Stuffed & Roasted Guinea Fowl in a Creamy Bacon, Brandy Sauce

Serves 2

Takes 2 hours

One of Tim’s very own recipes and a rather impressive dinner party offering, utilising seasonal guinea fowl but this would also work beautifully with pheasant as they cook in almost the same way. The legs always take longer to cook than the breasts so by portioning the bird and cooking the legs separately to the breast meat, it allows each component to cook for the correct amount of time needed. All pulled together with a creamy, brandy-laced sauce with smoky bacon pieces and sweet caramelised apples to cut through the richness. It’s a bit of a labour of love but one that we promise, is most definitely worth it.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan.
2. Begin by stuffing the legs, set a frying pan on a medium heat with 1 tsp olive oil, add in the diced smoked bacon, fry for 1 minute then add in the shallots, thyme, salt and pepper. Continue to cook until the shallots are softened and fragrant. Set aside to cool then mix in a bowl with the panko breadcrumbs.
3. Gently stuff the legs with the mix, rolling and securing with some cocktail sticks if necessary.
4. Wrap loosely in foil, pop on a baking tray and place in the oven for 1 hour.
5. In a skillet, place the breasts skin-side down on a low heat, slowly increase the temperature to medium and cook until the skin has rendered and has turned a lovely golden colour, approx. 10 minutes. Season with a little salt and turn over to cook for a further 6 minutes.
6. Remove from the pan, set on a board covered in foil and leave to rest well for 30 minutes.
7. To begin the creamy sauce, place a pan on a medium heat, add in the 200g smoked bacon and fry until the fat renders out, approx. 3 minutes. Add in the shallots and continue to cook until softened, pour in the calvados or cognac and hold over a flame to flambe, which will cook off the alcohol.
8. Once the flames are out, pour in the chicken stock, turn the heat up and bring to the boil. Allow to reduce for 5 minutes then turn the heat back down to low, pour in the cream and stir well to combine. Allow to blip away for 10 minutes on a very low heat, season with salt and pepper to taste at this stage. The sauce should reduce enough to coat the back of a spoon.
9. The legs should now be nicely roasted, if you want a little more colour on them, remove the foil and pop back in the oven for a final 10 minutes.
10. In a small pan add in the knob of butter and melt down, add in the apple slices and cook on both sides until caramelised and golden. Set aside for the finish.
11. Spoon the creamy sauce onto a large sharing platter, slice up the stuffed legs and place on top of the creamy sauce, along with the crispy breast meat. Finally scatter over the chives and parsley for garnish and freshness. Enjoy!

• 1.5kg Guinea fowl, portioned into breasts and legs, legs tunnel boned and breasts as supremes (ask your butcher to do this for you)
• Olive oil
• 3 banana shallots, finely diced
• 200g smoked streaky bacon, finely diced
• 300ml calvados or cognac
• 200ml chicken stock
• 200ml double cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Handful chives, finely diced
• Handful parsley, rough chopped

For the stuffed legs:

• 3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, finely diced
• 1 banana shallot, finely diced
• 3 sprigs of thyme, leaves pulled off the stalks
• 50g panko breadcrumbs
• Pink of salt
• Pich of pepper

For the caramelised apples:

• 2 apples, peeled and cut into segments
• Big knob of butter