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Sweet-and-Spicy Cornish Hens

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 cup apple jelly
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced pickled jalapeño chili (wear rubber gloves)
two 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-pound Cornish hens, halved and backbones discarded

Preparation

  1. In a saucepan combine the jelly, the lemon and lime juices, the Worcestershire sauce, and the jalapeño and heat the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until the jelly is just melted. Pat the Cornish hens dry, sprinkle them with salt and black pepper, and arrange the halves, skin sides down, on a rack in a foil-lined roasting pan. Brush the halves with some of the sauce and roast them in the lower third of a preheated 500°F. oven for 15 minutes. Baste the halves with the sauce, turn them, and roast them, basting them after 7 minutes, for 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear when a thigh is pricked with a skewer.

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