Roast Guinea Hen Recipes

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:

• 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:

• Combine lemon juice, rind, shallot, 1/2 cup olive oil, and thyme in a large baking dish. Add hens and rub with the marinade, inside and out. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or up to 4. Remove from marinade, wipe any excess marinade off, and season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in 2 separate saute pans over medium-high heat. Sear the hens in separate pans until golden brown on all sides. Transfer the hens to a large roasting pan and roast in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the hens to a platter and let rest. Place the roasting pan over 2 burners on top of the stove set at medium-high heat. Degrease the pan leaving only 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Add the minced shallots to the roasting pan and cook until lightly golden brown. Add the wine and cook until reduced. Add the stock, lemon segments, and finely grated zest and cook until reduced by half. Add the 1 tablespoon thyme and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Serrano Ham.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the ham and cook until golden brown and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. Toss the Brussels sprouts with the remaining oil and place in a medium roasting pan and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Roast until just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add the ham and stir to combine.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Toss the vegetables with the oil and some seasoning in a large flameproof roasting tin. Place the bird on top of the veg, smear with 1 tbsp butter and lay the rashers in a row over the breast. Season generously, then roast for 40 mins.
• Remove from the oven and give the veg a stir while adding the garlic and thyme. Pour 200ml stock and the wine over the veg and return to oven to roast for another 40 mins until the bird is cooked through and the juices run clear.
• Remove the bird, place on a serving plate, cover with foil to keep warm and leave to rest. Turn the oven up to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and roast the veg for a further 15 mins until tender.
• Remove the veg with a slotted spoon and transfer to the serving plate with the bird. Mix 2 tsp butter and flour in a small bowl to form a smooth paste. Place the roasting tin with all the cooking juices, plus any resting juices, on the hob. Whisk the paste and redcurrant jelly into the juices until dissolved, then add the remaining stock and extra seasoning, if you like. Bubble for a few mins until the sauce thickens. Slice and serve the guinea fowl, crisp bacon and the veg with the sauce on the side.

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.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Pat guinea hen dry and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Put garlic, rosemary and lemon slices inside the bird's cavity. Tie legs together. Leave at room temperature for at least an hour (or refrigerate overnight and bring to room temperature).
• Put a rack in a roasting pan, and place bird on its side on the rack. Drape pancetta strips, if using, over bird. Roast, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then turn the bird on its other side and roast 20 minutes more. (Remove and reserve pancetta when crisp, about 20 minutes into roasting. Chop and sprinkle over for final garnish.) Turn the bird breast side up and roast for a final 20 minutes, or until juice run clear when thickest part of the thigh is probed. Baste well with pan juices at each stage. Let rest in a warm place at least 15 minutes before carving. Spoon pan juices over the meat.
• For the grilled radicchio, place a stove top grill over medium-high heat. Cut radicchio into 8 wedges. Season with salt and pepper and paint lightly with olive oil. Grill wedges for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until well colored and crisped. Alternatively, grill radicchio under the broiler.

Steps:

• In a small bowl stir together the five-spice powder and 2 tablespoons of the oil, rub the mixture on the guinea hens, and season the hens with salt. In a large heavy skillet heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it brown the hens lightly, 1 at a time. Arrange the browned hens, breast side down, in 2 roasting pans and roast them in a preheated 350°F. oven, switching the pans from one rack to the other after 30 minutes, for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the fleshy part of the thigh registers 170°F. Transfer the hens to a cutting board and let them stand, covered loosely with foil, for 15 minutes.
• Make the sauce while the hens are standing:
• Skim the fat from the pan juices, divide the wine between the pans, and deglaze the pans over high heat, scraping up the brown bits. Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan, add the zest, the gingerroot, and the star anise, and boil the mixture until the liquid is reduced to about 1/3 cup. Add the broth, the water, and the soy sauce and cook the mixture at a slow boil for 5 minutes. Stir the cornstarch mixture, stir it into the zest mixture, and simmer the sauce for 2 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a saucepan and keep it warm.
• Carve the guinea hens, divide the broccoli rabe among 8 heated plates, and arrange the meat on it. Spoon some of the sauce over each serving and serve the remaining sauce separately.
• To make steamed broccoli rabe:
• Trim and discard any yellow or coarse leaves and the tough stem ends from the broccoli rabe and wash the broccoli rabe well in several changes of cold water. In a steamer set over boiling water steam the broccoli rabe, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the stems are tender.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Wash birds and pat dry. Gently loosen the skin of each fowl's breast and place flat-leaf parsley leaves under it. Fill birds with stuffing, truss with butcher's twine, and place in a foil-lined roasting pan. Melt butter and brush birds; sprinkle with salt and pepper, and surround with the chervil, parsley, and garlic.
• Roast for 15 minutes. Add wine to pan and brush birds again with melted butter. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and roast for 1 hour. Cover with foil and roast for 15 to 30 minutes more.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Wash hen and lard with salt pork.
• Fill with stuffing of your choice.
• Close opening and truss.
• Place breast-side down in an uncovered roasting pan.
• Place in oven for an hour, then turn breast-side up and cook until tender, about one more hour, basting every half hour.