ROAST GUINEA FOWL WITH A DESIGNER HOT POT PIE

SICK of your bland, fried chicken breast? Why not try something different – guinea fowl has a fabulous, earthy, robust taste which to me tastes of what chicken used to taste like years ago before they started to give them lots of artificial feeds.

Cook it in the same way you would a chicken and just taste the difference.

SERVES 4

Ingredients:

●Two whole guinea fowl

●500ml chicken stock

●200ml red wine

●One carrot - finely-diced

●One stick celery - finely-diced

●One onion finely-chopped

●Two cloves garlic chopped

Pastry

●200g plain flour

●100g butter - chilled

●Pinch curry powder

●1 teaspoon poppy seeds

●Water

Cabbage

●One tablespoon olive oil

●Two rashers bacon – cut into thin strips

●One shallot – finely-chopped

●One clove garlic – finely-chopped

●Half small savoy cabbage – finely-shredded

●100ml white wine

●200ml whipping cream

Method:

1. Remove the breasts and legs from the guinea fowls. Place the legs in a casserole pan with the chicken stock, red wine, carrot, celery, onion and garlic and simmer gently for one hour. Take out the legs and leave to cool. Reduce the cooking liquor by half and leave to cool.

2. Remove the skin from the guinea fowl legs and flake the flesh into small pieces. Season and place in small ramekin dishes and add some of the vegetable and the reduced red wine liquor.

3. For the pastry rub the butter into the flour to form a breadcrumb consistency. Add the curry and poppy seeds. Add just enough water for the mix to come together to form a soft dough. Leave to firm in the fridge for 20 minutes.

4. Roll out onto a floured board and cut into rounds just slightly bigger than the ramekin. Brush the ramekin ridge with a touch of water, place the pastry on top and pinch. Leave in fridge until ready to use.

5. When ready to serve bake at 180ºC for 15 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden.

6. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan, season the guinea fowl breasts then place in the pan skin side down. Cook until golden on both sides – remove from the pan, then roast for 10 minutes at 180°C until cooked through.

7. Add the bacon to the pan that you seared the guinea fowl in, fry for two minutes, add the onion and garlic and fry for a further two minutes then add the cabbage. De-glaze with the white wine and then stir in the cream – season to taste.

8. Serve the hot pot pie with the creamy cabbage and guinea fowl breast.