Guinea Fowl and Prunes !!!

Guinea Fowl in flavour terms sits somewhere between Chicken and Pheasant. Its in my opinion a little richer than chicken and if you fancy trying to introduce your taste buds to game then Guinea Fowl is for you.
Its available all year round apparently and is now domestically reared therefore not really Game but for the sake of this blog post it is !! ha ha !
So you have stalked your prey through the forest wearing some cast off clothing from the film Deliverance or you have used the easier option of picking it up from Isle 14 down your local Supermarket ! To be fair you will struggle to find it in most smaller supermarkets but a good butcher should be able to track some down for you.
Right once you have removed your camouflage jacket and taken the plastic pigeon strapped to your head off lets cook with it, that's the Guinea Fowl and not the plastic Pigeon !
I would suggest getting the butcher to remove the breasts from the bird for you or ask him when you order the Fowl to just get you the breast meat as this will be a much easier introduction to Game for you.

Supreme of Guinea Fowl on a bed of Sauteed Cabbage and Prunes with Bury Black Pudding and a Devil on Horseback with a Brandy Jus !

Bit of a long title for a recipe I know but this is really easy.

To make the sauce (Cowboy Time YEE HAAAA !) make some instant gravy. I quite like the Bisto Chicken gravy because I do not know what they put in it but it tastes really Chicken enee !!!! Leave in jug and move on to next stage.
Put your oven on to 180 degrees C and place a baking tray into the oven to heat up.
Next get a frying pan on until it smokes.
In a bowl place the Guinea Fowl breasts and add a good glug of Veg oil and some seasoning. Gently massage the Breasts until coated in oil and seasoning then place skin side down in the pan for a few minutes until the the skin has a lovely golden colour to it. Turn over and colour the bare flesh side. Then remove from pan and place on the hot tray you have in the oven.
Now you are going to deglaze the pan and make a sort of Brandy sauce to go with your Game.
To the hot pan the breasts came out of add some finely diced shallots and a crushed garlic clove. Fry for a bout 2 minutes and then pour as much Brandy as you want into the pan and then reduce the heat. Their is a very strong chance that your pan will start to as we say in the kitchen "FLAME ON" which is basically if your using a gas top stove the alcohol will ignite and cause a very pleasing flame effect while the alcohol burns off. If its night time when you cook this meal switch the lights off in the kitchen and take a few seconds to admire the lovely colours in the flames this is a truly inspiring kitchen sight but if it spreads to the front room curtains please call the fire brigade.
OK lights on now add a sprig of fresh thyme to the brandy and simmer for a further couple of minutes. Now add your gravy and let the lot infuse for about 7 - 10 minutes.
Taste your sauce. As I have said before tasting is the key to becoming a good cook. You should get a lovely taste of Brandy coming through with the taste of Chicken and a hint of Thyme. Pass the sauce through a sieve to collect all the bits.

Check your Guinea Fowl they will not take long to cook.A lot of people cook their meat too long causing it to be a bit dry but I recommend buying a kitchen probe they are great at cooking your meat to almost perfection. Use your probe and If they are 75 degree C or above they should be lovely and moist. Let the Breasts rest to settle.

The devil on horseback is just a pitted prune with a bit of streaky bacon wrapped around it and cooked in the oven for about 6 minutes. The salty bacon with the sweet prunes is a delightful combination.
I sauteed a small round of Bury Black Pudding in oil on the stove and warmed my cabbage in a pan on the stove with seasoning and a large knob butter. I then added some thin slices of prune into the cabbage and then plated up the dish.
If you are not keen on Prunes then any kind of thin slices of fruit will do to put through the cabbage but please give it a go with the prunes because they work amazingly well.

Please give this little recipe a go I think you will be surprised by the flavour of the Guinea Fowl its a bit richer than Chicken and with the combination of the sauce and the sweet prunes and the salty bacon it is great. Enjoy !