Favorite Recipes October 10, 2019

Cornish Game Hens with Mushroom Gravy

What You Need:

  • Ideally, an air fryer (minimum 5 qt. capacity)
  • 2 Cornish game hens, defrosted
  • 1 tsp fresh sage (chopped)
  • 1 tsp fresh rosemary (chopped)
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme (chopped)
  • Lawry’s seasoning salt
  • black pepper, freshly ground
  • juice from 1 large lemon
  • 4 oz. Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 c chicken broth (best to use 2 c water with 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon Concentrated Chicken Stock)
  • ~1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • Wondra (flour-based thickener)
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • white rice (cooked)

What To D0:

  • Rinse and pat dry the hens.  Rub with sage, rosemary and thyme, dust with Lawry’s seasoning salt, and a liberal amount of fresh ground pepper; Place side-by-side in air fryer.
  • Cook hens for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.
  • Drizzle hens with juice from about 1/4 lemon and transfer drippings from the catch basket to a small-medium sauce pan.
  • Flip hens over to cook for additional 15 min.  During last 3 minutes of cooking, drizzle with juice from another 1/4 of the lemon.  Hens are finished cooking when skin is crispy and drippings are not pink (internal temp should ultimately reach 165 degrees F).
  • Remove hens from air fryer and cover with foil for about 5-10 minutes before cutting in half or quarters to serve.
  • FOR THE GRAVY (Can be prepped while hens are cooking):  Sauté sliced mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes; Add chopped garlic to mushrooms and sauté about 1-2 minutes more.
  • Transfer garlic and mushrooms to sauce pan with drippings from catch basket of air fryer; Add 2 cups of chicken broth, juice from the remaining 1/2 of the lemon and Italian seasoning; Whisk in Wondra a little at a time while at a rolling boil until desired gravy thickness is achieved; Season with salt and pepper (if needed) to taste.
  • Serve Cornish game hens with white rice and spoon gravy over it all.  Enjoy!