Best Guinea Hen Breast Chanterelles And Polenta Recipes

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.

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.

STUFFED GUINEA HEN, SERVED ON A BED OF PASTINA WITH MORELS AND FRESH PEAS

Steps:

• Prepare the pastina with morels and fresh peas. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil and 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the shallots and garlic, and saute until soft and glossy. Do not brown.
• Add the morels and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the pastina and stir until well coated with the oil. Deglaze with the hot stock and continue to cook and stir until most of the liquid has been absorbed and pastina is al dente. Stir in the thyme and bay leaf.
• Add the peas, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the grated Parmesan. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Transfer to a warm serving platter.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Prepare the Sauteed Stuffed Guinea Hen. Halve and bone the guinea hen, leaving the first wing joint attached to the breast.
• In a small bowl, combine together the goat cheese and truffles.
• Gently slip your fingers under the skin of each chicken breast and thigh, lifting it slightly. Divide the cheese-truffle mixture and stuff under the skin, patting down to distribute evenly.
• Season with salt and pepper both sides. In a large skillet, add the olive oil. Over high heat, saute the chicken halves, skin side down, until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken skin side up and continue to cook another 2 minutes. Add the thyme and tarragon. Transfer to the oven and bake until done, about 6 to 8 minutes. Arrange the chicken on top of the platter of Pastina with Morels and Fresh Peas.
• Deglaze the saute pan with the vermouth. Add the stock and reduce just until sauce thickens. Whisk in the butter, season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over sauteed guinea hen.

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.