Honey Game Hens (Paula Deen)

I just tried this Paula Deen recipe for Thanksgiving and it was a big success so I thought I would share it. I made this for just 4 hens and appreciated having extra marinade. It won’t be enough to cover all the hens in your bowl so I rotated the hens and kept them in the fridge past the hour. Given the ingredients for the sauce you can’t go wrong! I did find I had to heat it much longer than Deen says. Be sure to read the recipe entirely and plan ahead!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 (1 inch) piece peeled and chopped ginger
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• 6 about 3/4 to 1 lb each Cornish game hens
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon minced orange zest

Directions

Rinse hens, trim off excess fat, and pat dry; place in bowl. Put garlic and ginger in food processor and process until nearly smooth. In another bowl, combine soy sauce, honey, oil, orange juice, and zest. Add the garlic and ginger. Pour mixture over game hens, coating well. Allow meat to marinate in the refrigerator for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Place game hens in shallow roasting pan; pour marinade on top. Allow refrigerated game hens to reach room temperature before placing in oven. Bake for 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes. Remove hens to serving platter. Pour cooking juices into small, heavy saucepan and boil for 4 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Pour over hens just before serving. Serve with sesame noodles or rice pilaf. These hens can also be grilled–just remember to baste often.