Ad: Orange-Ginger Chicken Marinade & Smoked Cornish Hen Recipe

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. We have really been enjoying our grill since it has warmed up and summer is just arriving, so we have at least three more months of great grilling ahead of us. If you’re following our grillin’ and chillin’ series we’ve already given you some great tips and even grilling cookbooks to keep the grill fun going all summer long. Today, we get to show you how versatile grilling can be. I stopped by my local Walmart to get Chewsy Kids ready for their summer road trip, and I picked up some Tyson Cornish Hens in the frozen section and a bottle of Kikkoman Soy Sauce to #Grill4Flavor and make an awesome chicken marinade. Buckaroo had talked about making some Cornish hens for weeks now (not on the grill) so it was already on my grocery to-do list…eventually. You really can cook everything from appetizers to desserts on the grill. Many times when people think of grilling or barbecue the first thing that comes to mind is meat…more specifically, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs, steak, etc. Well let’s step outside the box. Shall we? We aren’t strangers to Cornish Hens, but grilling them put us on to something new. We usually roast them with vegetables and serve them whole because they are so small.
So when #CollectiveBias challenged us to grill them, we were excited but we honestly didn’t know what to expect. Well the verdict is in and they are delicious! We are serving them up two ways for your viewing pleasure and we hope you will try them out with your own families while you’re grillin’ and chillin’ this summer. So make sure you get to Walmart and get your pack so you can try this recipe!
There are several methods you can use to grill Cornish Hens including “spatchcocking”. Have you ever heard of it? We didn’t do ours like that but I still thought it was really cool. We smoked our hens on aluminum beer bottles so we could get a beautiful, even golden color, and also to steam the chicken from the inside making it super tender. It worked like a charm! **NOTE: Use aluminum bottles. You will have a huge mess of glass fragments and exploding chickens if you try and use glass bottles. You’ve been warned.**
Orange – Ginger Chicken Marinade Ingredients:
2c. Kikkoman Soy Sauce
Juice of 2 lemons
1T fresh ginger, minced
Juice of half an orange (and the peel)
1 Onion, quartered
4oz. Light Brown Sugar
1tsp. Oyster Sauce
2Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
1/2c. Light Beer
1Tbsp. Chili garlic sauce
1Tbsp. Honey
5 sprigs of Thyme

1. Mix all ingredients in a large, clean bowl until combined. Place Cornish Hens in gallon freezer bag with zip seal and pour marinade over hens. Close bag tightly and let chicken marinate for two hours. Save these oranges and onions. Put them in an open foil pouch and add them to the grill when you cook for more aroma in your smoke.
Now on to these hens…
You will need:
4 Tyson Cornish Game Hens
2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
**Use salt sparingly if you desire. The marinade is plenty salty with the amount of soy sauce in it.**
4 Aluminum Bottles of Light Beer

1. Get your fire started. We use a chimney to light our grill. You want to maintain a temperature of about 200 degrees.You can buy an oven thermometer or a grill thermometer at your local hardware store if one isn’t already on your grill. Build your fire on one side of the grill because you will smoke the chicken on the other side. It’s the indirect heat that will cook them.
2. While your grill is coming up to temperature, remove the hens from the marinade and place them in a clean pan to season. You can discard the marinade or reserve it to make a sauce. 3. Mix the garlic powder, pepper, onion powder, and paprika and season the chicken including the inside of the cavity for grilling.
4. Pour half of the beer from each bottle and set aside (or serve it if you’d like).
5. Place each hen on top of a bottle about halfway up, enough to hold the bird steady on the grill. Remember to place them on the opposite side of the fire, not directly on it. 6. Close grill and smoke for 2 1/2 hours. 7. Remove hens from the grill with tongs and let them rest for about 15 to 20 minutes. Simply cut the hens like you would a larger chicken. Down the middle of the breast first, then separate the leg quarter. Cut and serve with your favorite barbecue sauce…and homemade potato wedges! Buckaroo says that’s the best side dish for barbecue. Add in some grilled veggies or a green salad and you’ll be set. If you’re feeling even more adventurous pull the chicken from the bones and try these smoked Cornish Hen wraps with citrus slaw! Ingredients:
Orange-Ginger Cornish Hens, pulled
Flour Tortillas
1Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2tsp. Dijon Mustard
1/4tsp. Honey
Juice of one Orange
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 Onion, thinly sliced
1/4 Red Bell Pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 c. Red Cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 c. Green Cabbage, thinly sliced

1. Warm tortillas up on the grill for three minutes.
2. Mix vinegar, mustard, honey, juice and seasonings in a bowl until combined.
3. Toss vegetables in mixture until evenly coated.
4. Remove tortillas from the grill. Top with pulled chicken, and slaw.
5. Enjoy!

You can get more delicious recipes by following Tyson and Kikkoman on Twitter. Send them a tweet and tell them where you saw these amazing recipes you can’t wait to try!

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Have you ever eaten Cornish Game Hens? How did you prepare yours?

M.W.A.H.,

Mandi