Pigeon (Pigeonneau Royal d’Anjou)
Truffle
Dried ceps
Duck liver mousse
Puff pastry
Bella di Cerignola giant olives
Provence herbs
Sour cream
Thick cream
Onion
Garlic
Dried combava leaves
The heart of this dish is the complex sauce. The ceps, the pigeon livers and the duck mousse come together to produce a rich complex flavour.
The sauce.
You will ony need a third of the quantity of sauce, so you can save some for pasta or freeze the rest.
Put 55g of dried ceps and bolet mushrooms in 650ml of warm water. Leave for 10 mins then boil and simmer for 20 mins.
Put half an onion and two garlic cloves in a frying pan and heat on low heat for a minute or two.
Add the mushrooms with all the juices from the boiling pan.
Set to high heat and cook for 5 mins. Add 20cl of liquid cream, stir and reduce for 15 mins. Add another 20cl of liquid cream. Reduce for 40 mins on low heat.
Cut the pigeon livers into pieces and add to the sauce. Add 25g of duck liver mousse/paste. Stir well and simmer another 5mins. The mousse should now look like melted chocolate with a very thick consistancy.
With a mixer, mix the sauce well to reduce all the ingredients to a fine pulp.
The olives.
These giant Bella di Cerignola olives are divine, succulent and crispy. Take two olives per person and put them into a jar with olive oil, thyme, rosemary, garlic, baby onions and mixed peppercorns (optional half slice of lemon). Put them in a day or two before you need them.
The puff pastry.
Put four layers of puff pastry on top of each other and put into the bottom part of the oven at 200°C for 10/15 mins until golden.
Take the tops off and serve with the fluffy pastry visible.
The pigeon.
Carefully cut the pigeon breasts out and clean their surface. Roll them in olive oil, sea salt and pepper (keep the oil for later). Put one breast on top of the other, pop a twig of thyme in and tie with kitchen string. Set a pan to high heat and sear the meat all around then bring down to medium heat and finish the cooking to your liking (pink inside is best). When you take the pigeon out of the pan, put it into silver foil for 5 mins. This will continue cooking it so take it off the heat whilst its still a bit bloody.
Take it out of the foil and roll into the oil that had the salt and pepper.
Grate 10g of truffle per breast and roll the pigeon in the truffle until its covered all over.
Cover the thighs in flour and deep fry on maximum heat till crispy.
Serving.
Place the sauce in a bottomless cutter form, the puff pastry, some seasonal edible flowers and the pigeon with a sprig of thyme.
Fill a side bowl with dried combava leaves (just for decoration), then place the crispy thighs and two olives on them.