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Cornish hens with apricot sauce

12
Points®
Total Time
55 min
Prep
15 min
Cook
40 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Moderate
If you’re looking for an elegant dish to serve a dinner party of 4, we’ve a got a recipe for you. Pair theses sweet-and-savory hens with a colorful rice pilaf or risotto and a simple roasted vegetable like asparagus or haricot verts (tiny French-style green beans). These succulent birds get their terrific flavor from the apricot sauce that’s used to base the birds before cooking them and is also spooned over the finished dish. It gets is zip from balsamic vinegar and it’s depth from the coffee liqueur. For a more traditional and slightly sweeter sauce, use ruby port instead of the liqueur.

Ingredients

Orange juice

½ cup(s)

63-proof coffee liqueur

¼ fl oz, (1/4 cup 2 tablespoons)

Apricot preserves

¼ cup(s)

Balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp

Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp

Uncooked skinless Cornish hen

1½ pound(s), quartered

Uncooked skinless Cornish hen

1½ pound(s), quartered

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, liqueur, and preserves; bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until the preserves melt, 1–2 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer until syrupy, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar and mustard. Transfer 1/4 cup of the sauce to a small bowl.
  2. Gently lift the skin from the meat on each hen; brush 1 tablespoon of the sauce from the bowl under the skin of each. Place the hens in a single layer in a roasting pan. Roast until cooked through, about 25 minutes.
  3. Just before serving, bring the sauce back to a boil. Place 2 pieces of hen on each of 4 plates; spoon sauce over each.

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