Roast Guinea Hen with Grilled Radicchio
- 1 guinea hen, about 4 pounds
- Salt and pepper
- 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped rosemary
- 1 large lemon, thinly sliced
- 3 strips pancetta or bacon, optional
- 1 large head radicchio
- Olive oil
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pat guinea hen dry and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper.
- Put garlic, rosemary and lemon slices inside the birds cavity.
- Tie legs together.
- Leave at room temperature for at least an hour (or refrigerate overnight and bring to room temperature).
- Put a rack in a roasting pan, and place bird on its side on the rack.
- Drape pancetta strips, if using, over bird.
- Roast, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then turn the bird on its other side and roast 20 minutes more.
- (Remove and reserve pancetta when crisp, about 20 minutes into roasting.
- Chop and sprinkle over for final garnish.)
- Turn the bird breast side up and roast for a final 20 minutes, or until juice run clear when thickest part of the thigh is probed.
- Baste well with pan juices at each stage.
- Let rest in a warm place at least 15 minutes before carving.
- Spoon pan juices over the meat.
- For the grilled radicchio, place a stove top grill over medium-high heat.
- Cut radicchio into 8 wedges.
- Season with salt and pepper and paint lightly with olive oil.
- Grill wedges for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until well colored and crisped.
- Alternatively, grill radicchio under the broiler.
guinea hen, salt, garlic, rosemary, lemon, bacon, head radicchio, olive oil
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014543 (may not work)