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Grilled pigeon for scooping up a summery green mash.
Serves 2, with plenty of the mash
pigeons 2, oven ready
juniper berries 12
olive oil 4 tbsp
peas frozen or podded weight 300g
butter 40g
tarragon stemmed weight 15g (about 4 tbsp of leaves)
Directions
Place the pigeons on a chopping board, each bird plump side down. Using scissors or a heavy cook’s knife split the birds down the backbone then open them out flat. Put them in a roasting tin or a grill pan, with their skin side up.
Lightly crush the juniper berries with a heavy weight – I use a pestle – to release their fragrance, then add them to the olive oil together with a generous pinch of sea salt and a grinding of black pepper. Trickle this seasoned oil over the birds and leave them for an hour or so, turning them once or twice.
Cook the flattened pigeons in the roasting tin or a pan using an overhead oven grill. (You could cook them on a barbecue if you prefer.) The cooking time they need will depend very much on the heat of your grill and how rare you like your meat. Turn the pigeons occasionally during cooking until the skin is lightly crisp and the flesh is rose pink inside.
Cook the peas in deep boiling water until tender, then drain them in a colander and tip them into the bowl of a food processor. Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the tarragon leaves to the peas, then the melted butter and process to a soft, creamy purée.
Divide the tarragon pea purée between two plates and then add the pigeons. Eat what meat you can using a knife and fork, but ultimately this is a fingers rather than forks type of dish.
Serves 2, with plenty of the mash
pigeons 2, oven ready
juniper berries 12
olive oil 4 tbsp
peas frozen or podded weight 300g
butter 40g
tarragon stemmed weight 15g (about 4 tbsp of leaves)
Directions
Place the pigeons on a chopping board, each bird plump side down. Using scissors or a heavy cook’s knife split the birds down the backbone then open them out flat. Put them in a roasting tin or a grill pan, with their skin side up.
Lightly crush the juniper berries with a heavy weight – I use a pestle – to release their fragrance, then add them to the olive oil together with a generous pinch of sea salt and a grinding of black pepper. Trickle this seasoned oil over the birds and leave them for an hour or so, turning them once or twice.
Cook the flattened pigeons in the roasting tin or a pan using an overhead oven grill. (You could cook them on a barbecue if you prefer.) The cooking time they need will depend very much on the heat of your grill and how rare you like your meat. Turn the pigeons occasionally during cooking until the skin is lightly crisp and the flesh is rose pink inside.
Cook the peas in deep boiling water until tender, then drain them in a colander and tip them into the bowl of a food processor. Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the tarragon leaves to the peas, then the melted butter and process to a soft, creamy purée.
Divide the tarragon pea purée between two plates and then add the pigeons. Eat what meat you can using a knife and fork, but ultimately this is a fingers rather than forks type of dish.
