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Dinner Recipes

Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glazed Game Hens for a weeknight

With the holidays upon us, this Cranberry Raspberry Orange glaze recipe will go well with so many holiday dishes! We…

Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glaze Game Hens recipe & giveaway on UrbanBlissLife.com
Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glaze Game Hens recipe & giveaway on UrbanBlissLife.com

With the holidays upon us, this Cranberry Raspberry Orange glaze recipe will go well with so many holiday dishes!

Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glaze Game Hens recipe & giveaway on UrbanBlissLife.com

We don't make game hens often, but We love serving them for dinner with friends. They make such a beautiful, elegant meal!

This recipe calls for raspberry jam, but if you can find it in your freezer section, We suggest using Oregon Pourable Fruit. We love this stuff! We've used Oregon Pourable Fruit to make Berry Meringue Parfaits and in these refreshing Boozy Berry Smoothie Shots. They're a favorite ingredient of mine to use for impromptu late night bites too.

Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glaze + Game Hens

Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glaze Game Hens recipe & giveaway on UrbanBlissLife.com

This glaze is everything.

It's bright and zingy thanks to the citrusy orange; sweet from the Pourable Fruit raspberry puree; and slightly tart from the cranberries. It doesn't take quite long at all to make, either. This Cranberry Raspberry Orange glaze only takes about 10 minutes to thicken up before it's ready to use on your roast chicken, pork tenderloin, or in this case, roast game hens.

First, you make it with all of the glaze ingredients except for the raspberry and brush one coat onto your game hens before popping them into the oven. Then you add the raspberry Pourable Fruit into the glaze mixture (you do this later so that the higher sugar content doesn't burn up early on in the roasting process), and then brush another coat of the glaze onto the meat halfway through roasting.

Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glaze Game Hens recipe & giveaway on UrbanBlissLife.com

Glazed Game Hens

The recipe We am sharing makes two game hens, which truly can serve 2-4 people depending on how hungry you are.

By the way, there are two different game hens shown in these photos. One has a nice little char on the top of its skin, which We like because We love crispy skin, and one doesn't. Both are absolutely tasty thanks to the Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glaze!

Cranberry Raspberry Orange Glazed Game Hens

By Marlynn Schotland Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 20 mins Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Servings: 2 Beautiful, elegant, tasty fall dinner!

Ingredients

For the Glaze:

  • 1 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 cup cranberries
  • 1/2 cup raspberry jam (or Raspberry Oregon Pourable Fruit)

For the Game Hens

  • 2 game hens
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add orange juice, orange zest, and cranberries and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes.
  • Rinse game hens, remove giblets, and pat dry with paper towels.
  • Rub olive oil over both game hens.
  • Lightly salt and pepper.
  • Brush a light amount of the glaze (about 1/4 of the glaze) over each game hen.
  • Place hens on a roasting pan or on a shallow baking pan and roast for 25 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, add the raspberry jam or Oregon Pourable Fruit to the glaze in the saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes.
  • After the game hens have been in the oven for 25 minutes, brush the remaining glaze over both game hens. Return to the oven and roast for an additional 30-35 minutes, until hens are cooked and skin is golden and slightly crispy.
  • Remove from oven and rest on a plate for about 10-15 minutes before slicing into and serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 1368 kcal, Carbohydrates: 84 g, Protein: 79 g, Fat: 78 g, Saturated Fat: 19 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 14 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 38 g, Cholesterol: 455 mg, Sodium: 305 mg, Potassium: 1542 mg, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 59 g, Vitamin A: 892 IU, Vitamin C: 111 mg, Calcium: 93 mg, Iron: 5 mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Thanks to Oregon Fruit Products for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions and photos are the own.

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