Harvest Cornish Hens

Total Time: 1 hr 26 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 4 (1 3/4 lb) rock cornish hens (fresh or frozen)
• salt
• pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or 2 tablespoons salad oil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon butter or 1 tablespoon margarine
• 1 (10 ounce) bag carrots, sliced in half
• 1 (10 ounce) container brussels sprouts
• 1 (12 ounce) package mushrooms, sliced
• milk
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon chicken flavor instant bouillon
• 1 sprig parsley (for garnish)

Recipe

• 1 remove giblets and necks from rock cornish hens; refrigerate to use in soup another day.
• 2 rinse hens with running cold water; pat dry with paper towels.
• 3 sprinkle inside body cavity with salt and pepper.
• 4 fold neck skin to back; lift wings toward neck, then fold them under back of hen so they stay in place.
• 5 with string, tie legs and tail of each hen together.
• 6 place hens, breast-side up, on rack in roasting pan.
• 7 in a cup, mix olive or salad oil, dried parsley flakes, dried thyme leaves, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper; brush hens with oil mixture.
• 8 roast hens in 350 degree oven about 1 1/4 hours, brushing hens occasionally with drippings in pan.
• 9 hens are done when legs can be moved up and down easily or when fork is inserted between leg and body cavity and juices that escape are not pink.
• 10 toward the end of roasting hens, in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, in hot margarine, cook carrots, brussel sprouts and 1/2 tsp. salt until golden.
• 11 add 1/2 cup water; over high heat, heat to boiling.
• 12 reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes until vegetables are tender-crisp, stirring occasionally; keep warm.
• 13 when hens are done, discard strings.
• 14 place hens on warm large platter; keep warm.
• 15 for gravy, remove rack from roasting pan; pour pan drippings into 1-cup measure; let drippings stand a few seconds until fat deparates from meat juice.
• 16 skim 2 tbsp. fat from drippings into 3-quart saucepan; skim and discard any remeining fat.
• 17 in saucepan over high heat, in hot fat, cook mushrooms until tender and golden, stirring occasionally.
• 18 stir enough milk into meat juice to measuring to equal 1 cup; stir in flour, chicken bouillon and 1/2 tsp salt until blended.
• 19 add 1/2 cup water to roasting pan; stir to loosen brown bits from bottom of pan.
• 20 pour water and brown bits into mushrooms in saucepan.
• 21 add meat-juice mixture; cook over high heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens slightly; boil 1 minute.
• 22 to serve, arrange vegetables on platter with cornish hens.
• 23 garnish with parsley sprigs.
• 24 serve with mushroom gravy.