PIGEON FAGGOTS WITH RICH PIGEON REDUCTION

Traditionally the faggot would have been a way of using up bits of offal from pigs, sheep and cattle, a sort of warm pate, and they'd be wrapped in caul fat to keep them bound together,

This recipe has come about because of a couple of reasons, one being a chat I've had with a great chef friend of mine, and two, I've seen them on menus called everything other than a faggot! I don't quite understand why, but they are what they are, a faggot, and a delicious one at that,

I've gone slightly Cheffy by using pigeon, it's an idea for the Rosehill Theatre Restaurant menu, it may end up on there, may not, either way these little beauties are absolutely delicious

The recipe takes a little time, but the effort is well worth it, get hold of whole pigeon and use the carcasses to make the stock for the sauce

This recipe will make 12-14 faggots

SHOPPING LIST

1. 1ltr of stock (use the carcasses for this)

2. 8 pigeon breast

3. 2 skinless chicken breast

4. Approximately 225g of pigs caul (soaked in cold water)

5. 175g of belly Pork (this will make the faggots moist)

6. 100g of chicken livers

7. 1 large shallot finely chopped

8. 1 clove of garlic finely chopped

9. 4 sprigs of thyme lightly chopped

10. A good splash of brandy

11. A good splash of Madeira

12. 1. Egg white

13. 150ml of double cream

14. Seasoning

FOR THE RICH PIGEON SAUCE

1. A sprig of fresh thyme

2. 4 juniper berries

3. 1 clove of garlic

4. A good splash of port

5. A good splash of Madeira

6. 500ml of the pigeon sauce

METHOD

1. Start by making the sauce, reduce the stock by about 3/4 , this will give you a thick jus

2. Now place the thyme, garlic, juniper berries, Madeira and the port into a pan and boil to reduce by 3/4, add the pigeon jus, bring to the simmer and pass through a fine sieve, set aside

3. For your faggots, Remove the skin from the pigeon breasts, you can if you have one, mince on a fine mincer, but a food processor is fine, blitz the pigeon breasts and chicken breasts until nice and fine, transfer to a bowl

4. Now blitz the belly Pork and chicken livers until fine and transfer these to the bowl

5. Put the shallots, garlic, thyme, Brandy and Madeira into a pan and reduce until the liquid has almost gone. Set this aside to cool

6. Make sure that all of the mixes are cold, add the shallot mixture to the meat mixture, season well with salt and pepper, add the egg white, mix well, now add half the cream, the mix should be quite firm, leave the mix to chill for 2-3 hours

7. Once chilled you can now shape the faggots, divide the mixture into equal sizes

8. Cut the caul into equal size and wrap each faggot really well in the caul

9. You can now cook your faggots, heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and cook the faggots until well sealed and golden

10. Now gently transfer the faggots to the remaining stock and poach for 15 minutes

11. Remove the pan from the stove and allow your faggots to cool in the stock, this will keep the faggots really moist

12. To serve, reheat the faggots gently in the pigeon sauce until hot