White Oak Pastures’ guineas live unconfined on pasture, hunting, pecking, scratching, and dust bathing. This leads to stronger, healthier, and, in our opinion, tastier birds. It also means these birds use their muscles, which should be taken into consideration when cooking a pasture raised animal. Applying some of the same principles for preparing grassfed beef, such as marinating or seasoning one to two days in advance, can help tenderize those more active muscle fibers.
This slow-roasted recipe is our favorite way to prepare our whole guinea hens! Cooking poultry with the bone in adds more flavor and nutrition to the meat and the resulting broth.
Ingredients
- 1 White Oak Pastures pastured guinea fowl
- 1 large onion, large chop
- 3 carrots, large chop
- 4 celery stalks, large chop
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup water or stock
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- White Oak Pastures home-made poultry rub, 1/4 - 1/2 cup
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Method
- Pour olive oil on guinea, then smooth poultry rub mix all over bird (making sure to get under the skin and in the cavity).
- Place onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, in roasting pan or Dutch oven, nestle guinea hen on top, cover.
- Let guinea hen marinate for at least two hours or (preferably) overnight, to begin breaking down tougher muscle fibers and tenderize the bird.
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Add 1 cup water or stock to roasting pan, cover with lid or foil and place in middle rack of oven.
- Roast guinea, for about 1 hr, basting with pan liquid halfway through.
- Raise heat to 375F, remove lid. Baste again and brush guinea with melted butter. Continue to cook about 30 minutes more, depending on size, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the bird reads 160F.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Season vegetables and stock with salt and pepper according to taste.
Serves 2-4
