Thanksgiving for Two...Cornish Hens With Orange Glaze & Cornbread Stuffing

If your plans were just cancelled and it's just the two of you for Thanksgiving, here's a quick and elegant dinner.  No fuss, no mess and lots of flavor.

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

1 large Spanish onion, sliced

2 Cornish hens

Cornbread Stuffing, recipe follows

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup orange marmelade


Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the sliced onion in the bottom of a roasting pan. Remove the giblets from the hens, and rinse them inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outsides dry. Place the hens on top of the sliced onion.

Pack the cavities of the hens with the cornbread stuffing.

Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the hens. Rub the hens with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast the hens for 25 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Glaze with orange marmelade and return to oven for another 15 minutes.

Cornbread Stuffing:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup yellow onion, chopped

1 cup chopped chestnuts

2 1/2 cups cornbread

1 celery stalk, diced

1/4 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the chopped chestnuts and sautee for another 2 minutes.Break the cornbread into pieces and place the pieces in a large bowl. Add the onion mixture to the cornbread. Add the chicken stock, parsley, salt and pepper, and mix together.