{"id":2813,"date":"2014-12-09T01:14:48","date_gmt":"2014-12-09T01:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=2813"},"modified":"2014-12-09T01:14:48","modified_gmt":"2014-12-09T01:14:48","slug":"guinea-fowl-chestnut-stuffing-sweet-potatoes-kale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=2813","title":{"rendered":"Guinea fowl, chestnut stuffing; sweet potatoes; kale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Guinea_hen_sweet_potatoes_kale\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had seen the little display of vacuum-wrapped Guinea fowl at the stand in the Union Square Greenmarket a number of times before, but it was only a few weeks ago that I finally asked\u00a0about them. \u00a0They were lying on the table inside Lucky Dog Organic<\/a>‘s stall. \u00a0Rich Giles told me that they were grown and packaged by his farmer neighbor, Jennifer Grossman.\u00a0 Their farms are in the Catskills. \u00a0I was intrigued, partly because of the relative novelty of the bird in this part of the world now (I hadn’t enjoyed Guinea fowl myself in years, although I \u00a0knew its virtues), and because I knew the meat was at least slightly more gamey than chicken. \u00a0I was also attracted to the birds because I generally try to encourage, buy, and enjoy local meat and fish almost as much as I do local\u00a0vegetables and fruit.<\/p>\n

The weight of the birds being sold on Saturday varied a bit, but they were all the same price, an amount I thought\u00a0reasonable considering\u00a0the circumstances of their raising; I picked the largest package; \u00a0it was\u00a0just under three pounds. \u00a0There were two of us for dinner; we had leftovers.<\/p>\n

A personal remembrance: \u00a0Many years ago in South Africa, I frequently saw Guinea fowl in the mixed farm and savanna areas\u00a0of\u00a0the Transvaal\u00a0and the Orange Free State. \u00a0Those regular sightings, like the perennial red earth of the Transvaal itself, so utterly different from the Midwest and the New England of my experience, as well as the flies the size of a dormouse, and the Long-Tailed Widowbird<\/a>,\u00a0I found all entirely exotic. \u00a0The Guinea fowl were particularly sweet and beautiful, because of their movement on the ground, and their checked plumage, but I had rarely brought one to my own table, and\u00a0certainly not for\u00a0many years.<\/p>\n

I probably worried too much about how and for how long I was going to cook the bird this time, although I had a reasonable\u00a0concern\u00a0about\u00a0it being\u00a0ready at the same time as the sweet potatoes I would also be roasting. \u00a0I didn’t worry about the ‘purples’ (‘greens’), since the very sweet kale could be prepared ahead and reheated, or even left at room temperature. \u00a0 Then, while researching the possibilities the night before our Sunday dinner, I remembered that I had some cooked chestnuts in the freezer, from, well, I don’t know how<\/em> far back. \u00a0I decided it was time, also an appropriate time, to use them, so I defrosted them. \u00a0The next day, both the manner and order of the rest of the meal’s cooking eventually fell into place, and the chestnuts became an integral part of\u00a0it.<\/p>\n

In the end I just\u00a0prepared a simple chestnut stuffing and roasted the bird,\u00a0on a rack above\u00a0the potatoes, until its\u00a0internal temperature was 160\u00ba. \u00a0The result was a perfectly-cooked Guinea hen, easily carved, more flavorful and juicy than chicken, and only very slightly more robust (gamey) in flavor; the fact that I didn’t\u00a0miss the absence of a relish or chutney of any kind should be the giveaway for that. \u00a0There were also some pan drippings, just enough even without deglazing the small amount of collected liquid.<\/p>\n

I will\u00a0admit that the sweet potato oven fries saw the light of the kitchen twice<\/em> after they were first put into the ancient Magic Chef, while I juggled developments in the separate cooking times of bird and tubers.<\/p>\n

One more small satisfaction\u00a0last\u00a0evening: \u00a0Barry and I listened to Marek Janowsky<\/a>‘s recording of\u00a0‘Die Walk\u00fcre’, beginning at the moment I actually started cooking. \u00a0The ‘Ride’ began just as I brought plates to the table\u00a0(whoa, drama!), and we didn’t rise from the table until the last note.<\/p>\n