Roast poussins with wild mushroom sauce

• poussin↗4
• garlic cloves↗8

  crushed with their skins on

• thyme sprigs↗16
• large pieces of lemons4

  peel

• butter↗50g g
• white wine↗200ml ml
• dried morels↗25g g

  or dried porcini mushrooms (see Tip)

• banana shallots↗2

  finely sliced

• garlic cloves↗2

  finely grated

• thyme sprigs↗8

  tied together with string

• double cream↗300ml ml
• dry sherry↗50ml ml
• cayenne pepper↗pinch of

  pinch of

• Baby Gem lettuce↗

  blowtorched, to serve (see Tip)

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   First, make the sauce. Bring the white wine to the boil and pour it on top of the dried mushrooms. Cover with cling film and leave to soak and rehydrate for 1 hr. After this time, pass the wine through a fine sieve into a saucepan and put the mushrooms to one side. Add the shallots and garlic to the wine. Put the pan on a medium-high heat until the wine has reduced by two-thirds, and the shallots are soft and translucent. Add the tied-up sprigs of thyme, the mushrooms and double cream. Bring the cream to the boil and gently simmer until it has reduced by a third. Remove from the heat, season, pour in the Sherry and turn off the heat until serving. Can be made 2 days ahead.

2. 2

   Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Stuff the cavity of each poussin with 2 garlic cloves, 4 sprigs of thyme and a piece of lemon peel. For neat presentation, you can now tie the poussin legs together, but this isn’t essential. Smear the butter over the poussins, put in a shallow roasting tin and cook for 30-35 mins until the legs easily come away from the bird, or until a digital cooking thermometer reads 75C when inserted in the breast. Take out of the oven, baste with the buttery cooking juices and leave to rest for 15 mins.