Burnt Movie Recipe: Anjou Pigeon, Sweet Potato, Sorrel
Why I Love This Recipe
I love every minute of it... the heat, the pressure, the violence.”
- Chef Adam Jones (as played by Bradley Cooper)
CHEF WAREING TIP #5: Use wild sorrel. If you can’t get pigeon, try using quail instead.
Ingredients You'll Need
2 Anjou pigeons, innards removed and reserved, brined in a 7% salt solution for one hour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
25g unsalted butter, cubed
½ tsp table salt
Pigeon sauce
2 pigeon carcasses & wings, roughly chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½ carrot, peeled and quartered
½ small onion, peeled and quartered
½ stick celery, quartered
1 clove garlic
4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
6 white peppercorns
100ml red wine
25ml ruby port
400ml chicken stock
100ml veal stock
Sweet potato dice
1 sweet potato, cut into perfect 1.5cm dice, with the remaining trim used for the purée
25g unsalted butter
½ tsp table salt
Sweet potato purée
½ sweet potato, peeled and finely diced plus the trim from above
50g unsalted butter
½ tsp table salt
¼ nutmeg, grated
¼ cinnamon stick, broken in half
100ml chicken stock
Sweet potato crumb
½ sweet potato peeled and grated
250ml vegetable oil
½ tsp table salt
Sorrel
6 sorrel leaves
50g clarified butter
½ tsp table salt
2 saffron strands
Beurre blanc
60ml white wine vinegar
60ml white wine
½ shallot, finely sliced
½ bayleaf
1 sprig thyme
4 white peppercorns
100g unsalted butter, cubed
½ tsp table salt
1 tbsp chopped parsley
Directions
Begin by making the pigeon sauce. Heat a medium sized saucepan with the vegetable oil. When hot, add the bones and cook until golden. Remove and set aside. Add one more tablespoon of vegetable oil and when hot, cook the carrots, celery, onion, peppercorns and garlic until golden. Add the wine and port and cook simmer until it becomes a syrup. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain off and return the liquid to a clean pan. Bring to a simmer and adjust seasoning. When ready to serve, heat the sauce and add 1 tbsp chopped pigeon innards with the chopped parsley. Serve with the dish in a sauce boat.
To make the crumb, use a deep fryer, or heat a pan of oil to 165˚C. Fry the grated sweet potato until crispy. Strain onto absorbent paper and season with the salt. Keep somewhere warm and dry.
For the purée, heat the butter in a saucepan then add the sweet potato, salt, spices and stock. Cook slowly until cooked through then remove the cinnamon and blend until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve and set aside.
To make the beurre blanc, place everything, bar the butter, into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. When there is only 1 tablespoon of liquid remaining strain off and place the liquid into a bowl above a pan of barely simmering water. Slowly whisk in the cold butter, cube by cube, until fully emulsified. Add the salt to taste. Cover and keep somewhere warm.
To cook the pigeon, preheat the oven to 180˚C. Using an oven proof frying pan, heat the vegetable oil until hot. Season the pigeons all over then gently roast until golden. Add the butter, cube by cube, and when foaming baste the birds until coloured all over. Place in the oven for 4 minutes then remove and set aside somewhere warm to rest for 5 minutes. Carve the birds when ready to plate.
Heat the clarified butter with the salt and saffron in a pan. Add the sorrel leaves and when wilted, remove. Coat with the beurre blanc.
To plate, heat the purée and divide between two plates. Place the pigeon breasts on the plate along with the sweet potato crumb and dice. Finish with the sorrel leaves and serve with the sauce.
