Friday, March 12, 2010

Apricot and Jalapeno Glazed Cornish Game Hens

With spring finally here, I knew I wanted to use fruit when roasting the Cornish Game Hens.   I also thought that fire roasted jalapenos and garlic would add more depth to the flavors... so here it is!

Apricot and Jalapeno Glazed Cornish Game Hens

Ingredients:
  • 4 Cornish Game Hens, rinsed and patted dry
  • 6 jalapenos, fire roasted and steamed, peeled and seeded
  • 1 C. apricot nectar
  • 1 C. apricot preserves
  • 2 heads of garlic, smashed
  • 2 T. olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions:


Rinse and pat dry the Cornish Game Hens, set aside.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.   Add 1 T. olive oil to roasting pan.


I fire roast my own jalapeno's over one of my gas burners of my cook top.  Char them black and place them in a paper sack to steam.   Once cooled, the skin comes right off.  Slice and remove seeds and put them in the apricot nectar for 10 minutes.   Pour the nectar and jalapeno's into a blender and process until pureed.


Rub each Cornish Game Hen with the remaining 1 T olive oil.   Then brush the apricot/jalapeno puree inside and out of each bird.   Add 2 - 3 T of puree to pan and set aside remainder.   Stuff each bird cavity with 3 -4 smashed cloves of garlic.    Brush each bird with apricot preserves, salt and pepper to taste.   Add remaining smashed cloves of garlic to pan.


Roast, uncovered, for an hour and baste again with both apricot/jalapeno puree followed by apricot preserves.   The birds should have a yummy caramel color.   Remove from the oven and transfer the birds to a serving plate to rest.   For the sauce, remove garlic from pan, add remaining apricot/jalapeno puree and simmer until reduced and thick.


To plate - I started with a bed of fresh baby spinach, topped with a whole Cornish Game Hen and a side of mixed grain rice.   Add the sauce and you have an incredibly tasty meal!


3 comments:

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a lovely recipe. Your photo is terrific. This is my first visit to your blog and I really like what you've done here. I'll be back often.

Yvonne @ StoneGable said...

Stacey, Cornish game hen always says elegance and easy! Your wonderful Apricot and Jalapeno Glazed Cornish Hen sounds like it is truely company worthy!Delicious!
Yvonne

Deana Sidney said...

What a lovely blog! My first visit too... thanks to Gollum! I do love black blogs... it makes everything pop!