Salt-crusted Anjou pigeon
Recipe
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20 minutes
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85 minutes
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105 minutes
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4 persons
Maybe you have used your Big Green Egg to cook fish in salt crust before, but did you know that you can also cook poultry in your kamado this way? It will come out exceptionally juicy and flavourful. In this recipe we will be using some nice Anjou pigeons. If you are not able to find Anjou pigeon you can substitute quail. The preparation is exactly the same. Serve with the side dishes of your choice. In this version, the chef has created some gourmet sides, including sweet potato puree, Provençal purple artichokes, maize and turnips. You can prepare the side dishes beforehand and then reheat them in your EGG while the salt-crusted pigeon is resting after cooking.
Ingredients
Salt crust
- 100 g celeriac
- 100 g winter carrots
- 100 g leek
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Madras curry powder
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 50 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 200 ml egg white
- 2 kg coarse sea salt
Pigeon
- 2 Anjou pigeons
In advance
- Ignite the charcoal in the Big Green Egg and heat, with the convEGGtor and the Stainless Steel Grid, to a temperature of 180 °C.
- Meanwhile, peel the celeriac and carrots for the salt crust and cut these into thin strips along with the leek.
Method
- Place the Green Dutch Oven on the grid. Close the lid of the EGG and wait until the pan is hot.
- Pour the olive oil into the Dutch oven, add the curry powder and heat for a few minutes, stirring continually, until the curry powder has released its aroma.
- Add the strips of celeriac, carrot and leek, and sauté the vegetables for a few minutes until tender but not cooked all the way. Then add the bourbon. Close the lid of the EGG after each action.
- Remove the Dutch oven from the EGG and heat the EGG to 220 °C. Let the vegetables cool. Meanwhile, remove the heads and livers of the Anjou pigeons. For the salt crust, chop the porcini very finely. Beat the egg white and mix in the sea salt and the finely chopped porcini. Cut baking paper into a circle that fits on the Baking Stone.
- Place the baking paper on the cold Baking Stone then spread the salt mixture over it in an oval layer approx. 1½ cm thick (it should be at least 5 cm bigger than the pigeons when placed side by side) and press down firmly. Cover with a layer of the sautéed vegetables and place the pigeons on top, with the legs facing up and out. When positioned this way, the fillets will be in the middle of the salt mound, which is where you want them. Top the pigeons with the remaining vegetables and the rest of the salt mixture, and press down firmly as before.
- Wrap aluminium foil around the legs to prevent burning. Place the Baking Stone with the salt and pigeons on the grid and close the lid of the EGG. Cook for approx. 45 minutes in the salt crust.
- Remove the Baking Stone from the EGG and let rest for about 10 minutes before breaking the crust to serve the pigeons.
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