Best Roast Guinea Hen 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.

ROAST GUINEA HEN WITH GRILLED RADICCHIO

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Pat guinea hen dry and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Put garlic, rosemary and lemon slices inside the bird's cavity. Tie legs together. Leave at room temperature for at least an hour (or refrigerate overnight and bring to room temperature).
• Put a rack in a roasting pan, and place bird on its side on the rack. Drape pancetta strips, if using, over bird. Roast, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then turn the bird on its other side and roast 20 minutes more. (Remove and reserve pancetta when crisp, about 20 minutes into roasting. Chop and sprinkle over for final garnish.) Turn the bird breast side up and roast for a final 20 minutes, or until juice run clear when thickest part of the thigh is probed. Baste well with pan juices at each stage. Let rest in a warm place at least 15 minutes before carving. Spoon pan juices over the meat.
• For the grilled radicchio, place a stove top grill over medium-high heat. Cut radicchio into 8 wedges. Season with salt and pepper and paint lightly with olive oil. Grill wedges for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until well colored and crisped. Alternatively, grill radicchio under the broiler.

ROAST GUINEA HEN STUFFED WITH CHESTNUTS

Steps:

• Wipe the guinea hen inside and out with paper towels. Hang in a cool place for two days or store, unwrapped, on a rack in the refrigerator.
• With a sharp knife make a slit in each chestnut. Simmer the chestnuts for 10 minutes in water. Remove, and, wearing rubber gloves, slip off their outer and inner skins while the chestnuts are still hot.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Soften the bread crumbs in the milk. Melt the butter in the skillet and cook the celery, onion and garlic until soft. Add the thyme.
• Coarsely chop the chestnuts and add them to the skillet with the bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.
• Stuff the cavity of the guinea hen with the mixture. Place the hen on the rack in the roasting pan and cover the breast with the pancetta. Roast for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Remove the bacon fat for the last 10 minutes to brown the breast.

ROAST GUINEA HEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Wash hen and lard with salt pork.
• Fill with stuffing of your choice.
• Close opening and truss.
• Place breast-side down in an uncovered roasting pan.
• Place in oven for an hour, then turn breast-side up and cook until tender, about one more hour, basting every half hour.