Guinea fowl with roast chestnuts

• guinea fowl↗1

  or chicken, about 1.3kg/3lb

• lemon↗
• bay leaves↗2
• thyme

  sprigs

• olive oil↗3 tbsp tbsp
• potato↗500g g

  unpeeled, cut into chunks

• garlic cloves↗3

  unpeeled and bruised

• chestnut mushroom↗200g g

  halved if large

• cooked chestnut200g g
• white wine↗150ml ml
• chicken stock↗150ml ml
• bramble or redcurrant jelly↗ tbsp

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Season the guinea fowl or chicken inside and out, halve the lemon, then put inside the bird with the bay leaves and 2 thyme sprigs. Set in a roasting tin, drizzle with a little olive oil, then roast for 15 mins.

2. 2

   Meanwhile, strip the remaining thyme leaves from their stalks. Mix the potatoes, thyme, garlic and remaining oil, then season. Put potatoes around the bird, then return to the oven for 45 mins. Stir the mushrooms into the potatoes along with the chestnuts. Roast for a further 15 mins until mushrooms are cooked. Spoon vegetables onto a warm platter. Nestle the cooked bird back among veg. Keep warm while you prepare the sauce.

3. 3

   Boil the pan juices on the hob, add the wine, stock and jelly, then bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the jelly. Boil hard until the sauce is slightly thickened. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary, then pour into a jug and pass round for everyone to help themselves.