Guinea Hen in Casserole
Source: Martha McCulloch-Williams, 1913
History
"Guinea Hen in Casserole" is recorded in Martha McCulloch-Williams's "Dishes & Beverages of the Old South" (1913). Six cloves are stuck in a cored and pared apple, a heart of celery thrust into the core space, and the whole fitted inside a guinea hen that has been buttered, salted and peppered within; grated bread crumbs are then packed in for all the space there is. Trussed, greased, seasoned and lightly browned all over in a hot oven, it goes into a casserole on a bed of sliced carrots, young green peas, shredded green peppers, sliced tomatoes and tiny onions, parboiled five minutes.
The guinea fowl is an African bird, and that is worth stating plainly rather than routing it through Europe. Guinea fowl were also brought to the Americas in the course of the transatlantic slave trade, and the bird's very name in English carries that geography. The historical record does not document a specific earlier origin for this particular casserole preparation.
"Dishes & Beverages of the Old South" is a mixture of recipes and plantation reminiscence. McCulloch-Williams was a white writer born near Clarksville, Tennessee, who grew up on a plantation before the Civil War; the book's dedication is "to our Mammys," and much of the cooking it records is the work of enslaved and formerly enslaved Black women it does not name.
Ingredients
- 6 cloves
- 1 apple
- 1 heart of celery
- 1 guinea hen
- butter
- salt
- pepper
- grated bread crumbs
- carrots
- young green peas
- green peppers
- tomatoes
- onions
- 1 cup hot water or weak broth
- tart jelly
Instructions
- Stick six cloves in a cored and pared apple, and thrust a heart of celery in the core space.
- Then fit it inside a guinea hen that has been buttered, salted and peppered inside.
- Pack in grated bread crumbs — all there is space for.
- Truss, grease, season, set in a hot oven, and brown lightly all over.
- Then lay in a casserole on a bed of sliced carrots, young green peas, shredded green peppers, sliced tomatoes and tiny onions, parboiled for five minutes.
- Add a large lump of butter rolled in flour, a cup of hot water or weak broth.
- Cover close, and cook an hour in a hot oven.
- Serve on the vegetables, bedded firmly, with tart jelly melted to barely run, splashed over the breast.