Sometimes you don’t have a big crowd for the holidays. It’s nice just to have an small gathering. I love using these Cornish hens. They are basically mini chickens that come out really juicy and take 2 hours tops to cook. I don’t usually cook with chicken gizzards so this was a first for me. I have to say it did add a nice richness to the dish. We loved this and will be making another one for sure! The rice does make a ton so probably enough for 4 Cornish hens. I just frozen in smaller portions and take out when we need an additional side dish.
Tyson® Creole Cornish Hens with Rice Dressing
(Adapted from Tyson)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Serving Size: 4-8
4 Tyson® Cornish Hens
1 stick butter, room temperature, unsalted
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon creole seasoning
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon paprika
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Remove Cornish Hens from package, rinse well, pat dry.
Coat with butter, olive oil, and spice blend.
Coat well and bake at 425 degrees for 50 minutes-1 hour, basting with pan juices every 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to rest.
For the Rice Dressing:
1 lb ground chicken
1 small pack of chicken gizzards
1 cup gizzard juice
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bunch of green onions
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Rinse chicken gizzards and add to a stock pot, cover with water, cook over medium heat for about 1 1/2 hours, adding more water if needed.
You will need to reserve 1 cup of gizzard cooking liquid.
While gizzards cook, in a medium pan, add olive oil and heat over medium-high heat, add bell peppers, onions, and celery.
Sauté for about 5 minutes then add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add ground chicken, break up, add seasonings and sauté until browned and cooked through.
Turn chicken-vegetable mixture off the heat and set aside.
When gizzards are fork tender, remove from heat, drain, reserving gizzard liquid.
Add gizzards to a food processor and chop lightly.
Add chopped gizzards to chicken-vegetable mixture and heat over medium heat, mix well. Add gizzard cooking liquid.
For the Rice Dressing Seasoning Blend:
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
For the Rice:
3 cups long grain rice, dried
4 1/2 cup chicken broth, low sodium
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
Add chicken broth to a large rice pan, bring to boil.
Stir in rice, cover, reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes, remove from heat, allow rice to steam 10 minutes more.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl, add rice a little at a time until enough rice has been added and mixture remains moist. You may not need all the rice.
Add chopped parsley and mix well.
Check seasonings.
To Assemble:
Place rice dressing onto a platter and top with Cornish Hens.
You can slice Cornish Hens in half prior to serving.
