A delicious pairing of pigeon and foie gras accompanied by roasted parsnip and chestnut, homemade cranberry sauce, fresh sage, chestnut stuffing and Madeira jus.
You can prepare most of the elements in advance and reheat before serving, making this a most impressive dinner party dish.
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Pigeon, Foie Gras, Chestnut
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the Sauce: 1tbsp Unsalted Butter, 2 Shallots (Sliced), 2 Garlic Cloves (Bashed), 150ml Madeira, 150ml Game Stock, 3 Thyme Sprigs, Sea Salt, Cracked Black Pepper
For the Stuffing: 250g Pork Sausagemeat (Gluten Free if Required), 75g Cooked Chestnuts (Finely Chopped), 1 tsp White Pepper, Zest 1 Orange, Small Handful Sage Leaves
To Finish: 8 Pigeon Breasts, 1tbsp Rapeseed Oil, 2tbsp Unsalted Butter, 2 Parsnips, 2 Slices Foie Gras, 75g Cooked Chestnuts (Chopped & Oven Dried), Homemade (Or Good Quality) Tart Cranberry Sauce, Sage Leaves, Sea Salt, Cracked Black Pepper
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Method:
1) Pre-heat the oven to 220c. Make the stuffing by combining the ingredients in a small bowl and mixing well until fully combined. Roll the stuffing into a sausage shape in tin foil and transfer to the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Once cooked, remove from the oven and remove the tin foil and then cut into disks and keep warm. Peel and half the parsnips, season with sea salt and wrap in tin foil. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes until tender and remove, cut in half and keep warm.
2) Meanwhile, make the sauce by melting the butter in a medium saucepan and adding the shallot, garlic and thyme. Sauté the mixture over a medium heat for 5 minutes until softened. Turn the heat up high and add the Madeira. Allow to reduce by half. Add the stock and simmer for 10-20 minutes or until a thick consistency is achieved. Season to taste with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Keep warm.
3) Place a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the rapeseed oil. Season the pigeon breasts with sea salt and cracked black pepper and fry for around 2 minutes each side or until cooked to your liking – add the butter 2 minutes before the end of cooking and baste the breasts. Set the pigeon aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.
4) Drain the butter from the pan and dry with kitchen towel. Reduce the heat to medium. Season the foie gras with sea salt and sauté for 30 seconds-1 minute each side. Remove and dice into small cubes.
5) Slice the pigeon breasts and serve atop the cranberry sauce and sage leaves. Set a disk of the stuffing on the side. Serve the roast chestnut and diced foie gras between two halves of the parsnip. Spoon some Madeira jus over the plate.
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Enjoy!
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