Description
You may not have considered cooking with canned pears, but the reality is, the juice that the fruit comes in is packed with flavor and is usually something that is just thrown away! Save the pears to serve as a nice dessert (who could say “no” to pears with vanilla ice cream?) The cornish hens will roast in the pear juice, which is then transformed into a savory garlic shallot sauce for dipping.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Split the cornish hens’ breast, then peel apart the body, exposing the backbone. Cut away each side of the hen, leaving the back bone (you can use this to make a nice poultry stock). Apply cooking spray to a large baking pan with raised sides, and place the cornish hen skin side up in the pan. Pour in all but ½ cup of the pear juice, garlic salt, pepper, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and the juices run clear.
To prepare the sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium high heat and add the olive oil, shallots, garlic and the pear juice. Simmer and continue stirring for 3 minutes.
When the hens are cooked, remove from the baking pan and set aside. Deglaze baking pan with water and remaining pear juice, scraping up all the good bits and add to the garlic shallot mixture. You should have a nice golden brown sauce that you can serve with your roasted cornish hens!
