Bacon Wrapped Cornish Hen in a Red Wine Reduction

I'll admit something, I don't know what it is, but I absolutely adore cornish hens. I think it has something to do with how small they are, and how easy it is to make a meal for two people with a whole bird. (Try doing that with a full chicken…)
I also love how much you can do with a baked chicken dish - it's limitless. Hell I've even made a cornish hen for my cat's birthday cake. (Yeah I'm not joking…)

Moving on, I'd like to introduce the following dish:

Bacon Wrapped Cornish Hen in a Red Wine Reduction

Main:

• Cornish Hen
• Tooth Picks (3, Rinsed)

Sauce:

• Baby Bella Mushrooms (1/4 Cup, Chopped)
• Onion (1/2, Minced)
• Butter (2 Tablespoons)
• Red Wine (Merlot, 1 Cup)
• Thyme (1 Teaspoon)
• Garlic Powder (1/2 Teaspoon)
• Salt (To Taste)
• Pepper (To Taste)
• Cornish Hen Stock (4 Tablespoons)

Cornish Hen Wrap:

• Baby Bella Mushrooms (3 Mushrooms, Thinly Sliced, Save the the Stems)
• Apple Wood Smoked Bacon (3 Slices)
• Cloves (4 Whole)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit. 
• Put the Cornish Hen in a large pot of water, and bring to a slight boil. Cook until the Hen is 50% done. (Only pink in the middle.)
• Put all the Sauce ingredients together in a sauce pan and cook until reduced by half. 
• For the Cornish Hen Wrap, you'll be placing the Hen in a baking dish, and carefully lay the sliced Mushrooms on the top of the Hen. 
• Place the four Cloves evenly on each corner of the Hen, inserting through the Mushrooms. Take the remaining stems from the Mushrooms and insert into the Hens cavity. 
• Carefully wrap the Bacon on top of the Cornish Hen, tucking the sides under as best as you can. If necessary you can help secure the bacon by inserting the Toothpicks as a placeholders. 
• Take half of the sauce and poor over the Hen. Making sure that the pan has a sufficient amount of liquid in it. 
• Bake for about 60 minutes, or until the chicken is done. 
• Plate and enjoy!

This dish seems labor intensive when you're reading the instructions, but I promise it's not. It's a set it and forget it type of meal once you prep for it, and everything flows together. 

The bacon helps keep the bird moist, and the apple wood smoked flavoring seeps into the hens meat. The sauce brings all of the flavors together and adds a bit of robust flavoring. I imagine a more delicate white wine would make the hen pop for a summer dish bringing out more lighter fruit flavors - I personally prefer the robust and rich flavoring of this pairing. 

I think the biggest testament though is when Ricky eat's the whole thing. To me nothing speaks louder than an empty plate. Honestly and truly if there's one thing I can count on it's that Ricky will always be honest about a dish - after all I never live down the disastrous Peanut Butter Chicken recipe I made one time… So for Ricky to finish a dish, it means I'm doing something right. 

I also find that the French flair of cooking has more heart in every meal because each of the ingredients is paired harmoniously with one another - neither steps above another in this dish. 

I don't want to get to sentimental here over a damn Cornish Hen, so I'm just going to say this: try this, and let me know what you think!

If you didn't do a cornish hen, then what is your favorite bird to cook? (Don't say Turducken…)

See you all tomorrow!