AN ORIENTAL DISH

 

INGREDIENTS (serves 6):

           

Pepper jelly:

4 red peppers

30 gr. sugar

4 cl. water

2 sheets gelatine, softened in iced water

2 gr. saffron threads

10 cl. redcurrant juice

½ lemon

 

Pumpkin, peach and tomato with honey:

6 fresh small pumpkins

1 sprig thyme

1 thread olive oil

2 tomatoes

2 white peaches

3 cl. olive oil

2 tbsp honey

1 piece mace

1 pinch vadouvan (spice)

1 splash sherry vinegar

 

Bundle of carrots:                                      

12 fresh carrots with stem

Juice 1 lemon

1 small tsp Argan oil

½ small tsp powdered cumin

 

Pigeon pie:3 young pigeons

4 sheets filo pastry

10 ml. clarified butter

10 gr. fresh butter

2 tbsp oil

50 cl. chicken stock

           

Almond cream:

30 gr. almond paste

Pigeon stock

10 cl cream

Others:

20 gr. sultanas, soaked

¼ pomegranate

Salt, pepper

 

 

PREPARATION:

Pepper jelly: The day before, roast the peppers at 220ºC (428ºF). Remove the skin and seeds. Crush the pulp, drain through a cloth and collect any juice. Refrigerate overnight. Next day, make a syrup with sugar, water and the pepper juice to obtain 40 cl of liquid. Dissolve the gelatine in it, then add the saffron. Cover and infuse for 30 minutes at room temperature. Add the cranberry juice and a few drops of lemon juice. Season with salt. Serve cold in small cups.

 

Pumpkin, peach and tomato with honey: Cut the pumpkins in two, cook in a frying-pan and finish in the oven for 75 minutes at 190ºC (374ºF) with thyme and a thread of oil. Peel the tomatoes and peaches and cut into quarters. Sauté and cook en confit with oil, honey, mace, vadouvan and vinegar for 40 minutes over a very low heat.

 

Bundle of carrots: Peel the carrots and cut the stems to a length of 3 cm. Cook for a few minutes in salted water. Drain and season with lemon juice, Argan oil, cumin and a pinch of salt.

 

Pigeon pie: Cut the filo pastry into circles 10 cm in diameter. Brush with clarified butter and brown in the oven at 170ºC (338ºF) for 5 minutes. Leave at room temperature. Fillet the pigeon meat. Grind the bones and any trimmings and brown with a knob of butter and a thread of oil. Discard any fat released, then add the stock and reduce for 40 minutes over a gentle heat (to obtain 20 cl of very concentrated pigeon stock). Sauté the pigeon fillets in a little clarified butter and a thread of oil. Remove the skin and keep hot.

 

Almond cream: Mix the almond paste with 15 cl. pigeon stock and a little cream.

 

 

TO SERVE:

 

Pour a little almond cream into 6 dishes. Add a few slices of pigeon and pour over a little of the concentrated stock. Decorate with salted hazelnuts. Cover each dish with a crispy sheet of filo pastry and decorate with the carrot mixture, the pomegranate grains and the sultanas. Serve the confit of peach and tomato and the pumpkin separately on soup bowls together with the cups of pepper jelly.