Anyway, day 13 and it was game day. This morning we prepared our pigeons, ready to be pan fried for supper. My poor little bird was a bit wingless and only had the top half of each of its legs. They had probably been blown off when it was shot. It was the standard procedure of taking the breasts off. There's not much point in trying to eat the legs as they're so small and there's so little meat on them, by the time they were cooked, the meat would have shrunk into practically nothing.
Another of the morning's activities was to make the jellies for pudding. Joe demonstrated how to make the champagne and elderflower jelly and then we gradually assembled layers of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, letting each layer set in between. Joe even revealed the secret of how you can suspend fruit in jellies. I couldn't possibly tell you how it's done on here, as then it wouldn't be a secret and you wouldn't be amazed when I present a jelly shot to you as an amuse bouche at one of my future dinner parties. However, I can tell you that you can make a jelly out of pretty much any fruit, apart from papaya, kiwi, pineapple and strawberries. There's something in them that just won't set. I said strawberries as if you use too many, it won't set. A few whole ones will be fine. We also made a sorbet to go with the jelly. An odd combination of lemongrass, lime leaves, coconut milk and chilli. Quite thai inspired. And good timing, as it's thai day tomorrow!
Then it was on to preparing lunch. Smoked haddock, leek and cheddar cheese tart/quiche. Joe told us not to be shy in getting the solid filling in the tarts and some of us took it a bit too literally, with mountains of fish and cheese bulging out the top, with only little room for the liquid filling. Another top tip for you: when making a quiche, always cook the filling ingredients before you finish it with the eggy filling as they won't cook in the time that it takes to cook the filling.
What a tasty lunch. And just the right amount to eat. I was perfectly satisfied and full- not stuffed and not still wanting more. The pastry definitely fills you up.
Then it was back into the kitchen to make a consomme. Consommes are crystal clear, thin soups, made from a base of a well-flavoured cloudy stock. Then something magical happens. Put your vegetables and tomato puree into the stock, with an egg white, and as it simmers for almost an hour, the egg white at the top catches all of the impurities and vegetables, creating an egg white cake or omelette. You then strain this off and underneath is the soup. Ta-dah! We made some chicken mousseline quenelles and reheated our poached quail eggs to go in the soup, piled up in a cheffy way of course. Then, it was time to eat again.
Rabbit consomme with poached quail eggs and poached chicken mousseline quenelles. And a garnish of parsley.
The main course now needed to be prepared. We pan fried the pigeon breasts to the medium rare stage. Pigeon shouldn't be cooked for much longer as it's so lean that there isn't any fat to keep it moist. Therefore, it will be chewy and the best place for it is the bin. Apparently.
So, we multi-tasked, getting the balsamic roasted shallots, broccoli and jus ready. All while the pigeon was resting. It's the final countdown.
Pan fried pigeon breasts with roasted shallots, broccoli with a pine nut butter, game chips and a reduced port and mushroom jus.
Game chips sound posh, but are basically lattice crisps and are called 'game chips' as they are usually served with game. Very tasty too. Joe even complimented me on my 'excellent presentation'. Woopah! The pine nuts were meant to be hazelnuts, but, as you know, I detest hazelnuts, so made a smart substitution. The jus was amazing. Slightly sticky and sweet from the port. And the shallots. Ooooh me oh my. I quite liked the pigeon. Not too gamey a flavour. I would have it again.
Finally, it was my favourite part of each day. Pudding time!
Champagne and elderflower jelly with summer fruits, lemongrass, coconut and chilli sorbet and a passionfruit caramel coulis.
The pudding was a twist on jelly and ice cream. I really enjoyed the light jelly and with the juicy, summery fruits inside, it was really delicious. I liked the sorbet- the chilli was only a hint to give a little kick to the flavour and the lemongrass was nice, but it was a little too coconutty for me. I can manage a little, but not too much. I still ate it though! I think the sorbet would be good as a palate cleanser. I would like to see some sort of vanilla ice cream or raspberry sorbet with this jelly as I think it may have been one too many flavours. But still tasty. The coulis was amazing. Mmm mmm!
Thai tomorrow. Spicy soups, fish cakes, spring rolls and many minutes of thai green curry paste bashing in a pestle and mortar.
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