Cooking with Guinea Fowl

the bird in question

Whenever I cook with guinea fowl, I usually just treat it like I do a chicken and place it whole in the oven for the desired time. So it was nice to be shown a few alternatives by the chef and proprietor of Hallidays Restaurant in West Sussex, Andy Stephenson.

For those unfamiliar with guinea fowl, it’s best described as tasting and looking like a gamey chicken. The meat is quite dark on the bird, and lightens up when cooked.

The best birds come from France, where they’re raised free-range on a diet of corn until 20 weeks. So it was with a French bird that we were shown how to cook the bird to go with another French dish – a Normande salad.

Ingredients for the Normande salad

Another ingredient that’s featured in a Normandie salad is a boudin noir. This is a French black pudding that differs from other black puddings because it uses onion instead of rice for one of its fillings.

For this salad, the ingredients required are:

a breast of hot smoked guinea fowl
2 large handfuls of continental lettuce leaves
as many croutons as you desire (I prefer many)
4 slices of boudin noir
1 peeled apple, cut into slices
50g toasted and chopped hazlenuts
Olive oil
fresh thyme

Chef Andy Stephenson

For the dressing:

4 tbsp hazelnut oil
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 finely chopped shallot
1 teaspoon honey
a bunch of thyme leaves

To prepare:
The dressing can be prepared by putting all the ingredients together and whisking.

The salad is almost the same. Start by washing the lettuce leaves, and setting them aside in a bowl.

The boudin noir needs frying in olive oil until slightly crisp.

The apple can either be added in with the boudin noir, or could be fried in a pan with thyme and butter until tender.

Bake the croutons on an oiled tray until they’re crisp and golden.

Slice the guinea fowl into thin strips, and place on the salad with the cooked and chopped boudin noir and apple.

Drizzle on the dressing, and top with crushed hazelnuts and the croutons and serve.

The finished salad