Cinnamon Roasted Cornish Game Hens

The delicate flavor of Cornish game hens makes them great company fare. They are tender, delicious and cook quickly.

Ingredients

Glaze:

2/3 cup orange juice

2/3 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of ground cloves

Hens:

2 Cornish game hens (see note below)

2 small onions, quartered

6 garlic cloves, peeled

4 fresh sprigs of rosemary

Honey Tips

How Honey Is Created

Honey is created when bees mix plant nectar, a sweet substance secreted by flowers, with their own bee enzymes.

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.
Glaze:
Whisk together all glaze ingredients until well combined. Remove 1/2 cup and set aside to use as glaze for hens. Pour the remainder into a small pot and set aside.
Hens:
Rinse hens and pat dry. Sprinkle inside cavities and outside with salt and pepper. Place 1 quartered onion, 3 cloves garlic and 2 sprigs of rosemary in each cavity. Put hens on a rack in a roasting pan (a broiler pan works well).

Roast 10 minutes. Baste with reserved glaze. Continue roasting about 40-45 more minutes, basting with glaze every 10 minutes. Hens should reach an internal temperature of 175-180°. and be beautifully browned. Remove hens from pan and keep warm.
Pour any juices from pan into the small pot of glaze. Bring to a boil. Continue cooking at a medium boil for 12-15 minutes until sauce begins to reduce.
Remove onions, garlic and rosemary from cavity of cooked hens. Serve with reduced sauce.
Serves:2-4 (Please Note: if hens are small or you have hearty eaters you should serve one game hen per person and double the remaining ingredients.)