Butterflied Cornish Hens Rubbed with Lemon Garlic Butter (Gc)
Submitted by brendasym
Grilled butterflied Cornish hens rubbed with lemon garlic butter and ancho chile. Crispy skin, smoky flavor, and ready in under an hour for an elegant weeknight dinner.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
20 minREADY
60 minThere’s something undeniably impressive about serving a whole Cornish hen to each guest, and butterflying them makes grilling fast and foolproof.
These little birds get a kiss of ancho chile before hitting the grill, then a generous slather of homemade lemon garlic butter the moment they come off.
The lemon juice gets reduced down to a syrupy concentrate before blending with butter and fresh garlic. That concentrated citrus punch cuts right through the richness and makes every bite sing.
Serve these with grilled corn and a cold beer, and you’ve got yourself a backyard feast that looks like you hired a caterer.
Chef Tips
- Reduce the lemon juice slowly until it’s thick as honey. This concentrated syrup is the backbone of the compound butter.
- Let the compound butter come to room temperature before rubbing it on the hot birds. It melts into every crevice.
- Grill skin-side down first with the lid on for even cooking and maximum crispiness.
- A meat thermometer reading 165F in the thickest part of the thigh means they’re done. Don’t guess.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare a wood or charcoal fire and let it burn down to embers.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the lemon juice to a boil and reduce to the consistency of honey.
Set aside In a food processor, blend the lemon syrup and garlic with the butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Reserve.
Brush the hens with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Sprinkle with the ancho chile powder and grill skin side down over medium low heat, covered, for 15 minutes.
The skin should be brown and crispy.
Turn the hens over and cook an additional 5 minuets or until done.
Remove from the grill and rub them generously with the room temperature Lemon Garlic Butter.
Comments




It would be nice to have a conventional oven recipe for those times when a outdoor fire is not possible, yes?