Cornish hens with grapes and shallots

It is finally cooling off here in Arizona.  It’s about 70 in the mornings then it climbs up to around 90 in the afternoons.  That is pretty nice weather compared to what it was a month ago!  This week is my fall break from school.  I have been spending it playing with Miles, crocheting, catching up on my Food & Wine subscription, and cooking.  Yesterday I was in the mood for something sweet, so I decided to make cornish hens with grapes and shallots, along with a brown rice-quinoa mixture, and broccoli and cauliflower.

My cute, little cornish hens waiting to be baked.

The grapes turn out to be super sweet after 45 minutes in the oven. The recipe is found in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food cookbook.  I just did a few things different, like I do with most of the recipes found in this particular book.  Many of them have turned out quite bland, or would have, had I not tweaked them just a tad.

Cornish Hens with Grapes and Shallots

4 cornish hens (about 2lbs each)

fresh thyme

2 cups seedless grapes

10 – 12 shallots, peeled with root ends chopped off

4 tablespoons butter, melted

4 garlic cloves, halved

salt & pepper

olive oil

Preheat oven to 450. On a large, rimmed baking pan, toss grapes and shallots with thyme, salt, pepper, and enough olive oil to coat everything.  Rinse hens and pat dry with paper towel. The gizzards should already be removed, if not, remove the insides. Place 5 or 6 sprigs of thyme inside the hen, and salt and pepper the inside as well. Rub the hens with the garlic clove halves and place them inside, as well, when finished. Use kitchen string to tie the legs together. Brush each hen with butter all over, and generously salt and pepper them.  Take some of those fresh thyme leaves and put them on the hens, too.  These babies need as much help in the flavor department as possible.  Bake the hens for about 45 minutes.  They should be golden brown and the juices should run clear when pierced with a knife in the thickest part of the leg.

I served my little hens over a bed of brown rice and quinoa, flavored with a red wine vinegar-butter mixture, with some little trees on the side.  Delicious and nutritious! This is definitely something I will be making again.

Well, I’m off to spend some QT with my little buddy and finish a blanket for my first niece, Annabelle, who will be here in January! Have a great Tuesday!