Pot-roasted pigeon enriched with chocolate

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 Young oven-ready wood pigeons
15 grams Unsalted butter; plus an extra knob
; (1/2oz)
1 Red onion; washed and chopped,
; skin left on
1 Carrot; washed and chopped,
; skin left on
1 Leek; washed and trimmed
; and then chopped
1 Clove garlic; peeled and crushed
4 Sprigs fresh thyme
2 Fresh bay leaves
½ Bottle gutsy red wine; such as Vega
; Sicilia from Spain
15 grams Dark bitter chocolate; grated (1/2oz)
Few leaves of crisp green cabbage; shredded
1 tablespoon Pine kernels
A splash of olive oil
Couple of rashers of crisply cooked
; streaky bacon
1 Crushed clove garlic
3 Juniper berries; crushed
Seasoning

Directions

TO SERVE

Preheat the oven to 200øC/400øF/gas mark 6 Mix together the butter, crushed garlic and thyme leaves stripped from 2 sprigs of thyme.

Lift the skin over the breast and smear the herb butter between the breasts and the skin. Season the pigeon. Sear the bird all over in a pre-heated cast pan or heavy frying pan. Remove the birds and add the chopped vegetables with a little knob of butter to lightly brown them.

Pour in the wine and bring to the boil. Add the rest of the thyme and the bay leaves and sit the pigeon upside down on the vegetables, basting them with the wine. Sitting the pigeon upside down allows the juices from the back to drip into the breasts and keeps them moist.

Pot-roast in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes until the breast are cooked but still quite pink - you'll need to check this because it depends on how plump the breasts are. Remove the breasts and keep warm allowing the flesh to rest and tenderise.

Break up the carcasses and add to the roasting tin. Bring to the boil and press the juices from the vegetables and the carcasses into the liquor.

Sieve into a clean pan pressing the residue through with the back of a wooden spoon.

Over a gently heat, whisk in the grated chocolate to thicken the sauce and to give it a gloss and an indefinable depth of flavour. Season carefully.

The cabbage: Brown the pine kernels in the olive oil in a large pan or wok.

Add the crushed garlic and juniper berries and then the bacon broken into small pieces. Add the shredded cabbage and quickly stir-fry until the cabbage wilts but is still crips, you may need a splash of water but it depends on the cabbage and how quickly it wilts. Season.

To serve: Serve the breaast sliced on a bed of cabbage with the sauce poured over and some parsnip mash.

Converted by MC_Buster.

Per serving: 262 Calories (kcal); 13g Total Fat; (41% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; 33mg Cholesterol; 50mg Sodium Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 6½ Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2 ½ Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates Converted by MM_Buster v2.0n.

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