We were down at the farmer's market in Southsea this weekend and had been having the craving for some game lately. This is certainly the time of year for game around here, so we picked up a bunch of pigeon breasts, along with some venison and wild boar sausage (coming soon to this blog, I expect).
The pigeon tasted fabulous! Cooked to a nice pink, it had a surprisingly meaty (and not too gamey) flavor which was nice with the salad. I used walnuts and walnut oil, as I could not find the hazelnut stuff.
breasts from 8-12 wood pigeons
sea salt and black pepper
olive oil
knob butter
2 heads oak leaf lettuce, washed and torn
4 large cooked beetroot, peeled and diced
75 g roasted hazelnuts, lightly crushed
few wild rocket leaves, optional
HAZELNUT VINAIGRETTE
50 milliliters sherry vinegar
100 milliliters olive oil
50 milliliters hazelnut oil
For the vinaigrette, whisk the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Season the pigeon breasts with salt and pepper. heat a heavy-based frying pan with a little olive oil until hot. Add the pigeon breasts, skin side down, and fry for about 3 minutes until the skin is crisp. Turn over and cook the other side for about 2-3 minutes, adding a knob of butter towards the end. As the butter melts, spoon it over the pigeon breasts to baste them. They should feel slightly springy when pressed. Transfer the pigeon breasts to a warm plate and leave to rest, lightly covered with foil, while you assemble the salad.
For the salad, toss the lettuce together with the beetroot, a handful of the crushed hazelnuts and some of the vinaigrette. Divide the salad amongst individual plates.
Slice the pigeon breasts thickly into 4-5 even pieces. Drizzle a little vinaigrette over them to keep the meat moist. Arrange the breasts on top of the salad and scatter over the remaining hazelnuts. Drizzle over a little vinaigrette and finish with a few rocket leaves if you like.
No comments:
Post a Comment