- 4
Ingredients
- 4 SERVINGS
- Roast Guinea Hen Breasts and Leg Roulades in Black Truffle Sauce
- • 2 Guinea Hens, 2 1/2 to 3 pounds each, giblets and neck removed
- • 1/2 cup Reduced Guinea Hen Stock (recipe follows), or 1/2 cup duck and veal demi-glace
- • 2 tablespoons cold heavy cream
- • 2 tablespoons truffle oil
- • 2 tablespoons olive oil
- • 1 pound fresh morels, cleaned in cold water until all dirt is removed, blotted dry
- • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- • 1 bunch asparagus, woody ends removed, stalks trimmed to 2 1/2 inches and peeled
- • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- • 1 black truffle, about 1 ounce
- • 4 small sprigs thyme, to garnish
- Roasted guinea hen breast, served with rolled and stuffed thighs filled with truffle-scented forcemeat, is dining at its most refined. The birds are simply glazed with a reduced sauce.
Preparation
Step 1
1. Remove breasts with skin intact from carcasses, and trim away excess fat. Remove tenderloin from breasts and set aside. Cut egs from carcasses and remove thigh bones, reserving bones. Place legs skin side down on cutting board. Coer boned thighs with plastic wrap and gently pound with your palm or a wooden spoon to flatten, keeping meat intact. Cover and refrigerate breasts and legs.
2. Prepare Reduced Guinea Hen Stock.
3. While stock is simmering, place breast tenderloins in a food processor. Pulse to chop, then add heavy cream and truffle oil, and blend just until mixture is smooth. Remove, cover, and refrigerate.
4. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add morels and sauté until tender, then season with salt and pepper and set aside. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add asparagus, and boil until just tender, then shock in ice water. Remove and blot dry. Set aside.
5. Lay guinea hen legs skin side down on counter. Season with salt and pepper. Divide pureed tenderloin mixture among the boneless thighs, top with morels, then fold the edges of the meat over to enclose the mix, creating a roulade with each thihg. Tie roulades evenly with butcher’s twine in several places.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a large roasting pan and heat over high heat. Season breasts and legs with salt and pepper, place in hot pan skin side up, and roast in
7. oven until skin is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest in pan. Reheat asparagus in a skillet with a little water and 1 tablespoon of the butter. Place a breast cutlet and a leg on each of 4 warmed dinner plates and lay asparagus on top of hen.
8. Heat Reduced Guinea Hen Stock over medium-high heat. Slice truffles and stir into sauce. Off the heat, stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter, taste to adjust seasonings, and spoon over hen. Garnish with thyme sprigs.
Ingredients for Reduced Guinea Hen Stock
You may substitute about 2 pounds of bones from other game birds or chickens in this stock, and make it several weeks ahead and freeze.
• Reserved carcasses and bones from Step 1 above, or 2 pounds bones from other game birds
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, split in half
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tomato, chopped
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 2 quarts water
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
• 4 sprigs thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions for Reduced Guinea Hen Stock
1. Chop reserved carcasses and thigh bones into 1 ½-inch pieces. Heat oil in a large deep skillet, add bones, and cook over medium-high heat until golden brown, turning occasionally. Add carrot, celery, onion, and garlic to pan, and cook until vegetables are golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato paste and tomato, cook 5 minutes. Then add white wine and cook 2 minutes longer. Add water, bay leaves, parsley, and thyme sprigs. Simmer for 1 hour, skimming surface from time to time. Pour through a fine strainer into a clean pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to about ½ cup liquid. Season to taste with salt and pepper.