Yield: 2 servings
Season: winter

Stuffing

• 1 guinea hen (About 3 pounds)
• 1 slice country bread (1 inch thick)
• 2.8 ounces duck foie gras
• 1 black truffle, finely sliced
• 2.5 ounces duck fat
• A scant ½ cup peanut oil
• Dash of chicken stock
• Salt and pepper

Garnishing

• 8 green asparagus (Chef Darroze uses asparagus from Les Landes)
• 4 small potatoes (Chef Darroze uses potatoes from Grenailles)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 slice of bacon (1 centimeter thick)
• ¼ pound mâche (lamb's lettuce)
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons truffle oil
• Salt and pepper

Empty and clean the guinea hen. Using a mandoline, finely slice the black truffle. Dip your hand in peanut oil and delicately separate the skin from the guinea hen's breasts, thighs and the fatty part of the thighs. Insert black truffle slices. Cut the slice of bread into 4 large pieces and brown them with duck fat. Cut the foie gras into large pieces. Season with salt and pepper and then stuff the inside of the guinea hen with the bread and foie gras. Tie up with a string to close.

Clean the asparagus and the potatoes and cut them in two. Blanch the bacon, and cut into lardons. In an oven dish, brown the guinea hen in the duck fat. Add the potatoes, the lardons and the garlic cloves. Brown well, then put in the oven at 400°F, adding water frequently. Depending on its weight, the guinea hen will cook for 45 to 60 minutes, but the garnishing will cook in only 20 minutes, so make sure to take it out when it's done.

In a small sauté pan, brown the green asparagus in a bit of duck fat. Add some chicken stock. As the stock evaporates, add more. Continue this process until the asparagus is cooked.

Once the guinea hen is cooked, let it stand for 10 minutes on a rack on top of a pan to collect the juice. Untie the guinea hen. Take out the bread and the foie gras from the cavity. Cut off the breasts, the thighs and the fatty part of the thighs. Warm the breasts and garnishing in a warm oven. Chop up the rest of the guinea hen's carcass. Brown the pieces in a skillet over high heat. Deglaze with a bit of water. Reduce totally and then cook again. Add water and let it reduce. Do it once more, then separate the juice from the fat.

First serve the breasts and the garnishing with a dash of juice splashed around the plate. Then, serve the thighs and the fatty part of the thighs with mâche seasoned with truffle oil and balsamic vinegar.