Serves: 6

Preparation:  30 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Category: Game

Plan:  Prepare freshly on the day, or could be prepared in advance and re-heated and/or frozen

Difficulty:  Medium

Course: Main

Cuisine: English

Pot Roast Guinea Fowl with Sloe Gin and Toasted Walnuts

I have experimented with different recipes recently to find tasty ways

to cook with game.    Game pairs well with alcohol but you need to be cautious about the

amount you add!

Guinea Fowl are quite expensive but surprisingly will feed six in this pot roast recipe.

Guinea Fowl are said to taste how chickens once tasted!

This is a really nice bird and pot roasting helps to keep the meat juicy.

We served this with Stir Fried/Steamed Greens  together with

Leek and Garlic stuffed Baked Potatoes and a spoonful of redcurrant jelly on the side

- an absolutely perfect combination!

  We are always on the look out for tempting new game recipes and this dish can be cooked

with pheasant or  partridge if Guinea Fowl is not available.  You could even use chicken or turkey!

Utensils

• Large casserole dish
• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Scales
• Small dishes and bowls to lay out all prepared ingredients
• Colander for Vegetables
• Measuring spoons
• Wooden spoon

Ingredients

• A splash of olive oil
• Large knob of butter
• 1 Guinea Fowl or 2 x 150g packs of partridge breasts (this will give you eight tiny breasts)
• 6 - 8 x banana shallots, if large, peeled and cut in half or in three pieces
• 6 sticks of celery, sliced down the middle and chopped into small pieces
• 2 turnips
• 6 good sized carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 teaspoons crushed juniper berries
• 2 large Conference pears, peeled and diced
• 24 walnut halves (lightly toasted in the oven)
  
• 200ml chicken stock
  
• 2-3 tablespoons of Sloe Gin or you could use either Port or  Medium/Sweet Sherry
  
• Sea Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
  
• A few sprigs of flat-leafed parsley, chopped to garnish
  
• Red Currant Jelly to serve

Method

1.    Pre-heat a large casserole dish on the hob, add the splash of oil and the butter and brown the Guinea Fowl or partridges (or pheasant breasts) on all sides.   The Guinea Fowl is quite big and will take a little whilst to brown on all three sides.
 

2.    Remove to a plate and set aside.
 

3.    Add the shallots and cook until just golden brown, then add the celery, carrots, juniper berries, and pears.
 

4.    Stir to coat in the butter, then add the stock, together with the Sloe Gin, Port (or Sherry).
 

5.    Bring to the boil then return the bird or breasts to the casserole dish.   This also helps to cook out the alcohol and

       infuse the flavours.
 

6.    Cover and reduce the heat, then simmer for around 20 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.
 

7.    Adjust the seasoning, according to taste and if necessary, thicken with a little cornflour, if needed.
      (or you can simply use thickening granules.)

10. Garnish by sprinkling over freshly chopped flat leaf parsley,  before serving.   If cooking the Guinea Fowl, we found that

      cutting it into sections rather than carving, worked best.

11.  We served this with Red Currant jelly and Toasted Walnuts - which was just perfect!

12.  You can prepare this dish in advance and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days and it will also freeze well for up to three
     months.    The baked potato dish, recommended as above, can also be prepared in advance and will also freeze well.