Slow Cooker Garlic & Herb Guinea Fowl with Rustic Vegetables

There’s nothing better than coming home after a busy Sunday out with the family to a warm, comforting meal waiting for you. This Slow Cooker Garlic & Herb Guinea Fowl is the perfect fuss-free dish—simply prepare it in the morning, set the slow cooker, and let it work its magic while you enjoy your day.

Guinea fowl is becoming increasingly popular and is now widely available in supermarkets. With a flavour that’s richer and slightly gamier than chicken, it makes a fantastic alternative for a hearty, home-cooked meal.

Tender, flavourful guinea fowl is infused with a delicious mix of garlic, lemon, and herbs, sitting on a bed of rustic potatoes, carrots, and celery. As it slow cooks, the juices from the bird and vegetables create a rich, natural broth that can easily be thickened into a simple homemade gravy—perfect for drizzling over your meal.

With minimal effort and maximum flavour, this dish is ideal for a stress-free, home-cooked Sunday dinner. Just serve, carve, and enjoy—no last-minute rushing, just a hearty meal ready to warm you up when you walk through the door! 🍽️✨

Ingredients

1 whole guinea fowl

Herb Mix

3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 juice of 1 lemon
pinch maldon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano

Vegetables

4 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
3 large carrots,  cut into chunks
1 celery stalk,  cut into chunks
1 small onion, roughly chopped

3 whole garlic cloves

1 tbsp cornflour

water

Optional

Fresh parsley, chopped

Lemon wedges

Method

Prepare the Herb Mix
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley and oregano.

Prepare the Guinea Fowl

Pat the guinea fowl dry with kitchen paper.
Gently loosen the skin over the breast using your fingers or a spoon.
Spread the herb mixture under the skin, ensuring an even distribution.

Prepare the Vegetables

Place the potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic cloves and onion at the bottom of the slow cooker.

Assemble in the Slow Cooker

Place the prepared guinea fowl on top of the vegetables.
Spoon the rest of the Herb Mix over the guinea fowl.

Guinea Fowl in Slow Cooker at the start of cooking

Cook

Cover with the lid and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours, until the guinea fowl is cooked through (internal temperature should reach 75°C/165°F).

Carefully remove the guinea fowl and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

How to Make a Simple Gravy from the Cooking Juices

Strain the Juices

Once the guinea fowl is cooked, carefully remove it from the slow cooker and set it aside to rest.
Strain the juices into a small saucepan, removing any vegetable bits for a smoother gravy.

Thicken with Cornflour (Cornstarch) Slurry

In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) with 2 tbsp cold water until smooth.
Bring the strained juices to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
Gradually whisk in the cornflour slurry, stirring continuously until the gravy thickens (this usually takes 2–3 minutes).

Enhance the Flavour (Optional)

Add a knob of butter for a glossy finish.
Stir in a splash of lemon juice to brighten the flavours.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve

Pour the gravy over your guinea fowl and vegetables, or serve on the side in a jug.

Garnish with fresh parsley and extra lemon wedges if desired.

Enjoy your flavourful, fall-apart slow-cooked guinea fowl! 🍽️😊

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Greek Turkey with lemon potatoes - slow cooker recipe

An easy Sunday lunch or dinner, freeing up your time to spend with the family.

If you are trying to work out how to balance cooking from scratch with family life, then this is a really easy recipe that doesn't take long to prepare, and then the slow cooker looks after the rest. You can leave this unattended without any worries, returning to a hot meal.

Cheaper cuts of meat make really easy meals, but they need to cook slowly and at a lower temperature, so they will take more time. You can make the following recipe in a normal oven, but it also is really simple in a slow cooker. Slow cookers save on energy costs too.

I love my slow cooker for this. I set it to high and the timer for 5 hours before I start browning the turkey joint, put the ingredients into the pot and then put the turkey on the top, pop on the lid and your meal cooks itself. No extra water/stock is needed, but remember not to remove the lid during cooking as the steam evaporates and returns to the food to help the cooking through condensation on the lid.

There are many different types of slow cookers, but I have the Crockpot below and love it. It comes into its own at this time of year as it will take a whole chicken, large gammon joint, ox cheek, joint of brisket, as well as stews and for making stock.

Ingredients

Turkey Thigh Joint
3 tbsps olive oil
2 large brown onions, sliced thickly
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm chunks
1 tbsp dried oregano
Juice from 1 lemon
sea salt

Method

Switch on the slow cooker and set it to high (if you have a timer, set it to 5 hours).

Put a frying pan on medium heat and then add 2 tbsps of the olive oil; carefully place the turkey joint into the frying pan, skin-side down, to start to brown. When golden brown, turn over the turkey joint to brown the base.

While the turkey is browning, put the sliced onions and potato chunks into the slow cooker with the other 1 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle over the oregano, a pinch of sea salt and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly and spread across the base of the slow cooker.

When the turkey joint has browned, carefully transfer it onto the top of the onions and potatoes in the slow cooker, pour over any fat remaining in the frying pan.

Put the lid on the slow cooker and leave untouched.

You do not need to add any liquid to the cooker, it will cook in it's own juices. The lid must remain on the pot until at least 4 hours, as the heat would be lost. 

If you don't have a slow cooker, you can use a large roasting tray, add 1/2 pint hot water and cover with foil at Gas 4/180C/350F - check after 3 hours, check that the pan isn't dry (you may need to add a small amount of water so you have some gravy. Remove foil for last 30 minutes.

I served with some green beans, but also goes well with a greek salad in hotter weather.

Turkey Thigh Joint
This is available from Tesco. It is around £3.50 and will easily serve 4 people

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A veg fest

The disappearing veg act.

On Sunday, I popped into our local Waitrose to pick up something for dinner. It had been a very wet and cooler day, poor hubby had been out at an event all day and was going to be very soggy when he got home, so we thought it would be great to do a "warming pot of goodness" for dinner.
As usual, we start with the meat when we go shopping, then return to the veg section. Imagine my amazement, when there was no green veg available, no broccoli, cabbages, flat or runner beans, the section was completely empty. For a balanced diet, it's essential to have your "greens", all of the iron, vitamin C and other nutrients. You can't eat a rainbow without green in there somewhere. Apparently, on checking with friends, they have also been experiencing this in other supermarkets too. As the temperatures are back to normal, we aren't barbecuing every night, I decided that the only way to get my veggie fix resolved, was to get my Riverford box order in asap.

If you haven't ever ordered an organic box, I know it can seem a bit daunting, with lots of questions that you need to find the answers to:-

• Do you want a regular order?
• Can you choose what is in your box?
• How expensive is it going to be?
• Do you have to have a box every week?
• Where is it delivered and do you need to be home?

 I have tried a few different schemes, our first box was a weekly box, all the boxes for the area were delivered to one location about 5 miles away, we had to go and pick it up every Friday evening. It was very cost effective and a complete surprise every time you collected it, you didn't know what would be in it, but a great option, until that option stopped and I had to hunt for an alternative.
I did try an Abel and Coe box, but that needs a regular order and was more expensive.

I then tried Riverford and have been shopping with them for about 10 years. We don't have a regular delivery setup, instead, I check on their website when ordering and it gives you a full list of all the options, therefore I can select the box depending on the contents I need. Sometimes I get a bumper veg box, other times, a small box or combination veg and fruit box, but you are in control.
The first thing you notice is how fresh everything is, covered in the natural protection it grew in (yes I mean soil), but that means the veg keeps longer. You get a printed sheet with Guys latest newsletter, details of the contents of the box, tips on how to look after unusual veg and also some recipes. If you need more guidance, there's always the Riverford website, and their recipe database is phenonmenal.
Guy is reducing the amount of plastic used and looking at using greener packaging that is returnable or recyclable. 

The box contents will depend on your farm catchment, if you enter your postcode, you will then see what your contents will be and when your delivery day is. My delivery day is now a Tuesday, and therefore I need to order by 11pm on Sunday evening. That means I can plan the meals for the week.
My delivery today is as follows (remember the contents may be different in your area).

100% UK organic veg box

• Salad potatoes UK
• Carrots UK
• Golden bunched beetroot UK
• French beans UK
• Courgettes UK
• Calabrese broccoli UK
• Mixed salad leaves UK
• Cherry tomatoes UK

All for £13.95 which is much cheaper than buying the same Organic produce through any supermarket.

The great news is the bunched beetroot comes with the leaves, so I've followed the instructions and cut them off the beetroot, washed the leaves thoroughly and split into 2 bags, 1 to go with dinner tonight, the other to keep for another meal.

Tonight, I decided to make life easy, roasting the root veg while the chicken in mustard was also roasting, merely leaving the beetroot leaves needing cooking in a pan 5 minutes before serving. 

Roasted root veg

Potatoes
Carrots
Golden beetroot
Red onion (not from box)
Garlic cloves (not from box)
Fresh sprigs of rosemary (from garden)
couple of bay leaves (from garden)
Olive oil

Cut into similar sized pieces, pop on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and toss well. Put the sprigs of herbs amongst the veg and roast in a hot oven for 60 minutes.

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Tuna fishcakes

There was some riced (mashed) potato left after dinner the night before. Wondered what to make with it, bright idea, Tuna Fishcakes.
A light lunch served with salad.

Tuna Fishcakes (serves 3)

Ingredients

1 medium potato (mashed)
1 tin tuna drained and flaked
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 free range egg, beaten
1 tablespoons capers
2 oz self-raising gluten free flour
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

Mix the all the ingredients together in a bowl, lightly season. Divide into 6 and shape into patties about 1/2 inch thick.
Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan, add the oil and make sure you swirl around the pan covering all the base.
Turn heat to medium and add the fishcakes. Fry until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes then flip onto other side, again fry until golden brown. Flip a couple more times until cooked.
Serve with a mixed salad.

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Leek and Potato Soup - Simple can be all that's needed

Gently does it

When you aren't feeling quite as good as you should, slightly off colour then soup maybe all you fancy. A very simple Leek and Potato soup would be a failsafe, plus I could put into a pour and store bag and pop in the fridge for later.

Leek and Potato Soup

Ingredients

1lb Potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1 Leek, washed and sliced
1 Vegetable stock cube
Water to cover
Seasoning

Method

Put all the ingredients in the pan and cover with enough water so that there is 1/2 inch above all the ingredients.
Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are soft.
Remove from heat and then blend using a hand blender.
Season to taste. If serving at a dinner party, you can add a swirl of cream and a few chopped chives, but for convalescing leave out the cream.

If chilled, this is a great vichyssoise.

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Turkey goulash

Ingredients:
2 tbsps olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1lb potato chunks

2 tbsp olive oil
1lb turkey leg pieces
1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp tomato puree
4 large tomatoes chopped
1/2 pint chicken stock
1 green pepper, chopped

Method
Heat oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and garlic, fry until soft. Add the potatoes and sauté for approximately 3 mins. Remove into a bowl.
Add remaining oil and fry the turkey for a minute, add the caraway and fry until the turkey is brown on all sides, add the paprika and cayenne and stir fry for a minute to release the flavours, season the turkey. Add the flour and make sure this is stirred in, covering all pieces of the turkey.
Put the potatoes and onions back in with the turkey, add the tomato purée, the chopped tomatoes and the chicken stock.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Add the chopped green peppers and cook for until the potato is tender, approximately 20 minutes.

Serve with sprinkle with chopped chives and a spoon of sour cream.

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Cheesy Dauphinois Potatoes

Ingredients

3 potatoes, cut into thin slices

250ml double cream

125ml milk

55g Butter

1 garlic cloves, chopped

100g cheddar cheese grated

salt and fresh ground black pepper

1. Prepare the potatoes by cutting into thin slices 0.5cm . Preheat the oven to 190ºC/Gas 5.
2. In a saucepan heat the garlic, potatoes and cream and butter, add enough milk to just cover the potatoes. Cover and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
3. Transfer the potato mixture to a shallow gratin dish, top with the grated cheese. Bake the potato mixture for 30 minutes.

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Curried Parsnip Soup

It has been really freezing here all day, woke to find the water pipes frozen, so took until 12.30 to defrost. I was wondering if I was going to get the soup pot on or not today.

Took the fork to the garden at 2.30, it was hard to get it in the soil as it was still frozen, but managed to dig up 2 wonderful parsnips.

Curried Parsnip Soup
1oz butter
1 Red onion
2 parsnips
1 medium potato
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp plain flour
1 pt chicken stock
1 pt water
2 tbsp double cream
salt & pepper

saute the chopped onion, parsnip, potato and garlic in a large pan for approximately 10 mins, add curry powder and flour, fry gently to release the spices. Add the stock and water and then simmer until all veg is soft. Whizz with a hand blender until smooth. Add the double cream and then season to taste. Serve with a swirl of cream (optional).

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Watercress soup

Oh dear, you know when you do something and then make a rod for your own back. Homemade soup yesterday went down so well, that I got another request today. It's just as well that soup is so easy to make, chuck it in, simmer, whizz it with a hand blender and you have soup.

Watercress soup
2 tblsp olive oil
1 large onion
2 large potatoes
1 pint chicken stock
1 bag of watercress, washed
double cream
salt & pepper

Chop the onion, saute in a pan until soft. Add the chopped potato, cover with chicken stock, add the watercress, bring to boil and then simmer until the vegetables are soft. Whizz soup with hand blender until smooth, season to taste and thin with water if required. Add a couple of tablespoons of double cream and stir. Serve and add a swirl of double cream if desired.

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