Cornish game hens are a close relative to pheasant. This is an elegant but easy recipe for slow cooker Cornish game hens with Grand Marnier sauce. Perfect for a holiday dinner!
I had a built in “family” when I moved to England in 1984, attending college with Charles, whose family are farmers in Yorkshire.
I had spent time with them when I’d traveled around Europe after college. So on weekends, I’d travel up to North Yorkshire for shooting parties. Those were great times, usually about 12 of us would stay in the house, with its dozen bedrooms.
The men would shoot game during the day and the girls would accompany them. In the evening, we’d have drinks in the drawing room, with Smoked Trout Mousse , then supper in the dining room that seated 22. Later, we’d play parlor games. It was a magical, 1940’s PBS drama, kind of time. On quieter weekends, we would go rabbit hunting to thin the population. I learned how to shoot a shotgun and a rifle, and the difference between them.
Although both the rabbit and game population were completely safe from me, I did learn to love the taste of game. My flatmates in London were all barristers. Perry, whose family owned our flat, was the son of a lord. When he would return from his own shooting weekends on his estate, he’d bring back a few brace of pheasant for us. Before we could eat them, he would hang them in our garage until they were properly “gamey”. If I recall correctly, a week or so, was about right.
When it was time to actually prepare them, Perry would have to pluck and remove the shot from the birds. This is not generally a popular job, but since I knew I probably wouldn’t have many opportunities to learn how to prepare a game bird, I offered to help him. I remember sitting on stools in the garage, plucking pheasant feathers onto newspaper and chatting about life.
I prepared a couple of pheasant for a dinner party one evening using a recipe I had clipped out of the London Times. The recipe calls for marinating the birds in strawberries for a couple of days. I think game goes really well with fruit, so I’ve developed my own easier recipe, using oranges and the slow cooker.
It calls for Cornish game hens, which is pretty much the only “game” bird you can get outside of England, unless you have friends in game-bird country.
If you do ever get to eat real wild game, it is not unusual to get some shot in your meat, and completely appropriate to set said shot on your dinner plate. I serve these Game Hens with Cranberry Pecan Wild Rice.
Enjoy the Cornish game hens recipe.
- 2 Cornish game hens split down the back and flattened out to fit inside a large slow-cooker
- Zest and juice of one orange
- 4 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoons Grand Mariner
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Mix all the above ingredients together and put in a crock pot.
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Split the birds down the back and flatten them out and put in crock pot.
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Cook on high for about 3 hours.
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Remove birds from crock pot and strain the juices.
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Heat the remaining juice/marinade over a medium heat until reduced by half and slightly thicker. Remove from heat.
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Finish sauce by whisking in 3-4 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon of Grand Mariner.
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Finish birds by browning skin under broiler for a couple of minutes until the skin in golden brown.
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Spoon some sauce over each bird.
Christie - Food Done Light says
February 6, 2013 at 7:12 amWhat a great idea. I never thought to cook cornish hens in the crock pot. I love the addition of the Grand Marnier. Pinned this one to add to one of my Healthy Round Ups.
Tara says
April 6, 2014 at 1:42 pmThis meal looks like perfection!! I love that you cooked them in a crockpot and I love the rice recipe. Brilliant!!
Cynthia says
April 13, 2014 at 7:21 pmThanks Tara, I love using the crockpot! It makes every recipe practically foolproof!
Aunt Bee says
April 6, 2014 at 11:55 pmThis looks great! I love that you used the crock pot! <3
Cynthia says
April 13, 2014 at 7:21 pmThanks Brandi! I love my crockpot!
Nicole Neverman says
October 16, 2014 at 6:06 pmThank you so much for attending week 6 of #PureBlogLove and linking your fantastic blog post. This hen recipe looks delicious, Cynthia! I can’t wait to see what you have in store for our party next week Thursday 8 PM EST- Sundays at midnight . Your post has been added to the #PureBlogLove Pinterest board for all to see 🙂 Have a great day!
Nicole
http://picnicnz.blogspot.co.nz/
KC the Kitchen Chopper says
October 19, 2014 at 6:15 pmCynthia, I love your story. What a great adventure for you to reminisce about. Your recipe sounds delish. Love the orange. Thanks so much for sharing at #theWeekendSocial. You always make me hungry! Pinned. Hope to see you again Thursday 9:00 PM EST. http://www.theKitchenChopper.com
Lauren Kelly Nutrition says
November 22, 2014 at 1:32 pmI love that you cooked these in the slow cooker! Genius!
Cynthia says
November 23, 2014 at 4:14 pmI love the slow cooker as well Lauren!
Andi says
November 22, 2014 at 4:45 pmI love game birds – pheasant, quail and eat as much of it as possible when I go back to Europe – since you’re right Cornish game hen is about all we get! I also love rabbit, something I had never eaten until moving to France. Now we eat it all the time. Our local butcher makes and amazing rabbit pate that I could eat by the pound!
Cynthia says
November 23, 2014 at 3:18 pmAndi, I’m with you on pate! I LOVE it! I went to cooking school in San Francisco…probably not too far from you. I would love to track down some great pate!
amanda @ fake ginger says
November 22, 2014 at 7:57 pmThat sauce! It looks and sounds delicious!
sue/the view from great island says
November 23, 2014 at 7:12 amPerfect timing! I’ve been eying Cornish game hens at the store and getting so tempted to give them a try — this recipe has it all, from the Grand Marnier to the wild rice…sounds like a winner.
Cynthia says
November 23, 2014 at 3:19 pmThanks Sue! It’s so easy and would be great for a small family or an elegant dinner party. too.
April says
November 23, 2014 at 7:34 amsounds like a magical time!!! i ate a lot of cornish game hen in law school… but it was from the freezer section of my market and cooked in the microwave. LOL
Cynthia says
November 23, 2014 at 4:13 pmApril, it was a magical time! Ah, to be young and carefree again!
Heather | girlichef says
November 23, 2014 at 8:04 amI had to giggle when I read the PBS line – because that’s EXACTLY what I was thinking it sounded like. Ahhhh, dreamy… 😉 These cornish game hens sound lovely!
Cynthia says
November 23, 2014 at 3:19 pmHeather, I was a great time! I’m glad I realized it and savored the time rather than taking it for granted…I most assuredly DO NOT live in a PBS kind of world today!
estherjulee says
November 23, 2014 at 10:09 pmthat’s so cool that you got to experience the entire process. i don’t know if i have the stomach for plucking and removing the shots.. but i do love target shooting and have always wanted to try hunting. i imagine it’s so much more difficult. i was never really good at skeet shooting either with moving targets. 😛
Des @ Life's Ambrosia says
October 12, 2015 at 7:56 amWhat a gorgeous dinner! We don’t cook game hens that often but this makes me want to run out and get some right now!
Cynthia says
October 13, 2015 at 6:33 pmDes, they really are a pretty inexpensive meal. They are plentiful in my grocer’s freezer section right now. I think they also make a nice elegant meal for a small party.
Shashi at RunninSrilankan says
November 28, 2016 at 5:36 amI have so much “awe” for this recipe – first, cornish hens in a crockpot is simply brilliant! And – gosh – that Grand Marnier Sauce sounds so insanely delicious! I cannot wait to give this a try!
Marye says
November 28, 2016 at 8:41 amOh my gosh, this looks wonderful!
Shashi at RunninSrilankan says
February 9, 2017 at 7:19 amYour painted such a lovely picture by describing your evenings in England as ” magical, 1940’s PBS drama, kind of time”. And speaking of magical – wow – cornish hens in the slow cooker must taste anything but magical indeed!
Heather Kinnaird says
February 9, 2017 at 7:56 ammy kids LOVE game hens, it always made them feel special as littles that they got their own bird – but I never thought to make them in the slow cooker…what a great idea
Cynthia says
February 15, 2017 at 9:45 pmThank you Heather! They are so easy!
Maria says
February 9, 2017 at 8:53 amThis chicken is so moist! Perfect dinner.
Jordan Anderson says
February 9, 2017 at 12:56 pmI love the method of using the slow cooker for these. And that sauce recipe! I can already taste it in my head. Yum!
Cynthia says
February 10, 2017 at 4:58 pmThank you! It’s not only delicious, it’s easy too!
Florentina says
February 16, 2017 at 1:34 amThis looks so great! I love white meat, it is easy to digest and very tasty. Never tried it like this but I will try your recipe. Thank you for sharing it.
Wish a great day!
Greetings!
Flo from
https://femeieastazi.blogspot.it
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
February 16, 2017 at 3:22 pmThis dish looks amazing. The Grand Marnier is such a great flavor for the sauce! I love that the slow cooker will do the heavy lifting!
Christina | Christina's Cucina says
February 16, 2017 at 9:25 pmI don’t know why in the world I haven’t made this yet! An elegant dish that’s made in a slow cooker? That’s a major accomplishment, Cynthia! Great recipe and I love that it’s totally original. Good for you!!
fabiola@notjustbaked says
February 17, 2017 at 10:49 amI love these little birds! I never thought to cook it in the slow cooker, great idea!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
February 20, 2017 at 2:24 amI’ve never had game hens, but I have had (and loved) pheasant, so I bet I would love this!! It looks so delicious!
Cynthia says
February 20, 2017 at 10:03 amIt would totally work with pheasants!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
February 24, 2017 at 4:26 pmSuch a flavorful recipe!
Rebecca says
February 24, 2017 at 4:54 pmI love slow cooker entrees like this one! Thank you!