Pigeon

All other recipes including your personal favourite and any seasonal tips to share

Postby JollyJohn » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:09 am

onewheeler wrote:Cut off the breasts, use the rest for stock. Cook the breasts for three minutes each side on a fairly hot griddle, then flambé in armagnac or calvados. Slice on a plate and pour the juices over the top.


I'll second this. I'd say pigeon breast is just about my favourite meat, best slightly pink. I normally leave the rest of the bird for the fox.

John.
JollyJohn
Registered Member
 
Posts: 278
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 1:53 pm
Location: Cheltenham, England.

Postby Big Guy » Fri Apr 20, 2012 12:17 pm

Here are a few of my favourites

Crock pot Pigeon

4 pigeons, cut into serving pieces
oil
1 can cream of mushroom soup
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 onion , chopped
¼ cup red wine
½ cup uncooked rice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbs. hot sauce
¼ tsp. oregano
salt
pepper

Brown pigeon pieces in oil. Transfer to crock pot. Add all ingredients. Cook on low 4-6 hrs.


Pigeon Casserole in Red Wine Sauce


• 4 ounces bacon, diced
• 1 ounce butter (50 g)
• 4 pigeons or 2 wood pigeons
• 4 medium onions, skinned and chopped
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ounce flour
• 300 ml meat stock
• 100 ml red wine
Fry the diced bacon for 2 minutes, add the butter (I used 1oz of butter and a dash of olive oil) and the pigeons and brown quickly on all sides.
Remove and add the chopped vegetables, herbs, salt, freshly ground pepper and flour. Mix well.
Replace the birds, pour on the stock and the wine, bring to the boil and simmer very gently for 1 1/2 hours, until the birds are tender.
Serve with red currant jelly.

Pigeon with pecan dressing


4 whole dressed pigeons
½ cup white grape juice
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup onion, chopped
4 Tbs. Margarine
2 cups cornmeal muffins, crumbled
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup chopped pecans
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. poultry seasoning
¼ tsp. pepper
Combine grape juice and raisins in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Saute onions in margarine. In a large bowl combine onions, crumbled corn muffins, eggs, pecans, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and raisin and grape juice. Mix well. Stuff pigeons with the mix, place in a 9x12 baking dish and bake at 350 for 1 ½ hrs. serve with wild rice.
User avatar
Big Guy
Registered Member
 
Posts: 1240
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:31 am
Location: Southampton, Ontario,Canada/Floral city Florida

Postby Dogfish » Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:40 pm

Re: Vagreys

Rock Dove. Everything else except for turtle dove is protected here. But no regs on Rock Dove. They're the two-legged ones in the photo, courtesy of a Saturday afternoon road hunt a couple falls ago. The rest is cottontail rabbit.

<table><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VNcLa5rmOxyYNKUhkHBkhAxw5VFIYZUUOuaDDt6JAq0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Sg9b6aMU2cU/T5GAj4nTH4I/AAAAAAAAAiM/8uUE_Cij1ro/s800/Fall%2520Drive%2520N%2527%2520Blast.jpg" height="480" width="720"></a></td></tr><tr><td>From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/102722372691053052807/DropBox?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOe28rbej4GMlwE&feat=embedwebsite">Drop Box</a></td></tr></table>

It's kind of cool because people think "Nasty filth birds" etc etc but when you start going around the country, there are significant wild and extremely wiley populations living in the cliffs of the river valleys.
Dogfish
Registered Member
 
Posts: 472
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:40 pm
Location: Central Alberta/Vancouver Island

Postby Snags » Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:58 am

We kept pigeons as a kid in the backyard
We let them out daily they would return with extra delicious friends.
Mum used to brown them and then serve them in a white sauce,I loved it as a kid.
yet to take the plunge still researching
User avatar
Snags
Registered Member
 
Posts: 485
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:53 am
Location: Discovery Coast

Postby Big Guy » Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:30 pm

My mum did the same, brown them and serve with a white sauce, just scrumptious
User avatar
Big Guy
Registered Member
 
Posts: 1240
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:31 am
Location: Southampton, Ontario,Canada/Floral city Florida

Postby Dogfish » Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:38 pm

"Extra delicious friends" :lol:
Dogfish
Registered Member
 
Posts: 472
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:40 pm
Location: Central Alberta/Vancouver Island

Postby yotmon » Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:04 pm

In Britain we mostly shoot the Woodpigeon (Columba Palumbus) and its population runs into millions, resulting in it being classed as an agricultural pest - eating crops etc. They are very tasty and have a decent sized carcass. A much smaller relation is the Collared dove, which only arrived in the 1950's originally from Asia by crossing Europe. It was immediately put on the 'protected species' list and found a niche for itself, creating a population explosion. In the early 80's it was finally classed as a pest and became fair game for all ! True Rock doves are very rare and are only found on rocky shores of northern Scotland. However, their feral descendants are found in every city and town the length and breadth of the country. If they are shot, they mostly go into the bin, which I find a total waste - if your'e not prepared to eat it, then leave well alone. I am surprised by the change in behaviour of the woodpigeon. When I first got a shotgun in 1975, you would struggle to get within two fields distance of the birds without them taking flight - such was their wildness. But in 1983 I went to London for a coulple of days and was amazed to see them walking around public parks within close proximity of humans. Eventually this behaviour has travelled north and only last year a pair nested 10 feet away from my bedroom window and are a common sight feeding in small gardens. Oh, and I too enjoy them cooked as confit, but use butter spiced with nutmeg instead of duck fat.
User avatar
yotmon
Registered Member
 
Posts: 637
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:07 pm
Location: North west England

Postby Dogfish » Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:09 pm

yotmon wrote:In Britain we mostly shoot the Woodpigeon (Columba Palumbus) and its population runs into millions, resulting in it being classed as an agricultural pest - eating crops etc. They are very tasty and have a decent sized carcass. A much smaller relation is the Collared dove, which only arrived in the 1950's originally from Asia by crossing Europe. It was immediately put on the 'protected species' list and found a niche for itself, creating a population explosion. In the early 80's it was finally classed as a pest and became fair game for all ! True Rock doves are very rare and are only found on rocky shores of northern Scotland. However, their feral descendants are found in every city and town the length and breadth of the country. If they are shot, they mostly go into the bin, which I find a total waste - if your'e not prepared to eat it, then leave well alone. I am surprised by the change in behaviour of the woodpigeon. When I first got a shotgun in 1975, you would struggle to get within two fields distance of the birds without them taking flight - such was their wildness. But in 1983 I went to London for a coulple of days and was amazed to see them walking around public parks within close proximity of humans. Eventually this behaviour has travelled north and only last year a pair nested 10 feet away from my bedroom window and are a common sight feeding in small gardens. Oh, and I too enjoy them cooked as confit, but use butter spiced with nutmeg instead of duck fat.


The Collared/Turtle Dove has worked north as far as Calgary from Texas, so we see a few of them. There's no open season but the philosophy around here would support them as pests. I've known guys to shoot 50 rock doves in a shoot and throw them all away. That's just wrong. The livers are also extremely good -- I even had one fat and light coloured like a goose liver.

Regards confit in butter, I know it ain't butter but could seasoned lard work?
Dogfish
Registered Member
 
Posts: 472
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:40 pm
Location: Central Alberta/Vancouver Island

Postby yotmon » Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:21 pm

They could easily cook them for their dogs/cats/ferrets or whatever - save being wasted.
Talking about them being fat - one autumn (fall) I noticed a wood down the road from me was 'blue' with woodies. every tree had a dozen or so resting. So a quick chat to the farmer and I was back with my gun. There was literally thousands of them in this wood - the floor was white with pigeon droppings. I shot about a dozen or so before they got the message and moved over to another farm. When I plucked the birds, they had bands of fat running below the breast and were almost round like a well fattend turkey. They normally weigh around 16oz (1 lb), but these fatboys were tipping the scales at 20oz, so must have been getting good feeding somewhere. I believe that they had flown in from Scandanavia and had put weight on for the journey. Within days they had gone as quickly as they had come and I never come across pigeons like them again.
User avatar
yotmon
Registered Member
 
Posts: 637
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:07 pm
Location: North west England

Previous

Return to Cookery in general

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests