It’s that time of year again… you know, that time before it’s socially acceptable to stuff yourself full of homemade Thanksgiving food, but after you’ve realized you aren’t getting any of the classes you wanted for next semester. Cooking with Bwog is here to help with a warm, delicious recipe to keep the cold at bay.

Lemon and Herb Cornish Hen

Ingredients:

• 1 Cornish hen
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• one small bunch thyme
• a few sprigs of rosemary
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 sweet potato
• handful of brussels sprouts
• 1 red onion

Preheat oven to 450. Take the hen out of the package and remove the giblets (the stuff inside the plastic bag). Unless you’re making stock or gravy in your dorm room, you can throw them away. Put the hen in a roasting pan. Squeeze some lemon juice inside, and stick in some herbs. Loosen the skin from the breast and place some thyme and rosemary under the skin on top. Squeeze more lemon over the bird. Stick your peeled garlic cloves around the hen, inside it or around it. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine or some thyme, if possible. Pour a small amount of olive oil over the bird and rub in, then season well with salt and pepper.

Put the hen in the oven while you prepare the vegetables. Quarter the onion, remove the outer leaves of the sprouts, and slice the sweet potato into 1/2 inch disks. Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt.

Arrange the veggies in the same pan as the hen, trying to lay everything in one layer if possible. Roast for about 50 minutes. The hen’s skin should be a crisp golden brown, the sweet potatoes should be starting to caramelize, and the hen should be completely cooked through.

Serve with cranberry sauce!