Recipe #105: Stuffed Roast Cornish Hens with Brussel Sprouts, Carrots & Onions

I love the look and sound of a roast chicken, but sometimes it's just too big for one person, and also, unless it's turkey, I'm not a lover of dark meat.  I like to make Cornish hens as one hen can actually be enough for two people if you don't want any leftovers.  Also, the dark meat is a little more tame than the dark meat of chicken.  This recipe is really pretty easy, as I made the stuffing I usually do for Thanksgiving, and just added the vegetables.  You can roast any veggies you want, and even forget the stuffing and roast potatoes instead, or just stuff the hens with slices of lemon, garlic and onion.  Now, let's cook...

2 Cornish hens                                                      your favorite stuffing recipe
3 carrots, cut in pieces                                         10 brussel sprouts, halved
1 medium onion, quartered                                 3 tbsp olive oil
twine to truss Cornish hen                                  chicken broth and white wine, optional
salt and pepper, or lemon pepper

Clean the hens and loosely fill cavities with the stuffing.  Truss the hens.  If you have never trussed one, take a long piece of string and put it underneath the back of the hen.  Bring the twine up and criss-cross over the top, then wrap under each leg, pulling the legs together, and tie in a bow.  This is shown below.  Put your vegetables in a bowl, and toss with 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper.  Put the hens in a roasting pan, brush with the remaining olive oil, and spread the vegetables around the hens.  Bake at 400 for about 45 minutes, or until the hens are nicely brown on top.  You can also add a mixture of 1/2 cup chicken broth with 1/4 cup white wine and put in roasting pan at the initial roasting.  This gives you some juice to put over everything if you wish.  Bon appetit!