The Tasty Table: Orange-Ginger Glazed Cornish Hen with Baked Parmesean Asparagus

Tonight's dinner was a very intimidating meal for me. The last time I dealt with a full chicken was basically never. I tried one time and was so bothered that it looked like a chicken I ended up quitting before I started. So this time I decided maybe I should work with a smaller sized chicken and face my fears!

Tonight was full of firsts for me. I handled a full chicken body, skinned the chicken and halved the chickens. Now they say one Cornish Hen is a serving. We thought that 1/2 was a good portion for us personally. You purchase them in a 2 pack so we have leftovers tomorrow! Also I'm not sure if you can purchase the hens halved and skinned but I think I will check on that when I make this again. I'm not the best at skinning, and halving the hens.

The general consensus about this meal was DELICIOUS! The hens were moist, tender and very flavorful. The asparagus was a light side with the perfect amount of flavoring provided by the baked parmesan cheese! We loved this meal and while it took a little longer to make since I had to skin, trim, and halve the hens it was still easy!

My experience with skinning, trimming and halving the hens was actually wonderful. My sweet husband took pictures for me. He also helped talk me through some of the process I was unsure about. I also needed him to show me how to half a hen...

Here is my first look at the hen....I was really questioning if I could do this

It didn't take long for me to figure out the sink is a much better place to skin the hen

SKINNED!

Orange-Ginger Glazed Cornish Hens

Fresh orange juice from 2 large oranges
Zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons corn starch
2 Cornish Hens; Skinned and halved
Cooking Spray
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Prep: 45 minutes (including skinning, trimming and halves)
Cook: 29 minutes

1.Preheat Oven to 475

2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add to juice mixture in a pan, stirring consistently.

Here is the juice mixture before I added the corn starch

After adding the cornstarch mixture in. You can see how nicely the glaze is thickening up

3. Place hen halves, meaty side up, on a foil lined jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray; Sprinkle halves with salt, pepper and ground ginger.

Here is the seasoned halved hens waiting for the glaze

4. Pour juice mixture over hen halves, making sure to cover all meat with the glaze. Bake at 475 for 25 minutes.

Ready to go in the oven!

5. After the Hen halves come out of the oven, cover and let them rest while you are baking the asparagus.

Finished Product!

Baked Parmesan Asparagus

1/2 lb of Asparagus, washed and ends removed
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Prep: 2 minutes
Cook: 5 - 8 minutes

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Toss asparagus in olive oil, salt, and pepper.