A delightful dish for a special occasion. The millefeuille can be prepared up to 3 hours before you need them and the sauce can also be made ahead of time.
Guinea fowl can be found in many supermarkets or order on line but is usually only stocked between September and March. It has a beautiful texture and flavour somewhere between chicken and pheasant, this is my favourite bird to eat
1 whole guinea fowl
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large banana shallot, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns
1 sprig thyme
100ml red wine
500ml chicken stock
90g unsalted butter
1/2 savoy cabbage, finely shredded
4 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (preferably on a mandolin)
5 sheets filo pastry
6 spring onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp chives
Carefully joint the guinea fowl. Remove the legs and wings. Remove the breasts by running a sharp knife along the breast bone cutting through the skin and then through the meat until you hit cartilage. Now using small swipes of the knife, gently remove the breast. Rub the legs and breast with a little vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with allspice and set aside.
Sauce
Preheat the oven to 220C fan. Break the carcass and wings down into smaller pieces and place in roasting tin with the carrot and shallot. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place onto the hob over a high heat, pour in the red wine and while it bubbles, scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan. When the wine is reduced by half, pour the contents of the roasting tin into a large saucepan. Add the stock, herbs and peppercorns and reduce until you have 200ml. This will take at least 30 minutes. Strain the sauce into a clean pan and set aside until needed.
Guinea fowl
Preheat the oven to 180C fan. In a large sauté pan, add a splash of vegetable oil, add the breasts skin side down and cook 4-5 minutes on each side and remove from the pan (a little pink is fine). Next add the legs and brown them all over then put in the oven for 20 minutes. Once everything is cooked, leave to cool then shred into a bowl ready for assembly.
Cabbage
In the same pan in which you cooked the guinea fowl, melt 1/3 of butter, add the cabbage, season with salt and sauté for 3 minutes. it should still be crunchy, set aside in a bowl.
Potatoes
In the same pan over a medium heat, pour enough olive oil to just cover the bottom. Working in batches and adding oil when needed, cook the potato slices for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden. Set aside onto kitchen paper and season with salt. Continue until all the slices are cooked.
Assembly and the final cook
Preheat the oven to 180C fan. Melt another 1/3 butter. Lightly brush each sheet of filo pastry with the melted butter (saving a little melted butter for the end) and cut out 4 rounds (approx 11cm) from each sheet giving you 20 rounds.
Line a rimmed baking tray with baking parchment and place 4 rounds of filo pastry on the tray. Top first with potato, then another filo round topped with guinea fowl, another filo round topped with cabbage and a sprinkling of spring onion and then the last pastry round. Brush with the remaining butter. (At this point you can put them in the fridge for up to 3 hours.)
Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until warm through and the pasty crisp and golden. Sprinkle with chives
While the millefeuille are baking bring the sauce to a boil over a high heat and let it bubble for 5 minutes. Cut the remaining 30g of butter into cubes. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the butter until melted and the sauce has thickened slightly. Taste and season. Serve drizzled around the millefeuille
Guinea fowl millefeuille
Ingredients
- 1 guinea fowl
- 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large banana shallot diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 sprig thyme
- 100 ml red wine
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 90 g unsalted butter
- 1/2 savoy cabbage finely shredded
- 4 potatoes peeled and thinly sliced (preferably with a mandolin)
- 5 sheets filo pastry
- 6 spring onions thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp chives chopped
Instructions
- Carefully joint the guinea fowl. Remove the legs and wings. Remove the breasts by running a sharp knife along the breast bone cutting through the skin and then through the meat until you hit cartilage. Now using small swipes of the knife, gently remove the breast. Rub the legs and breast with a little vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with allspice and set aside.
Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 220C fan. Break the carcass and wings down into smaller pieces and place in roasting tin with the carrot and shallot. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place onto the hob over a high heat, pour in the red wine and while it bubbles, scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan. When the wine is reduced by half, pour the contents of the roasting tin into a large saucepan. Add the stock, herbs and peppercorns and reduce until you have 200ml. This will take at least 30 minutes. Strain the sauce into a clean pan and set aside until needed.
Guinea fowl
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan. In a large sauté pan, add a splash of vegetable oil, add the breasts skin side down and cook 4-5 minutes on each side and remove from the pan (a little pink is fine). Next add the legs and brown them all over then put in the oven for 20 minutes. Once everything is cooked, leave to cool then shred into a bowl ready for assembly.
Cabbage
- In the same pan in which you cooked the guinea fowl, melt 1/3 of the butter add the cabbage, season with salt and sauté for 3 minutes. it should still be crunchy, set aside in a bowl.
Potatoes
- In the same pan over a medium heat, pour enough olive oil to just cover the bottom. Working in batches and adding oil when needed, cook the potato slices for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden. Set aside onto kitchen paper and season with salt. Continue until all the slices are cooked.
Assembly and final cook
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan. Melt another 1/3 of butter. Lightly brush each sheet of filo pastry with the melted butter (saving a little melted butter for the end) and cut out 4 rounds (approx 11cm) from each sheet giving you 20 rounds.
- Line a rimmed baking tray with baking parchment and place 4 rounds of filo pastry on the tray. Top first with potato, then another filo round topped with guinea fowl, another filo round topped with cabbage and a sprinkling of spring onion and then the last pastry round. Brush with the remaining butter. (At this point you can put them in the fridge for up to 3 hours.)
- Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until warm through and the pasty crisp and golden. Sprinkle with chives.
- While the millefeuille are baking bring the sauce to a boil over a high heat and let it bubble for 5 minutes. Cut the remaining 1/3 of butter into cubes. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the butter until melted and the sauce has thickened slightly. Taste and season. Serve drizzled around the millefeuille.
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