This darling Rock Cornish hen when stuffed is quite enough to share it for meals for two ; best is to partially debone it ( just cut along the back of it and with a sharp paring knife and work the carcass away from the meat on both sides leaving the legs and wings bones in ( the little carcass bones makes for a tasty tiny pot of stock when adding some savories and simmer it ) .
For the stuffing make some small size croutons by cutting your choice of bread ( i like cheese sticks or swirls / or cheese loaf slices ) and get them in a mixing bowl : in a skillet add a little olive oil , a good dab of butter , add chopped sweet onion , 1 or 2 ribs of celery ( chopped ) , a shredded chunk of peeled celery root , 1-2 shredded cloves of garlic ; sautee until all softened then add diced green onion , fresh dill , fresh celery leaves and diced roasted red peppers ; roughly chop the ready-to-eat chestnuts ( 1 or 2 pouches as you like ) and mix it all , add s/p and if spicy is ok add some chili paste or flakes . Add to the bowl of croutons , crack 1 or 2 eggs and a dash of 3% milk , toss together .
Layer a good amount of stuffing over the spread-open bird and gather the hen together , use a skewer to secure it in place while you carefully truss it with butcher’s twine ; sprinkle some s/p and a whiff of paprika and get it nestled in a small roasting pan laid with parchment paper ; cover with foil and roast in the oven for at least 1 hr at 350 ; uncover and finish roasting for another 20 mins until crispy golden or like i did , make a glaze for it for these last mins. ( here i mixed black currant jam with a bit of ketchup and sweet Thai chili sauce and spooned it over )
Let it rest for a bit before cutting it and serve and since it is a little rich it goes well with a side of fresh salad 🙂