Seared Pigeon Breast with Wild Sorrel Salsa Verde
Never have experienced the biblical wonder of pennies from heaven while canoeing in Sussex, with Nick Weston, I was fortunate enough to witness the bizarre occurrence of pigeons from heaven. Paddling gently along the the shady waters of the Sussex Ooze the sharp crack of a shot gun burst through the undergrowth. Hidden in the corn fields above me a hidden farmer was making the most of an over-cast afternoon knocking a few pigeons out of the sky. The smell of cordite wafted over the water and after a short flapping of wings and a cracking of branches a plump pigeon splashed into the water in front of me. Then another then another then another.
Within half an hour four chubby pigeons were resting in the coracle and tired in the evening we seared the breasts on the camp fire and enjoyed them with a refreshing salsa verde foraged from the field we camped in. I doubt I will be eating pigeon or wild sorrel as I follow the Mekong, but if the river provides as well as the Ooze I will be a happy cyclist. This was the perfect wild supper after a day on the river.
- 4 pigeon breasts
- pinch of salts
- dribble of oil
1. Heat a skillet or pan until searing hot.
2. Season the breast in salt
3 .Drizzle a little oil in the pan and sear each breast on each side for no more than a minute.
For the a salsa
- cup of finely chopped wild sorrel (only the leaves not the stems)
- grated zest of one lemon
- 1 garlic clove, chopped and finely mashed into a puree
- 1 tsp of capers, rinsed, drained and finely chopped
- 0.5 tspn salt freshly ground black pepper
- good glug of olive oil
- large squeeze of lemon juice
1. Chop the garlic and capers sorrel together.
2. Stir in the lemon zest, salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to sit for half an hour to allow the flavors to blend.
3. Just before serving the salsa squeeze in the lemon juice.
This entry was posted on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at 19:20 and is filed under English Recipes, Recipe Of The Week, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Wow what a brilliant stroke of luck! It sounds like a perfect supper. I love pigeon. Nice little sauce there with the sorrel too.