Cornish Hens with Pomegranate-Honey Sauce

26. April 2007 Chicken 0

The Cornish hens were on sale at my grocery store. I bought two and thought about cooking the chicken and pomegranate stew recipe I published a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t have vegetables so I just used the spices in my cupboard. The meat fell off the bones easily so I ended up deboning the hens while the liquid reduced and thickened. For texture, I added some sesame seeds and crushed almonds before serving.

Ingredients:
2 Cornish hens
2 tbsps pomegranate molasses
1/4 cup honey
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 threads saffron, soaked in 3 tbsps of hot water
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 pinch of whole cloves, grounded
4 parsley stems, chopped
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup whole blanched almonds, crushed, toasted
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350Âº. In the meantime, heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven. SautÃ© the garlic and the onions. Add and brown the Cornish hens on all sides. Remove the hens to a plate.
2. Add all the spices including the saffron to the pot with 2 cups of water. Simmer and reduce until somewhat thickened for 25 minutes. Then add the pomegranate and honey to the liquid and let simmer while gently scraping off the bits from the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Add the hens back, cover the pot and put in the oven for 10 minutes.
3. When done, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Remove and discard bay leaves. Using a pair of tongs and a fork, slowly take off the meat from the bones. The hens should be so soft and tender that the meat just slides off the bones. Discard the bones. Plate meat and top with toasted sesame seeds and almonds.