Brown Cornish hens in butter; remove from skillet and sprinkle a generous amount of Wild Bill's Meat Rub over entire hens and place in oven proof baking dish.  Melt apple jelly over low heat, set aside.  Add cornstarch to drippings in skillet, blending well, stir in apple jelly, wine, orange juice and salt.  Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened.  Pour sauce over hens; roast uncovered at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until juices run clear.  Arrange hens and orange rice on platter, cover with sauce and serve.

YIELD:   6 servings.

ORANGE RICE

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups diced celery and leaves           6 tablespoons chopped onion
1/2 cup melted butter                          2 cups long grain rice (Mahatma brand is my favorite inexpensive white rice)
1 teaspoon sea salt                            2 cups chicken broth less-sodium (prefer Swanson brand)
2 cups orange juice                         1/4 cup grated orange rind ( I use about 2 tablespoons)

Sauté celery and/or optional veggie medley below and onion in butter until tender; about 7 minutes for al dente.  Stir rice and salt into boiling chicken broth; cover and simmer 15 minutes.  Add orange juice, orange rind and sautéed vegetables.  Cover simmer for 5 minutes or until tender.

YIELD: serves 6

Recipe from The Adcock Family Traditions Cookbook circa 1997 with a few modifications.  Pix below of plated Cornish Hens with Orange Rice served on 07-07-13 with my bride doing the "Food Styling" for the pixs:

Above Cornish hen served with orange rice, orange sauce, asparagus spears , garlic bread and orange slices.  The Cornish hen was moist, juicy and succulent and would literally pull off the bone.  The orange sauce superbly complemented the Cornish hen and the orange rice. 

Click on below sequence thumbnail pixs taken on 03-28-09 for a larger view:

I cut the recipe back to two (2) Cornish hens which was a plenty for my bride and myself, however I kept the original recipe in tact for the orange sauce and will use the left over for something else later.  I cut the rice recipe in half also.   The side dish of asparagus spears  was excellent with the Cornish hens and orange rice sauce.  Both my bride and myself enjoy this recipe very much but it departs rather quickly from standard Anson County Southern cuisine!  One of my good friends Joye Waddell who is an outstanding cook stated I needed to truss the hens legs together for better eye appeal....I might do that next time...and I did grin for sure!

Bill aka Mickey Porter 03-28-09!

RECIPE MODIFICATIONS

I changed the orange rice recipe today by adding 2 cups of a veggie medley of diced yellow, green and red bell peppers and 1/2 cup diced onions instead of the celery.  I liked it much better.  I used Dry Sherry instead of Sauterne wine simply because I could not find any locally and had  Dry Sherry on hand. 

Web published updated pixs on 07-07-13.  

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE