class on Thursday went so well, I thought it might be time to attempt our first video on The Saucy Gourmet. Below is our very basic instruction video on How to Debone a Cornish Hen, enjoy!
When all six hens were deboned, I froze 4 and put two in the fridge all ready for the next night's dinner.
Last night, I whipped up a very easy Wild Rice Stuffing and an Orange Glaze.
We loosely stuffed the hens, using silcone rubber bands to hold the legs together.
Then baked them on a rack in a silpat lined baking sheet for about 1 1/2 hours, basting them occasionally with the orange glaze. I covered them with foil after about 35 minutes to keep them from over browning, then removed the foil during the last 10 minutes just to crisp the skin. Last night, we began our dinner with French Onion Soup, and then were only able to eat about 1/2 hen each. We had to save room for German Chocolate Cake! I think Tuesday after cooking all day at Rolling Pin, we will have leftovers.
- Orange Glazed Boneless Cornish Hens with Wild Rice Stuffing
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (you can use wild rice, long grain rice, or a combo of the 2)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons grated orange peel
- 2 Cornish game hens, deboned is possible
- GLAZE:
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/8 cup honey
- 1/8 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
In a skillet, saute the onion, mushrooms and almonds in butter. Add rice, sugar, salt, thyme and orange peel; mix well. Loosely stuff hens. Place, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow baking pan. In a small bowl, combine glaze ingredients; spoon some over hens. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Cover and bake 35 minutes longer until juices run clear, brushing often with remaining glaze.