Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall - and the demon drink

Apologies to HFW if you just Googled your own name and came across my title! and apologies to vegetarians - you may wish to skip this post.

So a while ago, I was at a neighbours party partaking in a few too many glasses of vino collapso and I  had a bit of a drunken conversation with another neighbour who partakes in a bit of "hunting, shooting and a fishing".  I had watched with interest a few nights previously good old HFW showing us how to pop the breasts out of a couple of pigeons - it looked easy and I thought I might like like to have a go (I may have had a glass of wine that night too!).  And so I mentioned this to my neighbour - then moved onto some other drivel topic of drunken conversation - as you do.

 The next evening - my neighbour shouted me across to his car.  He had indeed been shooting and had bagged me a couple of pigeons - as per my request. Quel Horreur!!!  I was supposed to carry them back to my house! Still warm!! Me and my mouth!!!

Hubby looked across at me, with that look on his face that says "Now what mess have you gotten yourself into?".

What could I do?  The kids were horrified - yet curios at the same time.  Hubby was just horrified and declared he couldn't start butchering them - I was on my own.  So I "manned up" (my son's phrase) and dove in - following Hugh's instruction.  It was surprisingly easy to extract the pigeon breasts once I got going and so I marinated them overnight in red wine (what else!) and garlic and a few herbs from the garden.

 The next day I flash fried them and served them with Ravioli (which is what we were going to have any way) and green beans - with a red wine reduction.  I'd never tried pigeon before and it tasted like a cross between really tender steak and pate - I liked it.

He now brings me a couple on a regular basis, and hubby even has a go at the butchery!  The kids are also impressed and feel that we are now better prepared to survive an apocalypse should one happen.