Another complete chicken recipe that I like to make may not be chicken at all. Well I’m sure it is, but they certainly are priced differently. A Cornish hen is a wonderful one-portion meal. And if prepared right, it can be much tastier than your average chicken. There is something about the young age and small size that makes the meat so much more flavorful. I’m sure it really is a chicken with a fancy name. I only know how to cook; I leave the name to the grocery stores.
Whatever you want to call them, Cornish chickens stuffed with chorizo and cornbread are a food for all ages. It’s like a super miniature Thanksgiving. My favorite part about this meal is that a little goes a long way. Although game chickens can be a bit expensive, it is an unspoken rule that there is only one per person. So you don’t need to buy a lot of ingredients to make the filling. Each bird is filled with about 1 cup of stuffing mix.
Game Hens Stuffed with Chorizo and Corn Bread
If you can’t find game chickens, just pick a few small chickens. Well, you know what I mean. For the game chickens I make one per person, if you are buying regular chickens you might choose ½ chicken per person. After grabbing the chickens, get a box of cornbread mix, a packet of chorizo sausage (1 pound), a red onion, some garlic, and a jalapeño pepper, a can of chicken broth, a couple of lemons and a little olive oil. Salt and pepper are essential. Make sure to grab some if your closet is empty.
To make the filling, prepare the cornbread as directed. Once done, you can set it aside to cool. Next, brown the chorizo in a pan with 1 minced onion and 4 minced garlic cloves. Make sure to keep the sausage chunks relatively small and don’t worry about draining the fat. After the sausage is almost fully cooked, chop the jalapeno pepper and place it in the mixture. You’ll want to add a little salt and pepper at this point. While it’s done, crumble the cornbread in a bowl. When the sausage mixture is done, pour it directly into the filling mixture and stir. When cool enough to touch, add about ½ can of chicken broth. We want this mixture to be moist, as if you are making meatballs.
Let it cool down and store it in the fridge for about an hour. When stuffing anything, you need to make sure you don’t contaminate your food. Putting hot stuffing on a bird can cause bacteria to grow. Make sure the stuffing is cold before you put it on the birds. When you’re ready to stuff, just roll into a ball, the size of a baseball, and fill the internal cavity of the birds. I wouldn’t worry about this filling falling out, we’re not going to twist and turn the birds a lot. Rub your birds with salt, pepper, and a little olive oil.
Cut your grill over medium heat and take out your birds. Put them chest down for about 10 minutes just to get a good color on them. When you flip them, cut your grill to medium-low and close the lid. These should cook for about an hour straight. If you think the grill is too hot, you can always monitor it. Otherwise, let them cook. To serve, just squeeze some lemon juice on the birds and go for it!
