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Tangerine Hens

Roasted Cornish game hens stuffed with tangerines, onions, mushrooms, and pecans, flavored with orange juice, wine, and honey.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Tangerine Hens

Oven325°F
Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Optionally rinse the hens and pat them dry.

  2. Mix the wine, soy sauce, salt, honey, and orange juice together.

  3. Rub 1 tbsp butter inside each hen.

  4. Sprinkle the cavity with salt.

Stuff and sauce

  1. Mix the onion, garlic, pecans, mushrooms, and tangerines together.

  2. Stuff each hen with this mixture.

  3. Heat the liquid mixture until it begins to boil.

  4. Turn off the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.

  5. Pour 2 tbsp of this into each hen.

Roast

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F, then bake the hens for 45 minutes.

  2. Baste every 10 minutes with the liquid mixture.

  3. Test the birds; if not done, cook until done.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

345Calories
6 gProtein
14 gFat
48 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Honey1 tbsp (21g)64
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Pecan1 half (4g)20
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Tangerinenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Wine + mushroomtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,632 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  3. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Tangerine + orangetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  5. Butter + pecanstop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,416 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cornish game hens
Provide the main protein; their small size cooks quickly and stays moist when basted.
Butter
Adds fat that carries flavor and promotes browning on the skin.
Orange juice
Adds acidity and sweetness that balance the richness and help build the glaze.
Honey
Adds sweetness and helps the basting liquid caramelize and brown.
Pecans
Add crunch and nutty richness to the stuffing.
Tangerines
Add bright citrus aroma and acidity to the stuffing.

The step that matters

Basting with the liquid mixture. The sugars in the honey and juice brown and can scorch if the glaze is over-reduced or the oven runs too hot. Basting every 10 minutes keeps the skin moist and evenly colored.

Swap the tangerine

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (orange, wine, butter, onion, mushroom, pecans, sauce):

  1. Grapefits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Avocadofits better
  4. Tangerinethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against orange, wine, butter, onion, mushroom, pecans, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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