- 2 (1 1/4 pound) Rock Cornish hens
- 12 small red thin-skinned potatoes (each about 2-in. diameter), scrubbed and quartered
- 1/4 cup dry white wine or apple juice
- 2 tablespoons Safeway SELECT Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
- Thyme sprigs
- Salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Remove and reserve Cornish hen necks and giblets for other uses. With poultry shears or a sharp knife, split each hen in half, cutting along backbone and breastbone. Rinse hens and pat dry.
- Place hens, skin side up, in a shallow 10- by 15-inch baking pan; scatter potatoes, cut side down, around hens. Bake in lower third of oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together wine, mustard, honey, and chopped thyme.
- Baste hens liberally with mustard mixture. Continue to bake, basting liberally about every 5 minutes, until potatoes are tender when pierced and meat near thighbone is no longer pink; cut to test (about 15 more minutes).
- To serve, place one hen half and a fourth of the potatoes on each of 4 individual plates; garnish with thyme sprigs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.