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Thanksgiving is right around the corner and if you are like me, you might be stressing out just a bit considering everything that needs to get done to put on a holiday meal for your family. I’ve cooked large scale holiday meals and mini holiday meals, and either way… it’s still a big time commitment. While I’ll be going all out this year, I wanted to share a much faster, simpler meal, in case you are cooking for a smaller crowd. Thanksgiving doesn’t always have to include turkey. Using Tyson® Premium Cornish Hens is actually a really nice change.

Over the years, I’ve had to figure out recipes for gourmet looking meals that really only looked fancy. I don’t normally have a lot of time for dinner preparations, but I always want my meals (whether they are for guests or just for my immediate family) to taste great and look like I put a lot of effort in. Trust me, it CAN be done. And it doesn’t have to cost a lot either.

Ralphs always has a great selection of poultry, some that you don’t normally find in other grocery chains. If you check out their freezer section, you will find goose, duck, and also Tyson® Premium Cornish Hens in both a single package and a double package. We even purchased patio chairs at Ralphs this summer. They always have fun stuff on top of the freezer aisles. Look up next time you go in and see what seasonal items they are selling.

So, let me explain exactly what a Cornish Hen is. Cornish chickens are usually large chickens bred in certain parts of English. A hen just means that it is a female chicken. Here in the U.S. we breed a cross between the Cornish chicken and Plymouth Rock chickens. These hybrid chickens grow very rapidly and are packaged when they are still young - 4 - 5 weeks. They typically weight between 2 - 5 pounds, whereas regular chickens are much larger and have larger breasts, hence produce more meat when cooked.

Cornish Hens might be a little intimidating until you realize they are just small chickens. Because these are frozen, they will need a decent amount of time to defrost. I put mine in the refrigerator for 24 hours and they still weren’t defrosted enough. I would make sure they are refrigerated for at least 48 hours and then set out to warm to room temperature prior to cooking.

The great thing about Tyson® Premium Cornish Hens are that they are 100% natural, have no artificial ingredients or preservatives, and no added hormones or steroids.

My entire dinner was so simple, but will definitely make an impact on your guests. I served the Cornish Hens with roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts - perfect for a weekday dinner or a special holiday event.

I started with the Cornish Hens.

Since I was preparing dinner for all 5 of us, I decided to use 4 of the hens. If you are doing a small meal for only a few people, it’s really lovely to make one per person because I just think the presentation is so fabulous. If you are cooking for a larger crowd, you can make a few of them and definitely cut them in half.

I patted the hens dry and set them in a baking dish. You can also use a roasting pan, just like you would a chicken or turkey. I planned on turning them over and really wanted them to sit in the juices as they cooked.

Four of them fit into my baking dish… that’s how small they are.

I wanted my dinner to have a lot of flavor and I love pairing poultry with fruit. For this recipe, I used apricot preserves and pitted dark cherries. I seasoned the hens with salt and pepper and then spread a generous amount of apricot preserves over them. I then topped it off with a can of the pitted cherries.

I didn’t add anything else to the pan since the apricot preserves will melt with the heat of the oven and will mix with the natural juices of the hens. At this point, you can either cover and store in the refrigerator, or cook in a 425 degree preheated oven.

I started cooking these at a high temperature for about 30 minutes, and then I turned the hens over and lowered the temperature to 350 degrees for another hour. Just because the hens are smaller than a regular chicken doesn’t mean they take less time to cook. I think this is what messes people up with these birds. Because they have little white meat (breast meat), the dark meat always takes longer. Go ahead and use a meat thermometer and make sure it registers 165 degrees F.

This shows you what each side looks like at that 30 minute mark when I turned them over to cook for another hour. Those dark spots aren’t burns… those are the cherries.

When your hens go back into the oven, you can prep your vegetables. So so so easy you won’t even believe it.

For the potatoes, I used the small, white potatoes because they tend to roast really well and have a very creamy texture to them.

Cut into fourths and roll around on an oiled baking pan. I use olive oil. Once covered lightly in oil, I seasoned them with seasoning salt. Roast them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. That’s it. Don’t fuss with them anymore. They will be creamy inside and crispy on the outside.

For the brussels sprouts, it’s just as easy. You can purchase whole sprouts this time of year, but in general you’ll find them pre-packaged, or cut in halves or fourths.

You might be thinking, “Ugh! I hate brussels sprouts.” Don’t knock ’em until you try them my way. I never liked them as a kid… I think because nobody ever really prepared them right. Brussels sprouts are pretty tasteless if you don’t jazz them up… and if you don’t cook them long enough, they are hard and difficult to chew. Last year at Thanksgiving we actually went out to eat at a fabulous restaurant called Jeremy’s in Julian, California. The chef made to-die-for brussels sprouts and I’ve been in love with them every since. He deep fried them and added ponzu sauce and they were delicious! I don’t deep fry mine, but they come out just as good.

I make sure to cut mine in quarters because the smaller the pieces, the faster they will cook and soften up. Spread them out on a cookie sheet covered in olive oil, similar to the potatoes.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, although I’d recommend checking every 10 minutes to make sure they aren’t burning. Go ahead and use a spatula to flip them over or shuffle them up a bit. Once they are fork tender, take them out and transfer to a bowl.

Give them a light toss with some salt and pepper, and then you’ll want to sprinkle some ponzu sauce over them and gently toss again. Ponzu sauce is similar to soy sauce, but it has added flavors of citrus (lemon and orange usually). You can make your own, but it is also sold by the bottle next to where you buy your regular soy sauce. Seriously… add the ponzu sauce and you will LOVE these brussels sprouts.

That’s it! It’s really that simple. You have yourself a gourmet meal that was so easy to prepare and really didn’t take much time at all. Your guests will think you are a fabulous cook (you are) and slaved over a hot stove all day (you didn’t).

If you are in Southern California, you can purchase Tyson® Premium Cornish Hens at Ralphs. If you have a Kroger near you, you’ll want to head over there. Sign up online at Kroger.com and you can digitally clip online coupons. You can also get a tally for how much you are saving. That’s a pretty awesome feature.

Check out more delicious recipes at Tyson.com.

What are you cooking for your holiday meal this year?