12 Days of Christmas Cooking Challenge: Day Three- Three French Hens

Perry Como singing The 12 Days of Christmas.  Because sometimes, Christmas should be delightfully laid-back.

And laid-back is exactly how I felt after making the following deliciousness.  Laid-back.  And full.  Very full.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me three French hens...


On the third day of Christmas, I made Stuffed Cornish Hens.
from Food.com
(serves 4)*

1 pkg long grain and wild rice mix
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbs butter, divided
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 4 oz can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
4 Cornish game hens
Salt
Pepper

Cook the rice according to the box directions.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Saute the celery and onion in 1 tbs butter until soft.

Combine celery and onion mix, cooked rice, soup, and mushrooms in a bowl.

Sprinkle salt and pepper both on and inside each hen.  Stuff with rice mixture, which is, by the way, extremely delicious.

Place in a greased roasting pan.  If you have a roasting pan with a rack, use that.  I do not.

Cover with foil or with the roasting pan's lid.  Bake for 40 minutes.

Melt the remaining 1 tbs butter.  Remove the foil/lid from the pan and brush the melted butter over the hens.  Bake for another 25-35 minutes, or until the temperature of the hens is 180 F and the stuffing is 165 F.

Let cool slightly, and enjoy!

*The original recipe calls for 6 hens, but I only made 4.  Since I still made the same amount of stuffing, I had some left over.  I baked that along with the hens in a separate Corningware dish and had it on the side.  Excellent, excellent idea.

... two turtledoves...


... and a partridge in a pear tree.