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Guinea fowl with porcini bread sauce and cavolo nero
Serves 3-4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1 guinea fowl
- 500ml full-fat milk
- 2 cloves
- 1 large bay leaf, scrunched a little
- generous pinch grated nutmeg, or more, to taste
- 20g dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed and soaked in 100ml boiling water
- 60g unsalted butter, plus more for the cavolo nero and for rubbing the bird
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 100g fresh white breadcrumbs
- 200g cavolo nero, tough middle stalks discarded
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C F/Gas 6. Rub the bird with a bit of butter, then season all over with salt and pepper and place on a roasting tray, breast-side down. Roast for 50 minutes, until the juices run clear and the bird is cooked through.
While the bird is roasting, ina pan over a high heat, heat the milk with the cloves and bay leaf until it is just about to come to a boil. Remove from the heat, add the nutmeg and leave the sauce to infuse for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain the porcini (reserving the liquid) and finely chop them. Melt half the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and porcini and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.
Strain the infused milk into the saucepan, stir in the breadcrumbs and the porcini soaking liquid and place over a very low heat, stirring now and then, for 10-15 minutes, until the crumbs have swollen and thickened the sauce to between the consistency of porridge and double cream.
Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining butter and check the seasoning, adding salt, plenty of freshly ground pepper and perhaps more nutmeg to taste. Pour into a warm jug and keep warm until needed.
After 50 minutes, turn the bird onto the backbone and continue to roast for 20 minutes, until golden brown and the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer (with an internal temperature of 72C if using a digital thermometer). Allow to rest for 15 minutes in a warm place before carving or jointing.
Cook the cavolo nero in plenty of well-salted boiling water until tender. Drain and add a knob of butter.
To serve, carve or joint the guinea fowl and serve with the porcini bread sauce and the cavolo nero on the side.
Note: This recipe will work well with other kinds of birds. Partridge: serves 2. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until the juices run clear, and rest for at least 15 minutes. Pheasant: serves 2-3. Roast for 30-40 minutes and rest for around 15 minutes, depending on the bird's size. Pheasant is fine to serve a fraction pink. Quail: serves 1. Roast for 8-10 minutes and rest for 5 minutes. Quail is fine to serve a fraction pink.
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