Another "special occasion" recipe...

2 Cornish game hens
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (or more to taste)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 or 2 teaspoons Thai seasoning (see note below)
1 Tablespoon dry sherry

Using kitchen shears and/or a large knife, split the hens in half and cut out the backbone. (Save the backbone and giblets, they make wonderful stock!)

Whisk together all ingredients (except the hens, of course!) Place the hen halves in a large bowl and pour the marinade over them. Cover and place them in the refrigerator for at least an hour, turning them once or twice.

Preheat your broiler to the "high" setting and spray a baking dish with a little non-stick spray (such as Pam).

Shake the excess marinade from the hen halves and place them skin side down in the baking dish. Put the baking dish under the broiler (not TOO close!) and broil for seven minutes. Flip the birds over and broil for an additional 8 minutes.

Set the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, pour the remaining marinade over the hens and bake 20 minutes or until the birds are done. (I use an instant-read meat thermometer; birds are well done when the the thermometer reads 170 degrees F in the thickest part of the thigh.)

I serve this with a spicy broccoli (ginger/garlic/soy sauce mixture).

Enjoy!

Note - my Thai seasoning, The Spice Hunter brand, is both salt and sugar free (and totally delicious!). Their web site is www.spicehunter.com, and no, I don't get a kickback. If you can't find Thai seasoning blend online or in your store, here is the ingredients list (so you can approximate it): sesame seeds, chili pepper, coriander, onion, red pepper, shrimp, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon oil.

Paradux,
That sounds really tasty! I don't much like Cornish Hens though, I wonder if it would be good substituting one 3 pound chicken?
Sandy

Sandy,

I just served this Saturday night - had a couple of friends over, and it was a big hit.

I'm sure the marinade and cooking technique would work fine with chicken parts, but you would need to adjust the cooking time. Alternatively, you could throw the chicken on the barbecue and baste it once or twice with the remaining marinade. (We opted for indoor cooking since our temperatures have been VERY cold in the lovely but frigid northeast US.)

I don't have carb counts for this recipe, but the total carbs must be pretty low since the ingredients are pretty low in carbs.

Enjoy!

Hi Liz,

Thank you so much for the recipe, bought a couple of game hens yesterday and was trying to figure out how I wanted to cook them. Will post my results after we eat.

Carol