Heat up a pan and add butter. Add the chopped onions, 1/4 tsp salt, saute for 3 minutes. Add the bell peppers. Saute until golden. Heat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit or 218 degrees celsius. When the vegetables are golden, add ground cinnamon, cayenne pepper and 1/2 tsp salt, dates, raisins, parsley, sage and orange zest. Turn the heat off and mix well. Finally, mix in the toasted, processed almonds.

In a large bowl, break up cornbread. I’ll put a link below to my simple, quick cornbread recipe. You can definitely substitute store bought cornbread if you don’t have the time to make your own. Add the vegetables and chicken stock, enough to make everything moist. Taste and add more salt if you like.

For the spice paste, in a bowl, add ground cinnamon, ground ginger, garlic powder, smoked paprika, cayenne powder, ground turmeric and ground cumin. Mix in olive oil, about 1.5 tbsps, just enough to make a paste.

Before handling the chicken, cut up two pieces of twine to tie the legs of the hens. You don’t have to tie them, it just looks neater if you do.

Pat the hens dry and place them on a baking sheet. The paste has to go under the skin to really season the meat so gently put your finger underneath the skin all the way around the chicken. Rub the spice paste on both sides of the chicken and under the skin.

Use a teaspoon to fill the cavity with the cornbread stuffing. Tuck the wings under. If you’re using twine, tie the legs together in a simple knot. Cut off the excess twine.

Bake in the heated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 400 degrees and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Baste the hens every 20 minutes. After the first 20 minutes, there may not be enough liquid on the pan to baste the hens so you can drizzle a little olive oil on the chicken. The next time you take the hens out, there will be plenty of juices to spoon over the entire bird. Don’t use a brush because the spice paste might come off.

Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh to make sure the temperature is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly cover the hens with foil and rest for 15 minutes before cutting into them.

The golden brown deliciousness on the bottom of the pan has so much deep chicken flavor that it’s a shame to waste it. After you move the chickens to a serving dish, dab the excess oil off the tray. Scrape off the bits, put them in a pot with some chicken stock or water, bring to a boil and reduce down for an amazing gravy. You can use it right away or cool it and freeze it for another time.

As for the remaining stuffing, butter a baking dish and put the stuffing in. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 177 degrees celsius for 30 minutes. The orange flavor is intense, there’s texture from the nuts and raisins. It’s a very special stuffing that’s perfect for the holidays.

These are small birds and depending on how hungry you are, half a bird should be good per person especially if you have other sides. If the birds are tiny, then you’ll probably eat the whole thing. Wing pulls off easily, the skin is crispy and a little spicy from the cayenne. The sweet stuffing balances out the little heat from the hen. For those of you who don’t like heat, reduce the amount of cayenne powder. The meat is very soft. The dish looks impressive and I doubt you’ll get any complaints.