Roasted wood pigeon with confit pigeon pithivier, mushroom fricassee, kale and red wine-baked figs
Ingredients
- Pigeon pithiveier:
- 4 pigeon breasts and 8 legs
- 10ml vegetable oil
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 stick celery, peeled and diced
- 1 leek, peeled and diced
- 1 onion, peeled & diced
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed
- 20ml red wine
- 1 litre chicken stock
- salt and ground black pepper
- 1 banana shallot, peeled, diced
- 25ml tarragon vinegar
- 320g ready to roll puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
- Mushroom fricasée:
- 1 shallot, peeled and chopped
- 40g unsalted butter
- 1 clove garlic, peeled, crushed
- 400g mixed wild mushrooms (chanterelles, girolles etc.)
- 100ml dry white wine
- 50ml double cream
- handful flat-leaf parsley leaves
- juice of ¼ lemon
- Figs:
- 4 figs, halved
- 1 sprig tyhme
- 20ml port
- Pigeon breasts:
- 4 pigeon breasts
- 20ml vegetable oil
- 1 clove garlic, peeled, crushed
- 2 sprigs thyme
- salt and ground black pepper
- 10ml vegetable oil
- 10g unsalted butter
- Kale:
- 100g fresh kale, washed
- 25g unsalted butter
Method
- Pigeon pithiveier: Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4.
- In a medium/hot frying pan, fry the pigeon breasts and legs in vegetable oil until lightly coloured.
- Add the carrot, celery, leek, onion, thyme and garlic to the pan and cook out.
- Deglaze with red wine and put the contents of pan in an oven-proof dish.
- Cover with chicken stock and braise in the oven for 2 hrs.
- Remove from the oven, remove meat and flake into a bowl.
- Season. Sauté shallot, add tarragon vinegar and cook out.
- Add meat to pan and mix well.
- Allow mix to cool, then roll into 25g balls and set aside to rest.
- Preheat oven to 190C/Gas 5.
- Lay out pastry sheets and cut four 8cm discs and four 11cm discs.
- Place a ball in centre of each smaller disc, wash with egg and cover with a larger disc.
- Press around the edges, removing all excess air.
- Recut edge with the smaller disc cutter.
- Wash with egg and bake 7-10 mins.
- Mushroom fricasée: In a large frying pan over a medium heat, soften shallot in 1 tsp butter for 30 secs without colouring.
- Increase heat to high and add garlic and mushrooms.
- Season with salt.
- Once all the moisture is out of the pan, add wine.
- Cover and cook at a full boil for 1 min.
- Add remaining butter, cream and chopped parsley, cook 10-30 secs.
- Taste, season, add lemon juice to suit.
- Figs: Preheat oven to 200C/Gas 6.
- In a hot frying pan, sear figs flesh side down until golden.
- Turn figs over, add thyme and deglaze with port.
- Place in oven for 3 mins.
- Pigeon breasts: In a bowl, combine oil, garlic and thyme and marinate pigeon breasts for 1hr.
- Season meat with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- In a medium/hot pan, warm a little oil and the butter and leave the butter to foam.
- Place breast in pan skin side down with garlic and thyme from the marinade and cook for 1 min until golden.
- Turn meat over and cook for 2 mins, basting with the butter in the pan.
- Remove meat from pan and rest for 2 mins before serving.
- Kale: Put a pan of salted water on to boil and once boiling add kale for 1 min.
- Remove, place on paper towel to remove excess water.
- Put in a bowl and add butter.
- Serve: Place pithivier off centre on a plate and rest fig to one side.
- Place kale and mushroom fricasée between the fig and pithivier.
- Slice pigeon breast and place on top, drizzle over red wine syrup from the figs and serve.
