Roast Guinea Fowl with Apples & Grapes

📝 Ingredients

• 1 oven-ready guinea fowl (about 1.3 kg)
• 800 g waxy potatoes
• 3 apples (about 150 g each)
• 250 g white grapes (1 large bunch)
• 2 brown onions (about 100 g each)
• 4 garlic cloves + 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp olive oil (1 for the guinea fowl, 1 for the vegetables)
• 1 chicken stock cube + 200 ml hot water
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large baking dish
• Paring knife
• Chopping board
• Aluminium foil
• Large spoon
• Cooking thermometer (optional)

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (180 °C fan). Peel the potatoes, cut them into 4 cm chunks, rinse, then dry them well in a tea towel: if they're wet, they'll steam instead of browning.
2. Peel the onions and cut them into wedges. Wash the apples, cut them into 6 wedges without peeling and remove the core. Pick the grapes off the stalk, rinse them and set aside: they only go into the oven at the end of cooking.
3. Pat the guinea fowl dry with kitchen paper, then season inside and out with salt and pepper. Slip 2 sprigs of thyme and 2 crushed garlic cloves into the cavity, then rub it all over with 1 tbsp olive oil using your fingertips.
4. In the roasting dish, toss together the potatoes, onions, the other 2 whole garlic cloves, the rest of the thyme, 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper. Place the guinea fowl in the centre, lying on one leg, and roast for 25 min.
5. Turn the guinea fowl onto its other leg using two spoons, stir the vegetables and add the apple wedges. Dissolve the stock cube in 200 ml hot water, pour half into the dish and roast for another 25 min.
6. Turn the guinea fowl onto its back, add the grapes and the rest of the stock, then roast for 15 to 20 min. It's cooked when you pierce the top of the thigh and the juices run clear, with no trace of pink (75 °C in the centre on a thermometer).
7. Take out the guinea fowl, wrap it in foil and leave to rest for 10 min: this keeps the meat juicy. Tilt the dish, spoon off the fat that rises to the surface of the juices, then put the vegetables back in the switched-off oven to keep warm.
8. Carve the guinea fowl: cut off the legs at the joint, then remove the breasts from either side of the breastbone. Remove the skin, divide the meat between plates with the potatoes, apples, grapes and onions, and spoon over the juices.