Maple-Mustard Glazed Game Hens with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 Cornish Game Hens (about 12 ounces each)
1/4 cup Vermont Maple Syrup
3 tbsps. spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into medium-sized chunks

To make:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Begin by making the marinade for the game hens.  In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup, mustard, lemon juice, and olive oil.  Using a spoon, pour the marinade over each game hen, covering all sides in a thin layer.  Place the hens in a large roasting pan, side by side.  Fill the spaces along the sides of the pan with the chunks of sweet potatoes.

When oven is ready, place the roasting pan, covered, on the center rack, and roast the game hens and sweet potatoes for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Remove the cover and let roast for ten minutes more, to further crisp the skin of the birds and brown the sweet potatoes.  Take the pan out of the oven, let cool for ten minutes, and then, using a carving knife, cut each game hen into halves.  Place each half, and a heaping serving of the sweet potatoes, onto four plates.

This dish is a simple yet elegant meal for a casual autumn dinner party.  I recommend serving steamed green beans on the side, and a hearty Belgian farmhouse ale to drink, such as Great Divide Brewery's stellar Collette.