PAN SEARED GUINEA FOWL, CELERIAC PURéE, FORESTIERE FRICASSEE, PORT WINE AND A SHALLOT SAUCE FOOD

Serves 4 ORIGINALLY a game bird, but now domesticated and available all year round, guinea fowl has a flavour somewhere between chicken and pheasant. A young bird has tasty flesh; older birds are good to casserole as this helps keep the flesh moist. Purée: ●●One small celeriac ●●200ml chicken stock ●●Two tablespoon cream ●●Spring fresh thyme ●●Knob butter Guinea fowl: ●●Four guinea fowl breasts – trimmed ●●100g sausage meat ●●Two leaves fresh basil ●●50g black pudding ●●Two tablespoons olive oil ●●One clove garlic ●●Two shallots finely chopped ●●200ml port ●●200ml red wine ●●400ml beef stock (strong) fricassee ●●One tablespoon olive oil ●●Four rashers of streaky bacon cut into lardons ●●100g baby onions peeled and cut in half ●●Few leaves red kale ●●20 baby new potatoes ●●Chopped thyme, rosemary garlic ●●Olive oil Method: 1. For the purée – cut the celeriac into small chunks and place in a casserole pan, add the chicken stock, cream and thyme and simmer on a low light for about 20 minutes, blend to a purée and then season to taste. 2. For the guinea fowl

– make a few incisions into the underside of the breast to create two flaps. In a food processor put the sausage meat, basil and black pudding and blend – put some of this mix into the incision of the guinea fowl and fold over to create a cylinderlike parcel. 3. Heat some oil in a frying pan and seal until golden then place in hot oven 180oC for 10-15 minutes until cooked. 4. For the fricassee – heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the bacon until slightly crispy, add the baby onion and sauté. Transfer to a small tray, cover and roast for about 20 minutes at 180oC. Remove the foil and then stir in the kale to wilt. 5. For the sauce – remove guinea fowl from the pan and leave to rest. Add the shallots and garlic and fry briefly until softened. Add the port and red wine and reduce by half. Add the stock and reduce again – season to taste. 6. When ready to plate, put a generous spoon of the purée in the middle of each plate, spoon around the onion, bacon and kale mix. Place the guinea fowl on top and finally spoon around the sauce.