Name: Simple Roast Butterflied Cornish Hens
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 Cornish game hens (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds), backbones removed with kitchen shears, birds flattened, breast side up, with palm of hand; Dried herbs , such as thyme, basil, or tarragon, for sprinkling; 2 teaspoons butter , softened

Time

50 minutes

Yield

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients

2 Cornish game hens (1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds), backbones removed with kitchen shears, birds flattened, breast side up, with palm of hand

Dried herbs, such as thyme, basil, or tarragon, for sprinkling

2 teaspoons butter, softened

Ingredients

2 Cornish game hens (1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds), backbones removed with kitchen shears, birds flattened, breast side up, with palm of hand

Dried herbs, such as thyme, basil, or tarragon, for sprinkling

2 teaspoons butter, softened

Ingredients

2 Cornish game hens (1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds), backbones removed with kitchen shears, birds flattened, breast side up, with palm of hand

Dried herbs, such as thyme, basil, or tarragon, for sprinkling

2 teaspoons butter, softened

Why This Recipe Works

For our simplest Cornish hens recipe, we simply butterflied the birds and then roasted them on a rack set in a baking sheet. A little butter rubbed onto the skin promote better browning, and pricking the skin before the birds went into the oven prevented any bubbling. The ideal roasting temperature, as it turned out, was 400 degrees, with a quick blast under the broiler at the end of cooking to promote browning.

Before You Begin

Birds weighing more than one and one-half pounds can serve two people for weeknight dining. During the week, there's probably no time to brine, but it's easy to lift the skin of these butterflied birds and season the meat directly with salt, pepper, and herbs. You can roast up to four hens at a time if using a nineteen-by-thirteen-inch rack set over a large roasting or jelly roll pan.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Loosen skin around legs/thighs of hens and along breastbone to expose meat. Generously sprinkle exposed meat with salt, pepper, and herb of choice; return skin to place. Pierce skin in four or five places to prevent bubbling. Rub skin side of each hen with softened butter. Place hens on large (at least 19-by-13-inch) wire rack set over an equally large roasting or jelly roll pan.

Roast hens 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and juices run clear. Turn oven from bake to broil; broil until nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan, split each hen down the breastbone with chef's knife or kitchen shears if hens are to be split between two people. Drizzle pan juices over each portion and serve.