Roast Guinea Fowl

Well! That was easy!


I'm already wondering what the heck I'm doing starting a blog... like I've got anything interesting to say. But here I am, so deal with it. I may be talking to myself for the most part, but that's allowed.


Oh, in case you're wondering, 'sitbynellie' comes from the phrase to 'sit by Nellie' (OK, duh) which means to 'watch and learn' how to do anything, from someone older and more experienced, by literally 'sitting by them' and seeing how it's done. Sort of like one of the old ways of schooling, where younger kids would learn from their older siblings who'd received the lesson from the actual teacher.

I was brought up with the belief that the way to a man's heart was indeed through his stomach (NOT through the chest wall with a large knife). I couldn't cook well at all when young, and I thought I'd never get a man unless I could. As it turns out I married a man who's a picky eater whose God is not his belly.


The sitbynellie method is how I have learned to cook over the years, not so much from cookbooks, but from my family, and at school, and from my friends and in-laws. Tom's 94 year-old mother is the best cook I ever saw, and taught me a lot about good, simple cooking, the importance of what you put in your stomach, the wisdom of getting the very best ingredients you can afford, local if possible, and who has been buying 'organic' for decades, at a time when it was regarded as being only for hippies and cranks.

(Having said all that, I have to say also that I am diabetic and lactose-intolerant so a lot of the recipes I have I can nowadays only make for others, unless I can modify them. Ironic, huh.)

Anyway, this soapbox will not be all about cookery, but I may muse upon many things, and maybe not very cleverly or stylishly. I'm new to the blogging scene, so I'm 'sitting by Nellie' reading and learning from all the rest of you.

Roast Guinea Fowl

Serves 2 generously, and with leftovers

Ingredients:

2 oz. butter

5 cloves of garlic, minced, or more to taste

1 tsp. dried Italian-style herbs, or more to taste

zest and juice of ½ lemon

salt and pepper, to taste
1 Guinea fowl, about 1.3 kg.
4 rashers (slices) of smoked bacon

1 tsp. all-purpose flour

Method:

In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients. It helps if the butter is softened first.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200C/400F. Take the guinea fowl, and using the fingers, gently loosen the skin over the breast and push the butter underneath. Rub some on the bird as well. Cover the bird completely with the bacon.

Take an appropriately-sized roasting bag, and put in the flour. Holding the bag closed, shake it about to dust the inside. Place the bird carefully into the bag, and tie the opening tightly with kitchen string or the supplied tier-upper. Snip a tiny corner off the bag, then place the bird in its bag on a rack in a roasting tin, and roast for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until cooked through. (The general rule of thumb is the same as for chicken – 20 minutes per lb. plus an extra 20 minutes.)

Carve up and serve with vegetables of choice!