Pot-roasted Pigeon Enriched With Chocolate

Surely it is not wrong for us to think and talk about Heaven. I like to find out all I can about it. I expect to live there through all eternity. If I were going to dwell in any place in this country, if I were going to make it my home, I would inquire about its climate, about the neighbors I would have – about everything, in fact, that I could learn concerning it. If soon you were going to emigrate, that is the way you would feel. Well, we are all going to emigrate in a very little while. We are going to spend eternity in another world… Is it not natural that we should look and listen and try to find out who is already there and what is the route to take?

D.L. Moody

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
		New	1	Servings

INGREDIENTS

2		Young oven-ready wood
		pigeons
15	g	Unsalted butter, plus an
		extra knob
		1/2oz
1		Red onion, washed and
		chopped
		skin left on
1		Carrot, washed and chopped
1		Leek, washed and trimmed
		and then chopped
1		Clove garlic, peeled and
		crushed
4		Sprigs fresh thyme
2		Fresh bay leaves
1/2		Bottle gutsy red wine, such
		as Vega
		Sicilia from Spain
15	g	Dark bitter chocolate
		grated 1/2oz
		Few leaves of crisp green
		cabbage shredded
1	T	Pine kernels
		A splash of olive oil
		Couple of rashers of crisply
		cooked
		streaky bacon
1		Crushed clove garlic
3		Juniper berries, crushed
		Seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 200Ã¸C/400Ã¸F/gas mark 6  Mix together the butter,
crushed garlic and thyme leaves stripped  from 2 sprigs of thyme.  Lift
the skin over the breast and smear the herb butter between the  breasts
and the skin. Season the pigeon. Sear the bird all over in a
pre-heated cast pan or heavy frying pan. Remove the birds and add the
chopped vegetables with a little knob of butter to lightly brown them.
Pour in the wine and bring to the boil. Add the rest of the thyme and
the bay leaves and sit the pigeon upside down on the vegetables,
basting them with the wine. Sitting the pigeon upside down allows the
juices from the back to drip into the breasts and keeps them moist.
Pot-roast in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes until the  breast
are cooked but still quite pink - you'll need to check this  because it
depends on how plump the breasts are. Remove the breasts  and keep warm
allowing the flesh to rest and tenderise.  Break up the carcasses and
add to the roasting tin. Bring to the boil  and press the juices from
the vegetables and the carcasses into the  liquor. Sieve into a clean
pan pressing the residue through with the  back of a wooden spoon.
Over a gently heat, whisk in the grated chocolate to thicken the  sauce
and to give it a gloss and an indefinable depth of flavour.  Season
carefully.  The cabbage: Brown the pine kernels in the olive oil in a
large pan  or wok. Add the crushed garlic and juniper berries and then
the bacon  broken into small pieces. Add the shredded cabbage and
quickly  stir-fry until the cabbage wilts but is still crips, you may
need a  splash of water but it depends on the cabbage and how quickly
it  wilts. Season.  To serve: Serve the breaast sliced on a bed of
cabbage with the sauce  poured over and some parsnip mash.  Converted
by MC_Buster.  Per serving: 262 Calories (kcal); 13g Total Fat; (41%
calories from  fat); 4g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; 33mg Cholesterol;
50mg Sodium  Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 6 1/2
Vegetable; 0  Fruit; 2 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates  Converted by
MM_Buster v2.0n.

A Message from our Provider:

“Christ gives Life!”

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients) ---------------------------------------------- Calories: 1943 Calories From Fat: 391 Total Fat: 46.4g Cholesterol: 32.3mg Sodium: 6035.4mg Potassium: 3843.9mg Carbohydrates: 292.2g Fiber: 93.7g Sugar: 14.8g Protein: 165.9g