Brined Cornish Hens - Wendi's AIP Kitchen (2024)

Brined Cornish Hens

Course: Holiday, MainCuisine: AIP, Paleo, HolidayDifficulty: Difficult

Ingredients

• 1gallon water

• 1 C. Kosher salt

• 1 onion, sliced

• 2 Cornish hens about 1.5 pounds each,not injected with anything

• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 T. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

• 1 t. fresh thyme leaves

• 1 T. balsamic vinegar

• 1/4 C. freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1 t. sea salt

• 1/2 t. pepper (omit for elimination phase of AIP)

• 1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil

Directions

• Into a large pot, pour the water and Kosher salt. Heat and stir until salt has dissolved, and the water is clear. Take off the heat and let coolcompletely.
• Four and a half hours before you want to serve, remove wrapping and any bags of organs from the cavity of each bird. (You may want to do this in the sink.) With kitchen shears, cut along one side of the back bone of each bird, and up the center of each breast to make four halves.
• Place the birds in the container you located (above). Pour the cooled salt water over the birds. The birds must becompletely submerged. If the birds are floating up, you can put a weight on them, such as a plate, to keep them under the water, or you may even need to make more salt water! It all depends on your container. Now, put the entire mess into the fridgefor two hours, and let those babies soak up the salt water. (The salt will loosen the protein molecules, the meat will retain liquid much like we do when we’ve eaten a lot of salt, and the whole thing will be tenderized. Yes, this is why we’re taking all this time and effort to brine those little beauties.)
• After the hens have had a nice long bath, take them out of the fridge. Spread your onion slices in the bottom of a 9 X 12 baking dish. Pat the hen halves dry with a paper towel. Nestle them side by side atop the onions in the pan. Let them sit on the counter for 45 minutes to an hour to come to room temperature. Meanwhile: 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
• In a bowl, combine garlic, rosemary, thyme, vinegar, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper (if using). Gradually whisk in olive oil. Set aside.
• An hour and a half before you want to serve, pre-heat the oven to 350º. Liberally apply some of the mixture to the birds with a brush or spoon. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Baste again with the mixture. Bake another 15 minutes. Continue baking and basting at 15-minute intervals until the internal temperature of the thickest meat reaches 180º. This will take about one hour and 15 minutes.
• Serve! (Remember to save the bones for broth.). Pat yourself on the back for all your hard work! Seriously. That was a lot. 😅