Ingredients
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4 pigeon breasts, skin on
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350g/12oz/2½ heaping cups frozen peas
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2 tbsp butter, plus extra, if needed
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12 hogweed buds
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leaves from a few sprigs of wild mint, coarsely chopped
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12 vetch tops
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a few three-cornered leek flowers
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salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Get a really good bed of charcoal on the go; cherrywood works very well with pigeon. When it is ready, fan off the ash, season the pigeon breasts with salt and put them directly on the red-hot embers, skin-side down. Cook for two to three minutes on each side, then wrap in foil and leave to rest next to the fire for seven to eight minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the peas and cook, covered, over a medium-low heat for two minutes, then drain. While the peas are cooking, heat a frying pan and add the butter, then add the hogweed buds and cook for one minute. They will suck up the butter, so add a little more, if necessary. Stir in the peas and mint leaves and season well with salt and pepper. Cook for a further minute, then remove from the heat.
Unwrap the pigeon breasts and slice them in half through each breast at a slight angle. Serve with the peas and sprinkled with the vetch and three-cornered leek flowers.
Taken from Hunter Gather Cook: Adventures in Wild Food by Nick Weston published by GMC Publications
