Roast Guinea Hen Stuffed With Chestnuts Recipes

Steps:

• To prepare the hens: Remove the dark meat from the legs and chop it very finely. Lay the main part of each bird flat, skin-side down. There will be a rough rectangle of skin with the two breasts and their smaller fillets attached at the top. Remove one small fillet and lay it between the breasts to fill the indentation. Use the other to fill any other gaps. Lay a piece of plastic over top, and pound the whole flat. Remove the plastic. Push the meat around a little, if you need to, to achieve and even square of white meat, roughly centered on the skin. Season the hens with salt, and pepper. To make the stuffing: Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter, and saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute more. Remove the onion mixture to a bowl. Heat the remaining butter in the pan, and toast the bread crumbs. Add them to the onions. Stir in the figs, Cognac, and thyme. Season the mixture with salt, and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Lay the prosciutto slices, slightly overlapping, on a piece of foil. Lay 1 bird on top, and season with salt, and pepper. Spread over the half the stuffing, and then roll into a log. Wrap in foil, twisting the ends to make a tight cylinder. Repeat with the other hen. Bake 30 minutes. Remove the foil, and return to the oven 10 minutes longer. Remove. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing to serve with Watercress Salad.
• In a medium bowl, toss the greens with the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, to taste. Arrange on a serving platter and scatter over the almonds and grapes. Serve.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the guinea hen in an iron skillet large enough for it to fit or in a heavy roasting dish. (Enameled cast iron is best.) Using your hands, rub 2 teaspoons of the olive oil all over the bird, inside and out. Season again all over with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with thyme leaves. Scatter the garlic cloves around the pan.
• Place in the oven and roast 15 minutes. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and roast, basting every 10 minutes with pan drippings, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 160 degrees; this should take 40 to 50 minutes.
• Remove the hen from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Drain excess fat (leaving some!) from the pan and place over medium-high heat. Pour in the chicken broth. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the pan drippings and bring to a boil. Reduce until the sauce is syrupy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut the hen into 6 pieces and pour the juices from the cutting board back into the sauce. Serve on a platter and pass the sauce with a big spoon.

Steps:

• Cook garlic and potatoes:
• Fill a 3-quart saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil. Add garlic and simmer 5 minutes. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add potatoes to water with bay leaf and salt to taste, then simmer, covered, 10 minutes (potatoes will not be fully cooked). Cool potatoes in hot water, uncovered, then drain and peel.
• Make mustard butter and prepare hens while potatoes are cooling:
• Put a 17- by 11-inch roasting pan in middle of oven and preheat oven to 425°F.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter and set aside. Mash together mustard, chives, remaining 5 tablespoons butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Reserve 1 tablespoon mustard butter for sauce.
• Remove excess fat from cavities and necks, then rinse hens and pat dry. Run your finger between skin and flesh of breast and legs of each hen to loosen skin (outsides of thighs are easier to access from neck end). Push mustard butter under skin and massage skin from outside to spread butter evenly over breast and legs. Season hens inside and out with salt and pepper and put half of herb stems in cavity of each bird. Tie legs together with kitchen string and close cavity with toothpicks.
• Brush melted butter over hens.
• Roast hens:
• Remove roasting pan from oven and add oil, tilting to coat. Put hens in pan, breast sides up, and scatter potatoes and shallots around them. Roast hens, basting every 10 minutes with a brush and turning vegetables, 30 minutes. Scatter reserved garlic and thyme leaves around hens and roast, basting frequently and turning vegetables, until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh (without touching bone) registers 170°F and vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes more (30 to 40 minutes more for chickens). Discard string and toothpicks from hens and transfer hens to a platter. Surround with vegetables and keep warm, loosely covered, while making sauce.
• Make sauce:
• Skim fat from pan juices and add chicken broth, then deglaze by boiling, scraping up brown bits, until reduced to about 1/2 cup. Pour sauce through a sieve into a sauceboat and stir in reserved tablespoon mustard butter with salt and pepper to taste.
• Chop tarragon and parsley leaves and scatter over hens and vegetables. Serve with sauce.

Steps:

• Wipe the guinea hen inside and out with paper towels. Hang in a cool place for two days or store, unwrapped, on a rack in the refrigerator.
• With a sharp knife make a slit in each chestnut. Simmer the chestnuts for 10 minutes in water. Remove, and, wearing rubber gloves, slip off their outer and inner skins while the chestnuts are still hot.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Soften the bread crumbs in the milk. Melt the butter in the skillet and cook the celery, onion and garlic until soft. Add the thyme.
• Coarsely chop the chestnuts and add them to the skillet with the bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.
• Stuff the cavity of the guinea hen with the mixture. Place the hen on the rack in the roasting pan and cover the breast with the pancetta. Roast for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Remove the bacon fat for the last 10 minutes to brown the breast.