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Add ½ cup chopped walnuts or pine nuts to the wild-rice mixture.

Substitute port for the red wine.

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Guinea Hens

These ground-nesting, seed- and insect-eating birds came to Western cooking as a result of colonialism in western Africa; they are now raised extensively in southern France. The meat has not been domesticated—meaning that it’s all dark, all exercised, and ready for flight. The birds are also called “guinea fowl”—and indeed, it’s sometimes hard to determine whether you’ve bought a hen or fowl, despite the gendered name. They taste quite close to old-fashioned, minimally processed chicken, moist and flavorful, and a real treat for a dinner party. If you can’t find them at your market, look up suppliers on the web or in the Source Guide who can drop-ship them frozen to you.

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Guinea Hen Roasted with Oranges, Rosemary, and Red Wine

Roasting the bird over this aromatic mélange gives it a deep, sophisticated taste. Use a big, chewy red wine like a Côtes-du-Rhone or a California Cabernet. Use a very sharp chef’s knife to make even slices of the oranges, cutting them at a 90-degree angle from the stem end. A mandoline, set at a ¼-inch cut, will also do the trick, but make sure you use the food guard. Makes 4 small servings (can be doubled)

One 3-pound guinea hen, giblets and neck removed

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 oranges, cut into thin, ¼-inch slices

Four 5-inch rosemary spears

½ cup red wine

Lay the guinea hen breast side up on your work surface. Insert a sharp chef’s knife into the large cavity opening, locate the backbone, and make a cut from tip to tail along one side of the bone. Make a second cut along the other side of the backbone, thereby removing it. You can also clean up the breast section by removing the wing tips and cutting off excess rib sections that dangle free.

Now find the main joint between the thigh and the main part of the body. Feel for the ball-and-socket joint with your fingers. Wedge the knife in there, then cut down, slicing the thigh and leg quarter off the body. Do the same on the other side of the bird. (If you’re squeamish about these first two steps, ask your butcher to quarter the hen.)

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Gently massage the salt and pepper into both sides of all the bird’s pieces.

Heat a large, oven-safe skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat until a drop of water dances across the hot surface. Swirl in the olive oil, then slip the sections of the bird into the pan skin side down. Cook until well browned, about 5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to make sure the skin doesn’t stick.

Remove the guinea hen quarters from the skillet. Pour off all the fat. Lay the orange slices across the bottom of the skillet, placing them so that the quarters can sit on top of them. Lay the rosemary sprigs over the orange slices.

Return the guinea hen quarters to the pan skin side up, laying the pieces on the rosemary and oranges. Pour the wine over the birds, wetting them; slip the pan in the oven.

Roast, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until very brown, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meat without touching bone registers 165°F (our preference) or 180°F (the USDA recommendation), 40 to 50 minutes. Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving with the orange slices.

Variations: Substitute 15 thyme sprigs or 8 tarragon sprigs for the rosemary.

You can actually use this technique for chicken thigh-and-leg quarters, bone-in chicken breasts, or any small bird, even quail. The in-the-oven roasting times will vary dramatically—from 40 minutes for those chicken quarters to 10 minutes for quail. An instant-read meat thermometer will be your true guide.

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Water Fowl: Ducks and Geese

Most people think of these as fatty meats. Yes, they both have a thick layer of fat along the breast; it aids their buoyancy (contrary to popular belief, it