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Cornish Game Hens with Mandarin
Orange Rice... |
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This delicious dinner is quite easy to make and
very impressive to serve to your family and guests.
Note: Usually found
in the frozen foods section, rock cornish game hens generally come two to a
pack, however in larger stores you may find them fresh. It's best to cook fresh
or thawed game hens within 24 hours and the cooked meat can be stored up to
three days.
Preparation and Cooking:
Clean the birds well and
season to taste prior to placing in the oven. We use Lawrey's Seasoning and
course ground pepper.
We place them in a roasting pan on a rack.
Covering the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil makes it much easier to clean
the pan afterwards.
Preheat your oven to 350° for about an hour
(more if stuffed). We don't bother basting them during cooking because they are
tender and juicy without it.
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About half an hour prior to the game hens being
ready start the rice. This particular recipe is one that I created.
For
the two of us I make 1-1/2 cups. Since we are lovers of white rice but know
that the nutritional value is not present, we mix about 50/50 white rice and
brown rice to supplement the value. Another good nutritional rice is basmati,
which is closer to a soft white rice.
First, open a can of mandarin
oranges and drain into a measuring cup, add water until you have 1-1/2 cup of
combined liquid. (Note for a more pungent orange flavor, you can top off the
first cup of mandarin juice with orange juice, and then add a half cup of
water)
Just when this liquid comes to a soft boil, add 3/4 cup of rice,
lower the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, covered. Set your timer for 20
minutes and then check to make sure the liquid is fully absorbed, if not
continue cooking another 5 minutes or so. Don't lift the lid for the first 20
minutes.
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| This rice is ready to add the mandarin
oranges... |
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| Mix gently to keep as many of the oranges in tact as
possible... |
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| And here is dinner complete with corn (sometimes we
have carrots instead) and whole grain nut bread... Enjoy! |
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Tips about this meal...
- Rock cornish games hens are low in Sodium and a good source of
Vitamin B6 Phosphorus, Protein, Niacin and Selenium. However they are very high
in Cholesterol.
- Game hens are about 300 calories each with about 76-77 calories from
fat.
- One whole bird is a perfect size for each person unless you are
serving it with a lot of other foods, in which case 1/2 of a bird is a good
size - split it before cooking.
- You can stuff a game hen just like chicken and, in fact, you can use
it in place of chicken in recipes.
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Search the web for
more nutrition information
and healthy recipes:
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