Stuffed Breast Of Guinea Fowl Caramelized In Hydromel Wine Recipes

POT-ROASTED GUINEA FOWL WITH SAGE, CELERY AND BLOOD ORANGE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove any excess fat from the cavity of each guinea fowl. Wash thoroughly inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the cavity with a little salt. Cut off the two ends of the oranges, stand them on end and carefully slice off the skin (once you have removed one piece of skin you can see where the flesh meets the skin). Slice the oranges into five or six rounds each. Remove the tougher outside ribs of the celery until you reach the white, dense bulb and slice across thinly.
• Put in a bowl, mix in the thyme and a small pinch of salt and pepper, then stuff the cavity of each guinea fowl with this filling. Pull the skin at the front of each guinea fowl's cavity forward, to cover the filling, and tightly tie/truss up.
• Heat a thick-bottomed pan and add the olive oil and the guinea fowl, the skin of which has been rubbed in sea salt and pepper. Cook until lightly golden on all sides, then add the garlic, butter and sage and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Add the wine at intervals, enough to keep the pan slightly moist at all times. Place in the oven for 45 minutes, checking every 10-15 minutes and just topping up the wine as necessary. The guinea fowl will be roasted and partially steamed.
• When cooked, carefully remove from the oven and place upside down on a dish, allowing all the juices and moisture to relax back into the breast meat for at least 5 minutes. While your meat is resting, make the gravy.
• Remove all the fat from the roasting pan and place the pan on gentle heat. In the bottom of the pan will be your cooked, soft, sweet, whole garlic cloves and some gorgeous sticky stuff--when this gets hot, scoop out the stuffing from the guinea fowl cavity and add to the pan with about 2/3 cup of wine. As the wine boils and steams, scrape all the goodness with a spoon from the bottom of the pan into the liquor. When it has all dissolved, leave to simmer gently. Squash the cooked garlic out of their skins with a spoon (discard the skins); this will also thicken the gravy slightly, as well as give it flavor. Pour any of the juices that have drained out of the rested birds into the pan with the gravy, simmer and season to taste. Serve the guinea fowl with roast potatoes and any simply cooked green vegetable--spinach, kale, bok choy or broccoli.

PEPPER-SEARED GUINEA FOWL WITH NEW POTATO CREPE

Steps:

• Using a sharp boning knife, remove each breast half from the guinea fowl and cut into 6 boneless breasts with wing handles. Do not remove the skin. Cover breasts and refrigerate until ready to roast.
• Again using the boning knife, cut down through the leg joint removing all 6 legs form the fowl. Carefully remove skin, fat, and tendons. Make a deep cut, lengthwise, down each leg and scrape the meat away from the bone. Cut the leg meat into strips 2 inches long by 1/4-inch thick. Cover and refrigerate.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place guinea carcasses in a roasting pan in preheated oven and roast for 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Drain off all fat. Using a cleaver, crack carcasses into small pieces and set aside. Place roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add wine and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes to deglaze pan.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the mirepoix and sachet and saute for 3 minutes. Add the reserved roasted guinea bones, scrape mixture from the pan and reserve. Add wine and cook for 10 minutes. Raise heat and add 3 cups of chicken stock.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan. Skim all fat and any particles from the top. Return to medium heat and cook for about 15 minutes, or until reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Peel potatoes. Place them in a medium saucepan with water to cover over medium-high heat. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 12 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pierced with the point of a sharp knife. Drain well. Cut, crosswise, into thin slices. Set aside.
• Peel onion and slice it, crosswise, into thin slices. Set aside.
• Remove leg meat from the refrigerator. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. When very hot but not smoking, add the meat and saute for 4 minutes. Stir in the remaining cup of stock and cook for about 15 minutes, or until meat is very tender and the liquid has reduced to a glaze. Remove from heat and scrape into a mixing bowl. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the same saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Stir in potatoes and saute for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add to meat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
• Lay the crepes out on a clean, flat surface. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat one side with melted butter. Divide potato stuffing into 6 equal portions and place a portion in the center of each crepe. Fold the sides of the crepes over the filling. Starting from one open end, roll up each crepe to make a firm but not tight cylinder. Again, brush them with melted butter. Place on a small nonstick baking sheet and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Remove breasts from refrigerator. Season generously with coarse salt and cracked pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a saute pan large enough to hold the 6 breasts over medium-high heat. When very hot, place the breasts, skin-side down, in pan. Sear for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Turn and cook for 4 minutes. Remove to a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven along with the crepes. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until meat is just cooked and crepes are golden.
• Melt the tablespoon of butter in the same saute pan over medium heat, stirring constantly to scrape up solids from the bottom of the pan. Add morels and saute for 6 minutes, or until tender. Lay the crepes out on a clean, flat surface. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat one side with melted butter. Divide potato stuffing into 6 equal portions and place a portion in the center of each crepe. Fold the sides of the crepes over the filling. Starting from one open end, roll up each crepe to make a firm but not tight cylinder. Again, brush them with melted butter. Place on a small nonstick baking sheet and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• Remove breasts from refrigerator. Season generously with coarse salt and cracked pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a saute pan large enough to hold the 6 breasts over medium-high heat. When very hot, place the breasts, skin-side down, in pan. Sear for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Turn and cook for 4 minutes. Remove to a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven along with the crepes. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until meat is just cooked and crepes are golden.Melt the tablespoon of butter in the same saute pan over medium heat, stirring constantly to scrape up solids from the bottom of the pan. Add morels and saute for 6 minutes, or until tender. Add reduced stock, remaining 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Reduce heat to very low to keep sauce warm.
• Remove crepes and breasts from oven. Lay one crepe in the center of each of 6 warm dinner plates. Angle a breast against each crepe. Spoon a generous portion of sauce over the crepe and fowl. Garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley and serve immediately.

POT-ROAST GUINEA FOWL WITH CABBAGE & BACON

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Heat the butter in a large flameproof casserole and brown the guinea fowl all over. Remove and set aside.
• Add the lardons to the pan, cook for 2-3 mins until beginning to turn golden. Add the celery, carrot and onion and cook for 5 mins. Then stir in the cabbage and cook for 5 mins more.
• Add the juniper berries, wine and stock, then sit the guinea fowl on top. Bring to a simmer then cover tightly and roast in the oven for 1 hr 15 mins, until the bird is cooked through.

TRUFFLE-STUFFED GUINEA FOWL

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Peel and very finely slice the truffle. Loosen the breast skin of the bird, smear most of the butter underneath, then place half the truffle slices under the skin. Heat the rest of the butter in a casserole dish, brown bird on all sides, place the bird, breast side up, in oven, then cook for 30 mins.
• While the bird is roasting, tip the potatoes into a pan of water and bring to the boil. Tip in the shallots and bacon, simmer everything for 2 mins, then drain.
• Remove bird from the oven and lift from the pan. Tip potatoes, shallots and bacon into the casserole dish and toss in the juices. Nestle the bird among the vegetables and return to oven for 30-40 mins. When the bird is done, remove from the oven to rest, but cook the vegetables for a further 15 mins. Scoop vegetables into a serving bowl and scatter with the rest of the truffle. Serve the bird with potatoes drizzled with truffle oil.

ROAST GUINEA FOWL WITH CHESTNUT, SAGE & LEMON STUFFING

Steps:

• First make the stuffing. Soften the onion in the butter very gently, then stir in the sage and cook for 2 mins more. Scrape into a bowl with the chopped walnuts, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, mace, chestnuts and egg and mix together well. Season generously.
• For the guinea fowl, wash and wipe out the inside cavity. Mix the butter with some seasoning, then push and spread some under the skin over the breasts, and rub the rest over the legs. Lay the bacon across the breasts, smoothing over, and season with some more pepper. Push the stuffing into the cavity (any extra can be rolled into balls and baked in the oven for the last 20 mins cooking time). You can cover and chill the guinea fowl now for up to 24 hours.
• To roast, bring the bird out of the fridge 30 mins before. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Sit the bird in a snug roasting tin with the sliced onion underneath. Roast for 15 mins, then lower the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and roast for a further 35-45 mins for a 1kg bird (or longer if bigger - use the timings for a roast chicken). Check the bird is done by piercing the inside of the thigh with a knife and making sure the juices are clear, not bloody. Lift the guinea fowl off the onions, onto a platter. Loosely cover with foil, top with a towel (to keep it warm), and rest while you make the gravy.
• Pour off the juices from the roasting tray into a jug or bowl, and allow to settle. Spoon a tbsp of the fat on top back into the roasting tray, pop on the hob over a low heat (make sure your roasting tray is suitable or transfer contents to a pan), and stir in the flour until it isn't dusty anymore. Gradually stir in the stock, plus any meat juices after you've discarded the rest of the fat, and bubble gently until thickened. Season with salt, pepper, and pinches of sugar if it needs it, then strain into a gravy jug and discard the onions. Serve with the guinea fowl, spooning out the stuffing as you carve, plus cranberry sauce and plenty of vegetables.