Celebrating 2018 with Tiny Stuffed Birds

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone! For my special holiday meal, I decided to fill two Cornish hens with a wild rice stuffing and glaze them with something fruity. Of course, the tradition is to eat things that have lots of small pieces on New Year's Day to symbolize coins or acquiring wealth in the coming year--usually black-eyed peas--but why not grains of rice and a side of green peas?

This was my menu:
Sriracha Deviled Eggs
Cornish Hens with Chorizo and Wild Rice Stuffing
Lemony Green Peas
Brownie Macadamia Sundaes

For the stuffing, I used two boxes of Near East Long Grain and Wild Rice. In the IP liner, I sautéed a large chopped onion, two chopped stalks of celery, and two minced cloves of garlic in two tablespoons of butter with two links of chorizo, casing removed and chopped. When the veggies were tender, I added a tablespoon of poultry seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper to the mixture. I poured in the two boxes of rice, the seasoning packets, and three cups of water. I cooked this on manual for six minutes, then let it release naturally. I cooled the rice stuffing before filling the cavities of the two hens. I put the excess stuffing in an 8x8 baking dish and covered it with foil.

After filling the hens, I trusted them with kitchen twine. I smeared the tops with softened butter and sprinkled them liberally with an herb seasoning blend. I baked them at 350 for about an hour and fifteen minutes until a meat thermometer told me they were done. About 20-30 minutes before that, I glazed them with a mixture of 1/2 cup orange marmalade, a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and a squeeze of sriracha. I also put the extra pan of stuffing in the oven at the same time as I glazed the little birds.

For the peas, I steamed a large bag of frozen green peas for two minutes in the IP, then stirred in two tablespoons of butter, a tablespoon or so of Italian vinaigrette, a half teaspoon each of granulated garlic and lemon pepper, and the juice of a small lemon.