The Perpetual Feast

I came across a bag of these in the freezer and decided to have them for dinner.  They were as good as leftovers as they were when I first made them for a buffet. Cornish hens are ideal for a buffet dinner because a quarter of a hen make a nice small serving if guests are filling their plates and don’t want to take a big portion, such as a chicken breast.  They can always go back for more.

These hens have a slightly warm, but not spicy taste from the ginger. The original recipe, from Cooking Light, showed them as rather pale, but mine became nicely brown.  They don’t really have a sauce with them.  This is the dish I made the famous Jezebel Sauce for…but they are fine without any sauce at all, which is how I had them for dinner tonight.

Orange-Ginger Glazed Cornish Hens

¾ cup fresh orange juice (about 3 oranges)
2 Tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 (1 1/2-pound) Cornish hens, skinned and quartered
Cooking spray
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 475°.  Line a jelly roll pan or large cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add to juice mixture in pan, stirring with a whisk. Cook 2 minutes or until thick and glossy, stirring constantly.

Place hen halves, meaty sides up, on prepared pan; sprinkle hen halves with salt and ground ginger. Spoon juice mixture evenly over hen halves. Bake at 475° for 25 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 180° when inserted in a thigh. Makes 4 servings (serving size is 2 pieces) at 4 grams of fat/serving.