People who know me would tell you that it's hard to tell which I like more: gardening or cooking. I'd say it depends on which I'm doing at the moment. Anyway, French cooking and French gardening go hand in hand. For me, cooking is an on-going adventure. Join me here on my culinary explorations, where I share with you both my old favorites as well as new inspirations. It's my fondest wish that these recipes serve as a springboard for your own new creations.
04/18/2012
Tagine of guinea hen, artichokes and peapods 
Clay pot
Ingredients:
For 4 servings:
1 fresh guinea hen, whole
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
For the stock:
1 medium carrot, two stalks celery, one medium onion, 6 sprigs parsley, all roughly chopped
6 peppercorns
The back, wings, gizzard, and neck of the hen (see below)
For the tagine:
2 T. unsalted butter
The breast and legs of the hen
1 medium onion, grated
1/2 tsp each cumin, sweet red pepper
1/4 tsp. each ground ginger, black pepper, turmeric
Large pinch hot Turkish or Moroccan red pepper
11/2 tsp. salt
6 sprigs each flat leaved parsley and cilantro, tied into a bundle
6 very small artichokes, or 2 standard large artichokes
1 lemon
4-5 "bulb" onions--small, fresh white onions, tops removed, cut in half or quarters according to their size
Additional pinches of cumin and red peppers to taste
1/2 lb. peapods, trimmed and stringed
Guinea hen stock, as needed
Chopped fresh coriander for garnish
The morning of the day you will serve the dish, cut up the hen with poultry shears. Cut the breast in half, but leave the thighs attached to the drumsticks. Salt and pepper generously, cover and refrigerate.
Make the stock. Put the rest of the hen parts (back, neck, wings, gizzard but not the liver) in an earthenware dish and roast at 400 degrees until well browned and crisp. Put the stock vegetables in a saucepan and cover generously with water. Add the peppercorns and bring to a gentle boil. Add the browned hen parts plus more water to cover if needed. Cover partially and simmer for several hours, Strain and discard the solids. Refrigerate the stock.
About two hours before serving, gently heat a clay tagine dish over medium heat with a flame tamer. Add the butter, the grated onion, and the spices and salt, combining well when the butter melts. Add the hen parts (breast and legs) and turn them in the butter-spice mixture to coat thoroughly. (This is best done with your hands.) Tuck in the herb bundle. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer one hour, turning the hen frequently and adding spoonfuls of stock as needed to keep a nice sauce in the bottom of the dish.
Squeeze the juice of half the lemon into a small bowl of cold water. If using small artichokes, break off all their tough outer leaves by pulling downward. Trim the base of the artichoke and the stem, just peeling it and leaving it intact. Trim the cone of remaining leaves by one-third to one-half, depending on its tenderness. Cut the artichoke heart in half, remove all trace of choke if any has formed with the point of a sharp knife. Drop into the acidulated water and repeat with the rest. If using large artichokes, trim down to the heart in the usual fashion, then cut each heart into sixths.
Tuck the artichoke pieces among the hen pieces, check the liquid, adding more stock if necessary, and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes. Scatter the bulb onions on top, cover, and continue simmering for about 15 minutes. Both the hen and the artichokes should be silky tender. At this point, you can hold the dish for several hours if needed, reheating gently before proceeding to the final steps.
About 5 minutes before serving, gently turn the onions into the tagine and move the hen pieces about to make sure they're not sticking. Add a bit of stock to the dish to create about an inch of sauce in the bottom. Verify the seasoning and squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice into the sauce.. Then scatter the peapods over the top of the tagine, cover, and turn off the heat. The residual heat of the clay tagine dish will be just sufficient to cook the peas to crunchy perfection in about 5 minutes. When the peas have turned bright green, scatter the coriander over the tagine and serve directly from the dish.
Note: When we take the train back from Provence to Paris, we generally bring back with us any leftover ingredients that we didn't get around to cooking over the weekend. This past weekend, I knew I'd brought back the guinea hen, the onions, and the artichokes. I thought I'd brought back some shelling peas as well, but it turned out I'd grabbed the snowpeas instead. So, instead of the more classic pea-artichoke combo, I worked with what I had and--voilà!--this unusually delicious tagine was born! Guinea hen, by the way, is quite a bit better adapted to tagine work than chicken. Do try it!
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