I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a Cornish Game Hen. Probably back in my hotel days, somewhere, and probably left over from a banquet. One of the Hyatts I worked in served a lot of them for banquets. It was super-easy to do 500 or a thousand of them for a meal – and more trouble than they’re worth to cook one. At least, that was my theory back then. Cooking one, tonight, was really easy. Times and attitudes change.

I’m really not sure why I had such a reluctance to buying them – other than they cost a lot more than their chicken cousins – but an impulse-buy at the grocery store the other day had me figuring out a simple recipe in no time.

One thing that surprised me a bit was the size. Granted, I haven’t had one of these things in years, but they seemed bigger to me. I always remembered them being a one-per-person bird. Half of one of these was more than I could handle. I know we’re eating less nowadays, but, still – this guy was pretty big even by our pig-out standards.

I decided simplicity was the way to go, so I gathered together some leeks, tiny potatoes, and carrots and layered them in a pan with olive oil, garlic powder, and some Tuscan seasoning. The birds got the same treatment and went on top.

I poured some white wine into the pan and it all went into a 350°F oven for just under an hour.

Total no muss/no fuss. The hens were tender and juicy, and the vegetables definitely benefited from being under the cooking birds. Lots of flavor.

I don’t think they’ll be a part of the regular rotation, but I can see myself picking up another one one of these days.