Brown Cornish hens in butter; remove from skillet and sprinkle a generous amount of Wild Bill's Dry 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; bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  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 uncooked regular rice
1 teaspoon sea salt                      1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 cups orange juice                   1/4 cup grated orange rind ( I use about 2 tablespoons)

Sauté celery and onion in butter until tender.  Stir rice and salt into boiling water; cover and simmer 15-17 minutes.  Add orange juice, orange rind and sautéed vegetables.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until tender.

YIELD: serves 6

Recipe from The Adcock Family Traditions Cookbook circa 1997.  Pix below of plated Cornish Hens With Orange Rice 03-28-09:

Above Cornish hen served with orange rice, orange sauce, asparagus spears with lime,  tossed salad, French garlic bread and white wine.

Below sequence pixs taken while preparing this meal.  Click on thumbnails 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 tie the hens legs together....I might do that next time...and I did grin for sure!

Bill aka Mickey Porter 03-28-09!