Normandy Guinea Fowl Food

NORMANDY GUINEA FOWL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Peel, quarter, core and thickly slice the apples. Melt half the butter in a heavy casserole over a medium heat. Add the apples and cider, cover, and cook briskly for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and boil for 5 minutes to concentrate the juices. The apples should be tender and juicy but not overly wet. If you're using guinea fowl, skin it and joint into four pieces, trimming away any fat. Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan, season the guinea fowl or chicken and brown briefly. Bury the meat in the apples. Tuck a piece of greaseproof paper over the pan contents to exclude air, and add the lid. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the meat from the dish and keep warm. Put the casserole, with the apples, over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Add the alcohol and, a couple of minutes later, the cream. Boil, stirring, to blend and reduce the sauce. Adjust the seasoning. Spoon most of the sauced apples onto a platter and top with the meat. Add the last of the apples, and serve.

POULET VALLéE D'AUGE

Steps:

• Quarter and core the apples and cut into smallish dice - a bit smaller than canned pineapple cubes. Put half the butter in a frying pan (you will need a lid for it later), heat until foaming, then tip in the apples. Fry for 7-10 minutes, turning more or less constantly, until golden brown all over and just tender when prodded with a knife. Lift out and set aside.
• Melt the remaining butter in the pan and fry the chopped shallots for 2-3 minutes. Move them to the sides of the pan so they don't start to burn, then put the chicken in, skin side down. Cook the chicken, without moving it, for 3-4 minutes until browned, then turn it over and cook in the same way for another 3-4 minutes.
• Heat about one third of the calvados in a ladle or small pan. Remove from the heat and set light to it with a match, then pour it over the chicken in the pan, stirring to burn off the fat. Repeat with the remaining calvados, in two batches.
• Pour in the stock and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer very gently for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and tender. Lift the chicken on to a board and set aside to rest for a few minutes.
• Vigorously bubble the remaining juices in the uncovered pan for a couple of minutes, to reduce, then stir in the apples and crème fraîche and keep the pan over a low heat.
• Carve each breast thickly into 6 or 7 diagonal slices and transfer them to warmed plates, keeping the slices together by lifting them with a fish slice or wide palette knife. Check the seasoning of the sauce and spike with a touch of lemon juice, then spoon over the chicken. Sprinkle with parsley and eat.

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.