Roasted Game Hens with Caramelized Root Vegetables and Dried-Currant Sauce

As others have said, the vegetables were great. For those whose dishes didn't get brown, work in batches and turning often is key so the carmilized onion and garlic coat the veggies. I used a 5 qt cast iron pot. Leftovers make a great addition for a fall soup with beans, spinach and turkey sausage. I was unable to find chestnuts or junipers after I went to two specialty markets so I just made them like roasted chicken. Next time will just make chicken.

• thearnest

• yorba linda, ca

• 10/20/2010

Fantastic flavors in this dish made it a Thanksgiving hit! The carmelized root vegetables had an amazing flavor, but I had to make some changes to the recipe because they didn't stay solid as I was carmelizing them. Perhaps because my pan was too small, they ended up steaming and breaking down, especially the turnips. This gave them a soft stuffing consistency. I used them to stuff the whole birds and finished the remainder under the broiler in the pan drippings from the hens. Perhaps if I had used a much larger pan, cooked them in batches and had a 1/2 to 2/3 inch dice, they may have stayed more solid. With regard to the hens, the marinade was quite lovely. We could not find juniper berries anywhere, so I added 1-1/2 shots of gin to the marinade, along with the juice of one orange. Yum! After reading some of the other reviews, I decided to roast the hens on a rack whole uncovered at 375 for 55 minutes. They had a beautiful brown skin and very juicy.

• mrkevin

• Gurnee, IL

• 11/26/2009

Made the entire meal with the brussels sprouts and pearl onions in horseradish cream also from this site for christmas dinner. It was great, though I think the veggie to chicken ratio is a bit off. All raved about all, including my father-in-law who did not realize he was eating turnips and rutabaga (both of which he hates). I will use the marinade again for sure on any kind of poultry and I might even try it on a pork tenderloin. Hubby said all flavors went together well. For those of you who didn't bother with the chicken you missed out big time. Yummy.

• wernerc

• Long Island, NY

• 12/26/2008

I wasn't especially impressed with this recipe. I agree with an earlier reviewer that it came out seeming boiled instead of roasted and the broiling portion didn't brown it to anything like the picture - simply dried it out a bit. I think next time I'll try a more traditional roasting method, leaving them whole and uncovered, with much less broth, and probably on a roasting rack. The combination of herbs was quite interesting and the juniper berries were a nice wintry touch for the holidays. The caramelized root vegetables were far superior to the hens. If I made this again, I would definitely thicken the sauce a bit with a little flour as well.

• girloftars

• 12/26/2008

This rating is just for the veggies. I didn't make the hen or sauce. The veggies were amazing. They smell so deliciously sweet during cooking I had flashes of sweet potato casserole. It's the summer but cooking this dish made me feel like it was winter. Before adding the garlic and thyme at the end I sampled the recipe and loved it so much I didn't want to add anything else. I'll add some to my leftovers tomorrow and I'm sure it will taste great, but just wanted to say that it was great without too.

• dulcinea14

• houston

• 5/20/2008

Best Cornish Hen recipe I've used. the juniper berries and orange peel gave the hens a real woodsy flavor. The carmelized vegetables were outstanding.

• Anonymous

• Bolton

• 2/11/2008

This dish was great! But it had me running all around time to locate ingredents. We loved the Veggies sooo much, we have them as a side once or twice a month, they are nearly addictive. Thanks for the great root veggie recipe, add or remove things, roasted or on the stovetop, make sure you use thyme, its never fail.

• ktlove11401

• 12/2/2007

I did use cornish hens and I think that there may be too much liquid as the hens tasted somewhat boiled. Next time I will use a little less chicken broth and roast covered for less time and roast uncovered for 15 or twenty minutes at a higher temperature. I did broil the hens like the recipe called for and it may have made teh meat too dry. I liked the combination of herbs and orange peel. I had never used juniper berries either. I made the veggies too. They were good, but there is a recipe from a Thanksgiving issue of Bon Appeitit (??2003) for roasted root veggies with marjorum and thyme that is much, much better.

• Anonymous

• charlottesville, va

• 9/27/2007

Great recipe. I have never used Juniper berries before and was pleasantly surprised!! Used a 3lb. whole chicken instead. I was unable to track down the chestnuts for some reason and ran out of Thyme, so I subbed Rosemary for the veggies. Turned out great.

• rubohl

• 2/15/2007

We thought the hens and sauce were very flavorful and easy to make. Didn't make the veggies.

• Anonymous

• Arlington, VA

• 1/20/2007

I used a 3-4 lb. chicken which worked out fine. Instead of fresh thyme I used approx. 1 tsp. of dried (could have used a bit more but I don't like thyme to be overpowering). I ran out time to roast it as suggested so I started it for 45min. at 350 covered,then poured off the broth and finished it at 400 for approx. 20 min.uncovered and then covered it with foil. The broth made an excellent gravy. I didn't do the vegetables, just carrots with orange juice, ginger and honey. Was perfect with mashed potatoes.

• pcaissie

• Burlington,ON CAN

• 1/15/2007

配方的味道很美味但是presentation wasn't so great. I used a small roasting chicken instead of the cornish hens. It was very tender. I looked in 3 markets for the juniper berries but couldn't find them so I used 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. The root vegetables were really good but they didn't carmelize. Next time, I will cook them in a skillet instead of a pot. My husband loved both dishes and is calling for more.

• lisamccann

• Orange County, CA

• 1/9/2007