Holiday Sheet Pan Meal, Part 1

‘Tis the season to be stressed out. The past couple of years have really been a roller coaster, making holiday stress even more compounded. Tinged with more raw emotion than even the usual family gatherings, the idea of creating a feast seems harder to tackle from both a planning & execution phase and, for some, from a budgetary standpoint as well. 

No one can deny, however, once the food is made and the table set there is definitely comfort to be found in the food and traditions so this year, we wanted to create something both rooted in traditional flavors and foods but also much easier to execute AND clean up after with easy to find budget-friendly ingredients. Thus, here is Part 1 of our 2 Part Sheet Pan Holiday Meal. An entire meal which can be made on...you guessed it...sheet pans.

Even if you have to add a couple more pans for a larger crowd, this is an easy, nourishing, comforting meal that will check all the boxes, still feels a bit fancy and can be rounded out with offerings from other guests if necessary. It’s also the perfect size for a family of 3-4 as is.

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Sheet Pan Cornish Game Hens and Stuffing

Cornish Game Hens

Ingredients:

• 2 cornish game hens
• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp PRI Manuka Honey 100+
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary 
• 1 tsp rosemary 
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp oregano 
• ¼ tsp PRI Microplastic Free Flakey Sea Salt or 
• ¼ tsp pepper 
• 1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)

Stuffing

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sweet onion (finely chopped)
• 1 cup celery (finely chopped)
• 1 cup mushrooms (finely chopped)
• 4 cups toasted bread (cubed small)
• 4 tbsp butter 
• 1 tsp thyme 
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1 tsp rosemary 
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp pepper 
• ¾ cup vegetable broth (as needed)

Instructions:

1. The day before making, cube and toast your bread cubes for the stuffing. Spread out on baking sheet evenly, and bake at 225F for 30-40 mins until bread is dried out. Every 10-15 minutes move the bread around with a spatula.
2. Chop all your onions, celery, and mushrooms finely. 
3. Preheat the oven to 400F and prepare a sheet pan with with oil.
4. Place chopped onions, celery, and mushrooms with butter, salt, and pepper on the pan and spread it out so it bakes evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until well cooked and translucent.
5. While the vegetables are cooking, rinse and dry the cornish game hens, then trim the excess fat or skin.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients for the marinade except for the butter. Whisk until well combined. 
7. Once the vegetables are done cooking, remove from the oven. 
8. Add the bread cubes and seasonings/herbs to the vegetable mixture. Finish with the salt and pepper, butter, and mix until well combined. Then add 1/2 cup at a time of vegetable broth until it's your desired consistency.
9. Place hens, skin side down on a sheet pan and then lather in butter. Next, brush half the honey mixture over the hens. 
10. Place the hens and stuffing in the oven for 40-50 minutes. Half way through add the rest of the marinade to the hens. The hens should reach an internal temperature of 180.  Remove the stuffing if the toast begins to burn or decrease oven temperature to 275-300F and monitor closely.
11. Plate cornish hens on a bed of stuffing and enjoy!