Guinea Hen Breast Chanterelles And Polenta Recipes

GUINEA HEN CROSTONE

Steps:

• *Note: You'll probably have to buy guinea hen whole legs rather than thighs. In this case, cut the drumsticks off and make a stock with them, just as you would a chicken stock. Use in the recipe instead of chicken stock. With a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, pat the guinea thighs dry. Season them with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Dredge in the flour and pat off all excess flour. Meanwhile, heat a large (12-inch) saute pan over medium heat for one minute, and then add the olive oil. It should be hot but not smoking by the time you are done flouring the guinea thighs. Brown the thighs, skin side down first, adjusting the heat and adding more oil so that the meat sizzles at a nice pace. Cook until golden, 2 to 3 minutes, and then turn the meat and cook another minute or two to color the other side. If your pan is small, cook the thighs in two batches. Transfer the thighs to a plate. You will now need a 4-quart straight sided saute pan or an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven. This pan should be wide enough to have the thigh pieces fit in single layer and deep enough to hold at least 4 quarts of liquid (a stock pot will work in a pinch). Put this pan over medium-high heat. Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the pancetta and sweat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic and sweat for another five minutes or so, so that the onions are soft and translucent. Add the rosemary, sage, and a small pinch of pepper. (The pancetta should add enough salt to the sauce so don't worry about salting yet.) Sweat for one more minute. Add the wine, 4 cups of the stock, livers, capers, vinegar, and lemon juice. Add the reserved guinea thighs and bring the braise to a simmer. There should be well more liquid than is needed to cover the meat. This is a good thing, as this dish is all about having plenty of sauce and it will reduce as you cook it. Simmer until the guinea is fork-tender and the meat pulls away from the bone easily, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Carefully remove the thighs and reserve on a plate. Turn up the heat and boil the sauce, stirring from time to time to make sure it isn't sticking and burning, until it reduces by half. To thicken it slightly, use a blender to puree 1 cup of the reduced sauce and add it back to the pan. Stir and taste for seasoning. Add a couple drops of lemon juice if needed. Salt is probably not needed, but use your judgment for final seasoning. The dish can be made up to this point a day ahead. To finish, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the bread slices in a small baking dish that has been generously coated with olive oil. Ladle the remaining 1 cup of stock evenly over all of the bread. Set two thighs on each slice, skin side up. Toast in the oven until the bread has turned a crispy golden brown on the bottom, about 10 minutes; use a spatula to check and be careful as the toast tends to stick. Reheat the sauce. Remove the thighs from the toasts, and carefully remove the crostones from the pan and turn them over so that the brown side is up.
• To plate, set one slice of toast on each plate. Remove the thigh bone from the meat and place the meat from two thighs on each toast. Spoon some of the warmed sauce over each thigh and a little more to run off the crostone. Garnish with celery leaf (inner yellow leaves only), Italian parsley leaf, and long strips of lemon zest. This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

STUFFED GUINEA HEN

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.

G'S LAFAYETTE-INSPIRED REDFISH AND POLENTA

Steps:

• Bring 6 cups of water to a boil.
• Lightly oil a saute pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the bacon, sausages, garlic, jalapeno, if you want a kick, and shallots. Let it fry.
• Add the polenta to the boiling water and stir frequently. While the polenta is cooking, keep an eye on it and begin preparing your redfish. Sprinkle the skin side with blackening spice. Coat a pan with vegetable oil and heat over medium-high heat. Place the fish in the pan skin-side down and cook until brown.
• Stir the Cheddars, Parmesan and butter into the polenta until rich and thick. Mix in the sausage and garlic mixture. Plate and serve the fish on a bed of polenta.

ROAST GUINEA HEN

Steps:

• Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Place the guinea hen in a large, deep bowl, pour the marinade over and inside the hen, cover the bowl, and marinate, refrigerated, overnight, turning occasionally to ensure that all parts of the bird are covered.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the hen from the marinade. Reserve the marinade. Put the hen in a roasting pan and brush with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Turn the hen breastside down in the pan and roast for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the hen onto its back, decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees, and roast for 1 hour. While the hen is roasting, place the reserved marinade in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and reduce to approximately 1/4 cup. When the hen has 15 minutes left to cook, pour the reduced marinade over the hen and return it to the oven for its final 15 minutes of cooking. Remove from the oven, and let the hen rest for 10 or 15 minutes before dividing into serving portions.

ROASTED GUINEA HENS WITH WHOLE-GRAIN MUSTARD AND HERBS

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.

ROASTED GUINEA HEN

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.