Rock Cornish Game Hens

Cornish game hens are a small domestic chicken that weigh 16 ~ 24 ounces and may actually be male or female. Cornish game hens are available fresh or frozen year around and taste similar to chicken. For the chef, their smaller size makes them ideal to serve one per guest. These are often served stuffed, but are best  roasted unstuffed for a uniform result and stuffed after they have been cooked. Wild rice mixtures make a good dressing.

    1 Rock Cornish game hen per guest
    Melted butter
    Peeled carrots, chopped
    Celery, chopped
    Quartered whole onions
    Salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Line bottom of roasting pan with chopped carrots, celery, and quartered onions. Wash and pat dry hens. Tuck wing tips under so they do not burn. Salt and pepper inside and outside of hens. Liberally butter the outside of the hens and place them on the vegetables. Roast in oven. Baste birds every 15 minutes with additional butter. Roast until the birds are golden brown and the juices form the bird's cavity runs clear. Using latex gloves, dress the birds with your prepared dressing. Set roasted birds on a warm platter. Garnish the platter with a green vegetable like peas or green beans.

Pan sauce
    1 ¼-Cup white wine
    ½ cup chicken stock
    3 Tablespoons port
    1 Tablespoons sherry
    3 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into patties used to mount the sauce

Remove roasting pan to stovetop and apply high heat. Add white wine, chicken stock, port and sherry. Stir the pan contents pressing down on vegetables with a spoon. Cook for four minutes stirring all the white. Strain the sauce into a frying pan. Reduce a little more if too loose. When thickened, remove from heat. Add patties of cold butter and swirl the sauce until the butter has melted. Pour sauce over the games hens.