Roast Cornish Game Hens with Roast Mushroom Dressing

This is a great meal that's as easy to make ahead as it is comforting to eat.  The Cornish Game Hens can be all but cooked in advance, the easy pan dressing can be assembled in advance too.  You can even go ahead and trim and oil the green beans the day before too!

Roast Cornish Game Hens with Roast Mushroom Dressing

Ingredients

• 8 Tbsp. butter, melted
• a few sprigs each of thyme, sage, and parsley (or any herbal combination you prefer), chopped
• 2-3 Cornish game hens
• 4 cloves garlic, 2 grated & 2 diced
• 2 lemons, wedged
• 1 baguette, torn int bite-sized pieces
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 8 oz. cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 1-2 cups chicken stock
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Serves 4 - 6 (half hen each)
Cook time: 1 hour 

Preheat oven to 400.  
Sautee onion, diced garlic, and mushrooms 2 Tbsp. butter until soft and the mushrooms have given up their water.  Salt & pepper, to taste.  Add 1 cup of stock to the vegetable mixture and allow to heat through.  In a large bowl combine torn bread, beaten eggs, and vegetable-stock mixture; bread should be thoroughly wet, but not sopping.  
Put dressing into greased roasting pan or large casserole dish.  Depending on how dry your bread is you may need more than 1 cup stock; also, while dressing is cooking check a few times to make sure your dressing is not too dry - add stock as needed.
Meanwhile melt the remaining 6 Tbsp. butter, grated garlic, and  half the herbs.  Remove any giblets/organs from game hens, flip onto breasts and cut out the backbone, then gently crack the breast bone so the hens lay relatively flat when flipped back over (breast side up).  Pour melted butter and herbs all over hens; salt and pepper, to taste.  
Gently set Cornish game hens on top of the dressing, spaced so they are not touching.  Put in oven and cook until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the birds (thigh) reads 165.  Once hens have reached 165 (this takes about 45 minutes), remove the hens from the oven and set aside to rest (don't forget to remove the lemon wedges before serving).  Since the dressing has been absorbing the drippings from the birds you want to make sure it is at 165 too.  Insert a thermometer into the dressing where the birds were and put dressing back into oven for the dressing to dry out a little and come up to a safe temperature (10-15 minutes).
Serve hens with dressing immediately.
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French Onion Soup
I have found that the key to that perfectly melted top is to make sure the mouth of your bowl and the piece of bread you use are roughly the same size.  That's why French Onion Soup has bowls of the same name - a narrow mouth.  You can also use little ramekins - they are the perfect size for a starter course and they have a smaller mouth than a regular-sized bowl.
Serves 4 - 6
Cook time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
4 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 sweet onions, sliced lengthwise (top to bottom)
4 yellow onions, sliced lengthwise
2 Tbsp. Calvados
1 cup dry white wine, such as chardonnay
8 cups beef broth
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire
2 bay leaves
 a few springs of thyme
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup Gruyere
4-6 slices crusty bread

Heat butter and olive oil in a medium to large pot over low heat; when butter is melted add onions.  Cook onions about 45 minutes or until they are all brown and caramelized.  Deglaze with Calvados, allow a minute or two for alcohol to cook off and then add the wine; again allow the alcohol to cook off.  Once there are no longer alcohol fumes coming from the pot, add the remaining ingredients.  This needs to cook, covered, for another 30 minutes minimum.
After at least 30 minutes of cooking, ladle soup into bowls, top with bread and cheese and broil until melted.