Game Hens with Cranberry, Chipotle, Adobo Sauce

These game hens were a hit in our family for an early Thanksgiving Celebration 

The hot, sweet, smoky sauce is a delicious variation from the traditional turkey with stuffing, during the holidays.

Ingredients

4 large game hens

4 Tablespoons butter, softened

3 strips of bacon fried and crumbled with drippings reserved

2 or 3 Chipotle Chilis
and
4 Tablespoons juice from a small can of Chipotle Chilis in Adobo Sauce.

1/3 cup lime juice

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup Red Wine

1 cup honey

1/2 cup onion chopped

1 cup cranberries

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Fry bacon and reserve drippings in pan.  Saute onions in drippings until tender.  Add all of remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes, or until cranberries are tender.  Blend ingredients together (the first time I made this, I didn't blend the sauce... you can tell by the picture.  It was still tasted wonderful, but it looked so much prettier the second time I made it when the sauce was blended together).

Prepare game hens for baking by rubbing each one with softened butter and salt and pepper.

Place on roasting pan, and roast about about 20 minutes.  

Remove hens and baste with juice.  Drizzle with sauce and return to oven  for approximately 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees.

Remove from oven, baste with sauce and drippings from pan . Let hens rest about 10 minutes.  

Cut your birds in half (or serve whole for a hungry man) and place on serving platter. Garnish with  crumbled bacon and herbs .

Serves 4- 8

Bon Appetite