Trouble roasting Cornish hens

So sad! Picked up three 1.2 lb Cornish hens for Christmas Eve dinner with my family. (So tripled this recipe.)
Followed directions carefully. After the one and a quarter hour of roasting the juices still ran a little pink, and the temp in the thigh and breast was only 160, so I increased the oven temp to 400 and cooked another ten minutes. The juices seemed clear then, so we took everything out and let the meat rest.
In serving the meat, we noticed the lower half (the back) of the bird to be a dark red, and the plate had a pool of clear, red gelatinous fluid on it.
As we were unsure of its safety, we decided not to eat the meat. Or the vegetables that were sitting beneath the hens. Also, the vegetables were not yet tender.
What went wrong?!

• Posted by: Eliz
• December 25, 2018

• 3138 views
• 3 Comments

• undercooked vegetables
• undercooked meat
• Cornish hens