Braised Guinea Fowl with Green Cabbage

📝 Ingredients

• 1 guinea fowl, cut into 8 pieces (about 1.3 kg)
• 1 small green cabbage (about 1 kg)
• 4 carrots (about 100 g each)
• 800 g waxy potatoes
• 2 brown onions (about 100 g each)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 chicken stock cube + 400 ml hot water
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme + 2 bay leaves
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large casserole dish with lid
• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Chef's knife
• Chopping board
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Remove the large damaged outer leaves from the cabbage, cut it into quarters, cut out the hard core, then slice the quarters into 2 cm strips. Plunge them into a large pan of boiling salted water for 5 min and drain: blanching mellows the flavour of the cabbage.
2. Peel the carrots and cut them into thick 1 cm rounds. Peel and slice the onions; peel the garlic and crush it with the flat of a knife. Peel the potatoes and halve them, or quarter them if they are large.
3. Pat the guinea fowl pieces dry with kitchen paper and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in the casserole over a medium-high heat and brown them in two batches, 4 to 5 min per side, skin side first, until nicely browned. Set aside on a plate.
4. Pour off the fat released by the skin, keeping just a spoonful in the bottom of the casserole. Fry the onions and carrots for 5 min over a medium heat, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom with the wooden spoon: they are what flavour the sauce.
5. Add the garlic, drained cabbage, thyme and bay leaf, and stir for 2 min. Pour in the stock cube dissolved in 400 ml hot water, then place the guinea fowl pieces and potatoes on top of the cabbage, pressing them halfway in.
6. Cover and simmer for 50 min over a low heat: the liquid should simmer gently, not boil. Turn the guinea fowl pieces halfway through. It's ready when the meat comes away easily from the bone and the potatoes are meltingly tender.
7. Remove the thyme and bay leaf, taste the juices and adjust the salt and pepper. If there is too much liquid, reduce it for 5 min uncovered over a high heat. Just before serving, remove the skin from the guinea fowl pieces, then divide them between plates with the cabbage, vegetables and a little of the juices.