Dinner tonight: orange-rosemary cornish hens

In this dinner recipe, the roasting hens are brushed with a delicious orange marmalade glaze. Earl Grey tea in the glaze enhances the orange aromas.

Prep time 20 min

Cook time 1 hr 5 min

Serves 4

• 1 tea bag, such as Earl Grey
• 50 ml (1/4 c) boiling water
• Juice from 1 orange
• 125 ml (1/2 c) orange marmalade
• 4 Rock Cornish hens (500 g/1 lb each), thawed if frozen
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) freshly ground black pepper
• Salt
• 1 orange (unpeeled), cut into quarters
• 2 onions, sliced
• 8 sprigs fresh rosemary, divided
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme, divided

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Fit a roasting pan with rack.
2. In a small pot, steep the tea bag in the water for five minutes. Remove the bag, squeezing to release any liquid. Add the orange juice then stir in the marmalade until melted. Keep warm over low heat.
3. Remove and discard the giblets and neck from hens. Wash the hens and dry thoroughly, and then add the pepper to the cavity and sprinkle lightly with salt. Loosen the breast skin slightly. Stuff the large cavity of each hen with one orange quarter, one-fourth of the onion slices, one rosemary sprig and one thyme sprig. Tie the legs together with cotton string.
4. Place the hens, breast side up, on the rack in the roasting pan. Brush the hens under and over the skin with about one-fourth of the glaze. Pour enough water into the pan to cover the bottom but not enough to touch the rack.
5. Roast in the centre of the oven, basting over and under the skin every 20 minutes with the remaining glaze, until browned and the juices run clear when the hens are pierced with a fork, about one to one hour and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.
6. Discard the rosemary, thyme, onions and orange from the cavities of the hens. Dress up the hens with the remaining rosemary and thyme sprigs. Discard the skin before eating.

• For a family-style presentation of a single bird, replace the Cornish hens with a whole roasting chicken (about 1.5 kilograms/three pounds).
• Roast the chicken at 200°C (400°F) until the juices run clear, 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

--------------------

Discover the smarter way to save time and money

Ready to start saving more on your groceries and pharmacy purchases? Download the FREE YP Grocery app today! It lets you create shareable shopping lists, automatically finds all the best deals and coupons, then delivers them right to you. No more manually scrolling through hundreds of flyers to find what you’re looking for!

Download the YP Grocery app now!