A few years ago, C and I got in the routine of roasting a chicken every Sunday. While we don't do it every weekend anymore, a roasted bird is still a fairly common Sunday night dinner. Today, after browsing the meat department, we decided on roasted cornish game hens.
Here are the hens ready for the oven...
My usual preparation is a simple garlic-thyme-butter. For two hens I make a paste of 1 tbsp softened butter, 1 clove minced garlic, minced fresh thyme (or any other fresh herbs you have on hand), salt and pepper. The paste is simply slathered on the skin and then the hens are roasted in a 400° oven for 1 hour.
Despite the name, game hens are not game birds at all... they're actually a typical chicken that is just slaughtered at a young age. For that reason they command a higher price, but they are still quite affordable.