Guinea Fowl with Vegetables

First joint the Guinea Fowls into leg/thigh pieces, breasts, wings and carcass  Picture  . Save the breasts for other dishes.

Peel the onion, scrape the carrot, separate out two or three celery sticks and put them all into a large saucepan along with the fresh thyme tied with a little string and the wings and Guinea Fowl carcasses. Barely cover with water and simmer covered for about 90 minutes.

When ready, pour the Guinea Fowl/vegetable mixture through a sieve and discard all the vegetables, cool and put in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then use a spoon to skim off and discard all the fat - you will now have a very nice stock.

Season the leg/thigh joints with salt and pepper and quickly brown in a little olive oil. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and just about cover with the stock. Cook in the oven at 300°F/150°C/Reg2 for about 1½ hours until tender but not falling off the bone.

Meanwhile scrape the carrots and cut into quarters lengthwise and then in half. Scrape the salsify and similarly cut into quarters lenthwise and then into pieces around 5 cm/2 inches long. Season the vegetables with salt, roll generousy in olive oil and put into separate ovenproof dishes. Cook in a hot oven at 400°F/200°C/Reg6 until cooked but still a bit al dente which will take around 20 minutes.

When ready, take the Guinea Fowl cooking dish from the oven, take out the Guinea Fowl and keep warm. Mix in a tablespoonful of cornflour to the cooking liquid and stir over a medium heat - the sauce needs to be thickened but not very thick - season with salt and pepper.

Put the spinach into a cooking dish and mix with a tablespoonful or so of olive oil. Cook over a medium/high heat for a couple of minutes stirring all the time. When ready, stir in a squeeze or two of lemon juice and season with a little salt.

Chop some flat leaf parsley and sprinkle over the carrots and salsify. Spoon on some spinach to serving plates, lay on top the Guinea Fowl joints, suround with the carrots and salsify and spoon over some sauce. Serve immediately  Zoom  .