STUFFED ROAST CORNISH HENS

CORNISH GAME HENS PRESENT SEVERAL CHALLENGES to the cook. If roasted breast side up, the breast will surely overcook before the legs and thighs are done. Getting the birds to brown properly with such a short stay in the oven is difficult, especially if trying to fit six birds into one large pan. And a 500-degree oven is not the answer to any of these problems. Six little birds dripping fat onto an overheated roasting pan will set off smoke alarms all over the neighborhood.

Stuffing also presents some challenges. Because the cavity is the last spot to heat up, getting the stuffing to reach a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees means overcooking the meat in many cases.

One final problem: After roasting a few batches, we thought the flavor of these birds was unremarkable. Most Cornish hens are mass-produced (companies that specialize in free-range or boutique chickens have not entered this market) and are lacking in flavor. Our mission then was clear—to stuff and roast six grocery-store quality Cornish hens in a way that they looked good (the skin had to brown) and tasted great (we would have to up the flavor in the meat), without overcooking them or smoking up the kitchen.

You may as well steam Cornish hens as roast six of them in a high-sided roasting pan. The pan sides shield the birds from oven heat, and their snug fit in the pan further prevents browning. So our first move was to get the birds up out of the pan and onto a wire rack set over the pan. We also switched to a large roasting pan that measured 19 inches by 13 inches. Our second step was to space the birds as far apart as possible on the rack to insure even cooking and good browning.

From our initial tests, we determined that rotating the birds was crucial for moist, juicy breast meat. Because Cornish hens are in the oven for such a short time, we opted for just one turn as opposed to the two turns we favor when roasting a regular chicken. We found that one turn, from breast side down to breast side up, kept the breast meat from becoming dry or coarse-textured and was not too much of a hassle.

After roasting Cornish hens at temperatures ranging from 350 to 500 degrees, as well as roasting high and finishing low and roasting low and finishing high, we found that all oven temperatures have their problems. We finally settled on 400 degrees, cranking up the oven to 450 degrees during the last few minutes. This roasting temperature was high enough to encourage browning while low enough to prevent excessive smoking. Adding water to the roasting pan once the chicken fat starts to render and the juices flow guarantees a smokeless kitchen. Another perk: The pan is automatically deglazed in the oven. Once the birds are roasted, you can pour the pan juices into a saucepan without having to deglaze the roasting pan over two burners.

Even at these relatively high temperatures, the skin was not quite as brown as we might have liked. We realized that 45 minutes, no matter what the oven temperature, is not enough time to get a dark mahogany skin on any bird. We decided to see if we could improve the appearance of the skin with a glaze of some sort. We tested balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and jam thinned with a little soy sauce. All three glazes worked beautifully. The balsamic glaze was our favorite, giving the hens a pleasing spotty brown, barbecued look.

With the cooking and skin issues resolved, we turned our attention to boosting the flavor in the bland meat. We doubt that there's a piece of chicken (or turkey) that does not benefit from a few hours in a saltwater brine. Cornish hens are no exception. Two hours in a saltwater bath transformed mediocre-tasting birds into something special.

Our final challenge was to roast the birds, stuffed, without overcooking. Starting the hens breast side down was helping, since it slowed down the cooking in the heat-sensitive breast meat. Heating the stuffing in a microwave before spooning it into each hen also helped. By the time the stuffing reached 165 degrees (a temperature sufficient to kill any salmonella), the breast was 172 degrees and the thigh 176 degrees. As we expected, the thigh was nice and juicy at this temperature. Although we think that breast meat is ideally cooked to 165 to 170 degrees, it was still nice and juicy at this higher temperature and not at all dry, like birds that had been filled with room-temperature stuffing.

Although we were aware that trussing would slow down the roasting of the hens' legs and thighs, we knew we had to do something. With their fragile, loose frame, Cornish hens are unsightly with their dangling legs. Stuffing the birds further increases the need to close the cavity. We discovered that simply tying the legs together improved the look of our hens and secured the stuffing without impeding roasting.