Guinea Fowl Recipes Delia Smith Food

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.

GUINEA FOWL TAGINE

Steps:

• The day before cooking, put all the ingredients for the chermoula in a blender and process until smooth. Pour over the bird and marinate in the fridge overnight.
• Next day, heat oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 7. Scrape the chermoula marinade off the bird and set aside. Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the bird on all sides over a high heat. Put the carrots, onions, fruit and reserved chermoula into the tagine and place the guinea fowl on top. Pour in about 400ml water - enough to come 1cm from the top of the tagine base. Cover and cook in the oven for about 45 mins, then turn the heat down to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and cook for another 45 mins.
• About 15 mins before serving, rinse the couscous in cold water and put in a shallow bowl. Season with salt and scatter with the butter and sultanas. Pour on 200ml boiling water. Cover and leave for 10 mins or until the grains are plump and tender. Open the tagine at the table and stir the preserved lemon and mint into the juices. Serve the couscous and harissa separately.

SPICED GUINEA FOWL

Steps:

• Prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a food processor or blender.
• Put the guinea fowl skin side down in a baking dish and pour the sauce over.
• Cover the dish with plastic-wrap and leave in a cool place until you are ready to cook.
• You can do this as far ahead as the night before and refrigerate it.
• Pre-heat the oven to moderate.
• Discard the wrap and cover the dish with with a lid or foil.
• Cook in the center of the oven for 20 minutes.
• Remove the lid or foil, and turn the birds.
• Cook uncovered for a further 20 minutes, basting once or twice with the sauce.
• Transfer the birds to serving plates, season the sauce and spoon a little over each of the portions.
• Serve the rest seperately.
• This is good served with steamed rice, and it's a good way to cook pheasant or chicken quarters.

POT ROASTED GUINEA FOWL WITH CALVADOS CREAM AND APPLES

Steps:

• heat butter in a large deep saucepan (that has a tight fitting lid for later) on medium heat until it starts to foam, season bird and and brown in hot butter turning the bird using a cloth to protect your hands.
• at this stage when bird is sitting upright again, warm calavdos in a ladle over a direct heat, turn flame out and set to light the warm calvados using a long match and pour over the guinea fowl.
• when flames have died down add shallots and garlic anmd keeping heat low let them soften whilst you prepapre apples .
• remove cores form apples and cut into 1cm rings, asd you slice them add to the pan tucking them all around.
• now pour in the cider, add teh chopped sage and some seasoning, put on tight lid and let it cook very gently for one hour.
• When the bird is cooked remove and take to carving board and cover, simmer apples til liquid has almost evaporated, then add the cream the apples giving it a good shake, then turn heat off.
• crave guinea folw and arrange on serving platter, spoon the apples and a few sage leaves to garnish.