Christmas Countdown Day 4: Four Colly/Calling Birds

I still cannot figure out if the gift was meant to be 4 calling or 4 colly birds, but either way, I know that these birds are not meant to be eaten, so I took a more loose interpretation. For my Christmas countdown day 4, I prepared...Roasted Cornish Hens with Wild Rice Stuffing!

For the record, I have never eaten or prepared cornish hens (or wild rice stuffing), so this was a new experience for me (much like many of the dishes prepared in my Christmas countdown). I chose to take a rather simple approach to these birds and roast them in a very simple manner, though with a new twist - I've never roasted a stuffed bird before!

I first prepared the wild rice stuffing, cooking the rice on the stove according to the directions on the bag. Once ready, I added in 2 tbsp of butter, diced onion and mushroom and sauteed with a dash of salt and sage. To top it off, I added about 1/4 cup chicken stock, let mix for a moment, and then removed from heat. (Note:  amounts may have varied, as I actually did not really measure anything.)

To prepare the cornish hens, I washed the birds both inside the cavity and outside then placed them in a shallow roasting pan. I slathered a mixture of salt, pepper, and garlic salt along the skin of the hens, along with butter (about 1.5 tbsp per bird). To finish, I spooned the wild rice stuffing into the cavity and popped the birds into a pre-heated 350 F oven.

For some reason, I decided I would let the birds roast for an hour before checking on them. Once an hour had elapsed, I inserted the thermometer slightly into the birds and noticed it was still at 150 F, so I threw them back into the oven for another 30 minutes. But when I next removed the birds from the oven (and actually shoved the thermometer into the cavity of the hen), the thermometer skyrocketed past 200 F! Clearly the birds were well cooked, but I just cannot pinpoint at which moment in time the birds were done - perhaps it was 1 hr 15 mins in, or maybe it was even before the 1 hr mark (since I had improperly measured the temperature) - who knows. All I knew was that it was time to eat!

Though the breast meat was not as moist as it could have been, for a bird that was significantly overcooked, the meat was still quite tender! The skin was crisp and flavorful and the meat was surprisingly still juicy. The wild rice stuffing was incredibly fragrant and the flavors of the butter (ESPECIALLY the butter), onion, mushroom, and wild rice fused together delectably.

If you've never tried before, I would highly recommend you try at least once to roast cornish hens - it's easy, delicious, and these mini birds are quite cute!