Lemon Butter Cornish Hens
- Yield 4 servings
Cornish hens are basted in a zesty lemon butter sauce and cooked to perfection.
Ingredients
- 4 -- Cornish game hens
- 1 cup vodka
- 8 -- thin slices lemon
- 8 -- thin slices butter
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoons crushed tarragon
- 1 1/2 sticks butter
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons whipping cream
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Coat the hens with vodka inside and out; let rest for 15 minutes. Carefully loosen skin over the breast with fingers, making a pocket. Place 2 slices lemon and 2 slices butter in the skin pockets of each hen. Season inside and out with a mixture of salt, white pepper and tarragon. Place hens in a baking pan; coat with the Lemon Basting Sauce (butter, rind and lemon juice).
- Pour chicken broth in bottom of baking pan. Bake at 450F for 15 mintues. Baste. Reduce heat to 375F; cook for 30 to 45 minutes or until done. Remove Cornish hens from pan. For sauce, reduce pan liquids to 1/2 volume; add whipping cream and sour cream. Simmer to thicken.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Telephone Pioneers of America’s Calling All Cooks two (by: Telephone Pioneers of America, Alabama Chapter No. 34., 1988).
