Pigeon Breasts

[ratman]

This time of year and into the summer there are young birds to be harvested. The flesh is tender and worthwhile taking a little time over. One of my favourte ways to cook them is as follows.

Allow 2 - 3 pigeon breasts per person.

Remove the breast fillets from the birds and cut a pocket lengthways in each breast, not all the way through the flesh but deep enough to be able to fill with a knob of boursin garlic cheese. Lay strips of onion or spring onion if preffered over the breast and then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Wrap each breast tightly with smoked streaky bacon and secure with a cocktail stick at either end.
Place the breasts under the grill and cook until the bacon is crisp. The onion will have also crisped and the garlic cheese melted over the breast, the pigeon will still be pink inside and as mouthwatering as you can get.
Serve with a nice glass of wine and enjoy

[Ruralidle]

That sounds good. I'll have to give that recipe a try. My favourite up to now is to marinade the pigeon breast for 3 to 4 hours in red wine, with thyme and a lightly crushed garlic clove. Remove from the marinade, pat them dry and season with salt and black pepper before placing them on a hot barbeque, grill for a couple of minutes until the skin and flesh side are slightly charred. Do not grill to any more than medium rare and then keep then warm whilst you boil, reduce and thicken the marinade, removing the garlic clove and any stalks of thyme (leaves can stay). Serve the pigeon breasts on warm plates, with the sauce. (The pigeon breasts should be served no more cooked than medium otherwise they can resemble the texture of shoe leather),

[ratman]

That sounds good, I totally agree about over cooking pigeons though, there is nothing worse than an overcooked pigeon breast. I like mine very pink. Another favourite of mine is to hot smoke them on the BBQ, I get two pigeon breasts and lay a slice of mango either side before wrapping them in streaky bacon, place them at the far end of the barbie and light the opposite end on it's lowest heat. Above the lit end place a tray of soaked hickory woodchips and then close the lid. It takes about an hour and a half on my barbie which is just long enough for the pigeon to lightly cook and everything to take on a lovely smoky flavour. I then let it sit in the fridge overnight and eat the next day thinly sliced with a salad and a cold bottle of wine. Really delicious

[Ruralidle]

Now you've really got me wishing for good barbie weather!