My kids had always wondered about those tiny little chickens- Cornish Game Hens or Guinea Hens are the actual terms. I had always secretly wondered too. I grew up eating partridge (no pear trees where I lived, though!) and I wondered if they'd be the same? Grandma cooked an amazing meal with partridge. She'd set three or four of them in her big pot and dump cans and cans of cream of celery and cream of chicken soup over the top and cook them slowly in the oven. Absolutely delicious!! But, wait.... Our family can't eat the wheat/gluten or the dairy in those canned soups, so I set off on a recipe search and hoped it wouldn't flop on our family Thanksgiving.
No flopping at all. The kids were delighted to see such a silly little chicken and as a treat we got them each one (this wasn't cheap, but it was worth it for them to "explore" their own meal and we got leftovers out of the deal!). As adults, my husband and I were pleasantly surprised at how tasty these birds were when prepared as directed in this recipe. Note: I followed the recipe, but I found it took about 40 minutes LONGER for mine to cook than they had suggested. Maybe mine were larger? Maybe they were too crowded on the baking pan? Not sure why, but thought I should warn you in case you planned on making these on a strict timeline.
If you missed the link above, click on the picture below to go to the recipe: