Guinea Fowl Ballotine with Morel Cream Sauce

⏱ 150 min · Serves 4

A proper centrepiece: guinea fowl breast rolled around a silky thigh-and-tarragon farce, poached gently then seared to a golden burnish, and napped with a heady morel and Madeira cream. It takes an afternoon, but you'll be cutting into neat pink-tinged spirals that look like they came from a Michelin pass.

Per serving: 842 kcal · 58.0g protein · 29.0g carbs · 52.0g fat

Ingredients

• 1 whole guinea fowl (approx. 1.4kg), or 4 boneless breasts with skin + 2 boneless thighs
• 150g chicken breast, diced and well chilled
• 1 egg white
• 120ml double cream, very cold (for the farce)
• 2 tbsp tarragon leaves, chopped
• 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 small shallot, finely diced and softened in butter
• 30g dried morels (or 200g fresh morels)
• 300ml hot chicken stock (for soaking the morels)
• 50g unsalted butter
• 1 banana shallot, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 100ml Madeira (or dry sherry)
• 150ml dry white wine
• 250ml double cream (for the sauce)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• Fine sea salt and white pepper
• Cling film and kitchen foil, for rolling
• 400g Jersey Royal or baby new potatoes, to serve
• 200g young spinach, to serve

Method

1. If using a whole bird, remove the breasts with skin attached and bone out the thighs. Reserve the carcass for stock (or freeze). Chill everything well.
2. Soak the dried morels in the hot chicken stock for 30 minutes. Lift out, squeeze gently, halve any large ones and rinse briefly to remove grit. Strain the soaking liquid through muslin and reserve.
3. Make the farce: blitz the chilled diced chicken and thigh meat (reserve a little thigh, diced, for texture) in a food processor with 1 tsp salt until smooth. Add the egg white, pulse, then trickle in the 120ml cold cream with the motor running. Do not overwork or it will split. Scrape into a cold bowl and fold in the cooled softened shallot, tarragon, parsley and the reserved diced thigh. Season with white pepper. Fry a teaspoon to check seasoning.
4. Lay each guinea fowl breast skin-side down between cling film and gently flatten with a rolling pin to an even 1cm. Season lightly.
5. Spread a generous line of farce along each breast, then roll up tightly in a double layer of cling film, twisting the ends like a cracker to form a firm, even cylinder. Tie the ends with string. Chill 30 minutes.
6. Poach the ballotines in water held at 68-70C for 30 minutes (or barely simmering water, lid off, for 22-25 minutes). Lift out and rest 10 minutes, then unwrap and pat completely dry.
7. For the sauce, melt half the butter in a pan, sweat the banana shallot and garlic until soft, add the morels and cook 2 minutes. Pour in the Madeira and flame or reduce to a glaze, add the white wine and reduce by half, then the strained morel liquor and reduce by two-thirds.
8. Add the 250ml cream and simmer until it coats the back of a spoon. Season, sharpen with lemon juice, whisk in the remaining butter and keep warm.
9. Heat the oil in a heavy pan and sear the ballotines all over until deeply golden and the skin is crisp, 3-4 minutes, basting with a knob of butter. Rest 5 minutes.
10. Boil the potatoes until tender; wilt the spinach in butter and season. Slice each ballotine into three thick rounds, arrange on warm plates, spoon over the morel cream and serve with the potatoes and spinach.