| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Inactive: | 5 min |
| Cook: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 (1 1/4 to 1 3/4 pounds) Cornish game hen
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 pieces thick-sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 20 to 24 pearl onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Wrap a brick in aluminum foil and place into the oven to heat.
- Place the game hen breast side down on a cutting board. Using scissors or poultry shears, cut from the neck to the tailbone to remove the backbone. Once you remove the backbone you will be able to see the inside of the bird. Make a small slit in the cartilage at the base of the breastbone to reveal the keel bone. Grab the bird with both hands on the ribs and open up like a book, facing down towards the cutting board. Remove the keel bone. Cut small slits in the skin of the bird behind the legs and tuck the drumsticks into them in order to hold them in place. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Fry the bacon in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once crisp, remove the bacon from the skillet and reserve. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. Immediately add the two birds to the pan, skin side down. Add the onions to the pan around the edges. Top the birds with the brick and allow to remain on the heat for 5 minutes. Place the pan into the oven and cook 10 to 15 minutes or until the thigh meat reaches 170 degrees F. Remove from the oven and allow the bird to rest for 5 minutes before serving with the onions and bacon.
Reviews
I have the hardest time removing the keel bone. Also I don’t have a cast iron pan big enough for 2 hens so I had to use my heaviest Stainless Steel pan. It came out looking like the picture but, as good as it looks, it doesn’t seem to have the flavor that should have been created by the bacon and the onions.
Best Cornish hen recipe I’ve ever made. Simple & flavorful. Cast iron pan is a must for this one. Pearl onions & bacon side dish was so flavorful. Thanks, Alton.
I have used this recipe many times now and prefer this method of cooking Cornish game hen more than grilling or baking. Pan frying and then baking hot with a brick gives the bird a juicy tender texture that always turns out. If you cook1 bird and don’t have pan that fits the size you will get bacon splatter and smoke fairly significantly. Next time I’ll put aluminum foil over it. Pearl onions are great. If you make any type of potatoes, the bacon and onion are so tasty over the top. You can just chunk an onion and use if don’t have pearl.
I made this for the first time last night and this recipe is definitely a keeper! I don’t have a 12 inch cast iron pan, so I used my 11 inch high sided calphalon unison oven-safe pan instead and it came out GREAT! (I DID have a brick, however, which I also used I let the birds cook for an extra 10 minutes or so to be on the safe side, and they came out the perfect temperature. I also threw in a few garlic cloves in addition to the baby onions and by the way, I used Birds Eye Frozen pearl onions right out of the bag and they cooked to perfection – lovely caramelization on them. Saved me a BUNCH of time, too! And then, to add perfection to perfection, while the birds were resting on the platter, I tossed 5 ounces of baby spinach into the cooking pan and cooked it quickly in the juices that remained – DELISH!!!
I was disappointed with this recipe. It was far messier than I expected it to be. The cast iron plus the hens plus the brick was so heavy I could not safely move it into the oven. The hens did take about twice as long to cook. The skin burned but was still not crisp. It just ended up being much more difficult than I had expected, which would have been fine if the hens had been amazing, but they were just ok. Too bad!!
It was really good. I made 3 hens instead of two so I just added the extra and used a second brick/skillet. The only thing I can say negative is that this recipe is labor intensive, not hard to do as far a complexity but takes a lot of time. I also had to cook in the oven 2.5 times longer than it says. I just used a digital thermometer to get the thickest part done. It came out golden brown, juicy and tasty.
I had to triple the recipe for my family, but the skin didn’t get crispy. Aww. Maybe include whether a recipe can be doubled or not so people will know whether to try it. The bacon/onions were yummy, but the skin was pale/plain. I had plenty of hot bricks, but maybe too much juice from the hens. Won’t do again unless it’s 1-2 hens.
Made this for Thanksgiving 2009…excellent flavor and taste and soooo moist! Everyone loved it!! I usuaully don’t repeat the turkey alternative for the next year, but I’ll make an exception this year.
Not a pearl onion fan, so I diced up a Vidalia Sweet Onion, and some Yukon Gold potato’s and OMG!!!! was a HUGE hit!!!!
Great way to do cornish hens! I rubbed them down with cajun seasoning (ok, Essence!) a few hours before cooking. After cooking as Alton instructed, I left them in the oven an extra 5 minutes with the heat off, then let them rest at room temp for 10 minutes…PERFECT!!!