Pigeon with juniper sauce and crispy salad

Method

1. In a mortar and pestle, crush garlic with the 2 whole juniper berries. Rub a little olive oil over the pigeon breasts, then rub in the garlic/juniper mixture and leave to marinade overnight.

2. Heat a heavy-based saucepan and cook the bacon until slightly coloured. Stir in the onions and the finely chopped juniper berries and cook until the onions are soft and cooked through.

3. Pour in a good dash of perry to the pan and let the alcohol cook off. Add the chicken stock and cook until heated through.

4. Heat a griddle pan until hot and cook the pigeon breasts, skin side down, for 2 minutes. Turn the breasts and cook for a further 2 minutes. The flesh should still be rare on the inside. Remove the pigeon from the pan and leave to rest for 1 minute.

5. For the crispy salad: combine the finely sliced mooli and turnip in a bowl with the parsley.

6. Crush the garlic with a little salt and whisk in enough oil and vinegar to make a vinaigrette dressing to your desired consistency and flavour. Dress the salad with the vinaigrette.


7. To serve, put the salad on a plate, slice the pigeon thickly, arrange on top of the salad and spoon over the juniper sauce.