Blood Orange Cornish Game Hens

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I loooove blood oranges. They’re floral and slightly more bitter than their plain siblings, and they only come out once a year. As soon as I saw them in our grocery store, I bagged 10 of them to take home with me; half have gone into smoothies, and the other leftover few went into this marinade.

Now don’t get all worried if you cant find either Cornish game hens or blood oranges: just use a regular roasting chicken and normal oranges.

There’s no big story for this recipe, it’s just good and easy, maybe even healthy. I start by marinating the chicken overnight, and then while it’s roasting in the oven, I made up a sweet and spicy glaze to be brushed on top.

Ingredients for marinade

• 1-2 Cornish game hens
• 1/2 Cup blood orange juice
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp garlic
• S+P

Instructions for marinade

1. I threw everything in a blender and blended away! If doing by hand, that’s fine too, just make sure your garlic is finely minced.
2. Pour marinade over game hens in a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and sit in your fridge overnight (or at least 4 hours).
3. When ready to bake, set oven to 350°F, put hens on a clean roasting pan (or a baking sheet) and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until thermometer reads that they’re done. (Hens are tiny, and therefore do not require a long baking time. However if you’re using a normal roasting chicken… well, I’m sure you understand that will take longer.)
4. ~15 MINUTES BEFORE THEY’RE DONE: Brush glaze over game hens. Recipe for glaze is below.

Ingredients for sweet and spicy glaze

• 1 cup blood orange juice
• 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbsp honey

Instructions for sweet and spicy glaze

1. Put all ingredients in a pot set over medium-low heat. Cook until it juuuuusssttt begins to boil.
2. When bubbles start happening, turn off heat and set glaze aside.
3. Brush onto hens ~15 minutes before they’re done. (You can even go ahead and reserve some glaze on the side, in a bowl, for dipping.)

And dinner is served.

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2 Notes

1. Aimee says:

   February 15, 2012 at 10:58 pm

   Looks mouthwateringly delicious!! Couldn’t say I’ve ever tried a blood orange, but will have to now

   Reply

2. Pingback: Ingredient of the week: blood oranges | canada.com