Pigeon Breast with Red Wine Gravy, Roast Leeks and Wild Mushrooms

Ingredients:

For the Pigeons
8 wood pigeon breasts
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
6 black peppercorns, crushed
4 tbsp olive oil

For the gravy
2 tbsp sugar
200ml red wine
2 sprigs thyme
6 juniper berries, lightly crushed

For the roasted leeks
12 baby leeks, trimmed
1 tbsp butter

For the wild mushrooms
handful of Jew's Ear mushrooms, sliced
15-20 wild brown closed-cup mushrooms, sliced (or use chestnut mushrooms)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly-ground pepper

Method

Form a marinade by mixing together the garlic, thyme leaves, peppercorns and oil in a bowl. Score the pigeon breast skin with a sharp knife and lightly score the skin. Liberally rub in the marinade and leave the breasts in the bowl to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

Make the gravy by adding the sugar and a few drops of water in a small, clean, saucepan. Place over high heat and as soon as the sugar has melted and turned a golden brown add the red wine, thyme and juniper berries. Continue cooking the sauce until it has reduced by 2/3 (about 15 minutes). Season to taste, strain and set aside to keep warm.

Blanch the leeks in a pan of lightly-salted water for 10 minutes. Immediately take out of the water and plunge into a bowl of ice-cold water. Now arrange the leeks in a baking dish. Dot them with the butter then place in an oven pre-heated to 190°C and bake until tender (about 12 minutes).

Now, heat a griddle pan until hot. Season the pigeon breasts and place on the griddle pan. They only need to cook for a few minutes on each side then remove from the pan and set aside in a warm place to rest for 5 minutes.

Finally, heat a small frying pan, add the remaining oil and fry the garlic in this until browned. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until softened.

Assemble the dish by making a bed of leeks, arrange two of the pigeon breasts on top top with the mushrooms and drizzle with the red wine gravy.