Duos of Stuffed Cornish Hens, With Fennel and With Pear

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The look for these pairs of stuffed birds gives you options: The fennel stuffing builds connected the sharp, licorice-like spirit of fennel portion the pear stuffing offers the lukewarm sweetness of blistery toddy ingredients of Calvados and honey.

Use caller Cornish hens erstwhile you tin find them, oregon defrost frozen ones overnight successful the refrigerator. Remove immoderate giblet packets oregon escaped pieces from wrong the birds, immoderate of which tin beryllium reserved for making broth. It is adjuvant to person an instant-read thermometer to cheque doneness; beryllium definite to insert the probe into the nutrient alternatively than the stuffing.

To work the accompanying story, see: Cooking done tears helped maine provender my dying father. It sustained me, too.

All the vegetables for the stuffings tin beryllium prepped and cooked a time successful advance, but the pears.

Adapted from Mireille Grangenois, wide manager of NPR affiliate WEAA-FM astatine Morgan State University successful Baltimore, who is penning a postulation of essays astatine CookingWithTears.com.

Ingredients

measuring cup

Servings: 4-8

For the fennel-stuffed hens

1 lemon, chopped successful half
2 Cornish hens (1 1/2 to 2 pounds each; spot headnote)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 spoon oversea salt, positive much arsenic needed
1/8 spoon freshly crushed achromatic pepper, positive much arsenic needed
1 ample oregon 2 tiny shallots, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 ample bulb fennel, cored and chopped (tough outer furniture removed; astir 1 1/2 cups total)
1 ample clove garlic, minced
Leaves from 2 stems caller thyme, chopped (1 1/2 teaspoons)

For the pear-stuffed hens

2 Cornish hens (1 1/2 to 2 pounds each; spot headnote)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 spoon oversea salt, positive much arsenic needed
1/8 spoon freshly crushed achromatic pepper, positive much arsenic needed
3 teaspoons unsalted butter, positive much arsenic needed
1/2 mean yellowish onion, diced
1/2 steadfast Asian pear oregon tiny Bosch pear, cored and diced (no request to peel)
1 ample rib celery, diced
1 spoon caller sage, chopped
1/2 cupful cooked/packaged herbed stuffing, prepared to bundle directions, utilizing chickenhearted broth alternatively of h2o (less than 1/4 bundle stuffing premix uncooked)
2 tablespoons Calvados oregon different good brandy
2 teaspoons guava jelly (may substitute 4 teaspoons wildflower chromatic oregon different mild variety)
Juice of 1/4 lemon

Nutritional Facts

Per serving (for the fennel-stuffed hens, based connected 4)

Calories
450
Fat
34 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Carbohydrates
6 g
Sodium
640 mg
Cholesterol
170 mg
Protein
30 g
Fiber
2 g
Sugar
3 g

This investigation is an estimation based connected disposable ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s oregon nutritionist’s advice.

Adapted from Mireille Grangenois, wide manager of NPR affiliate WEAA-FM astatine Morgan State University successful Baltimore, who is penning a postulation of essays astatine CookingWithTears.com.

Tested by Diana Maxwell.

Published June 11, 2018

Updated March 16, 2026