Roasted Cornish Hens with Cherry Wine Sauce

A rich sauce of red wine, cherries, and gingerroot turns ordinary Cornish hens into elegant holiday fare.

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Ingredients:

• 3 Cornish hens, about 1 1/2 pounds each
• 6 large garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 lemon, cut into 6 pieces
• Fresh whole sage leaves, or dried rubbed sage
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Red Wine Cherry Sauce:
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 cup dried tart red cherries
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped gingerroot
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use fingers to gently loosen skin of birds from meat. Place a whole sage leaf under skin on each breast half, or rub in the dried sage. Stuff each hen with 2 cloves garlic, 2 lemon pieces and a little more sage. Rub olive oil all over skin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in a small, shallow roasting pan and roast, basting occasionally, about 50 minutes, or until the juices run clear when thigh is pierced with a fork. Remove from pan and let rest for 10 minutes. While hens roast, make sauce. In a non-aluminum 3 quart saucepan, heat wine, cherries, garlic, shallots and ginger to boiling over high heat until cherries soften and wine is reduced to 1/4 cup. Add chicken stock and boil until reduced by half, about 7 minutes. In a blender, blend sauce until smooth. Return sauce to pan and heat over medium heat. With wire whisk, stir in butter, pepper and salt. Keep warm over low heat.

Notes: After Thanksgiving, we are tired of the usual Turkey. This is a great Holiday Dinner entree for Christmas or New Year's. These are great served with long grain and wild rice.

Number of servings: 6

Submitted By: homefordinner
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