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Wild pigeon cured in birch sap wine
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This imaginative pigeon recipe from Chris Horridge uses a simple curing process to add an intense citrus flavour to the bird. This inspirational recipe, uses a remarkable method to cure the pigeon breasts that will make a stunning addition to a dinner party. You can buy the birch wine required in this recipe online and from specialty retailers.
First published in 2015
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Pigeon
- 6 pigeon breasts, boneless with skin removed
Marinade
- 50g of sea salt
- 50g of caster sugar
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 5 cloves, crushed
- 3 garlic cloves
- 6 black peppercorns, crushed
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 lemon, zested
- 250ml of birch wine
- 10 juniper berries, crushed
Citrus purée
To plate
- 1 handful of pea shoots
- 18 blackberries
- 12 hazelnuts
- 16 pistachios nuts
SAVE RECIPE
Method
3
For the marinade put the salt and sugar in a pan with the birch wine and bring to the boil. Remove from stove and add the thyme, bay leaves, cloves, garlic, peppercorns, juniper berries and lemon and orange zest. Leave to cool
- 50g of sea salt
- 50g of caster sugar
- 250ml of birch wine
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 5 cloves, crushed
- 9 garlic cloves
- 6 black peppercorns, crushed
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 lemon, zested
- 10 juniper berries, crushed
4
Take the skin off the pigeon breasts and place them in the marinade, cover and chill. Turn every 12 hours, leaving for a total of 48 hours. When the meat is sufficiently cured it should be fairly firm to the touch. If it still feels tender then continue to marinade for further 12 hours
- 6 pigeon breasts, boneless, skin off
5
Wipe off the excess marinade then wrap in cling film and freeze until solid
6
Unwrap and while still frozen slice as thinly as you can using a very sharp knife. As you slice, lay the meat on a sheet of greaseproof paper keeping the slices separate. This is important otherwise, on defrosting, which is almost instant, the meat will clump together and be almost impossible to separate
7
To plate, place the pea shoots in the centre of each rectangle of sliced pigeon then roll up into cylinders
- 1 handful of pea shoots
8
Spoon a line of the citrus purée onto each plate. Place the rolled up pigeon next to the citrus purée. Surround with blackberries, hazelnuts and pistachios and serve
- 18 blackberries
- 12 hazelnuts
- 16 pistachios nuts
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