Pigeons with Sweet Fruits

Ingredients

• 4 Bresse pigeons (about 350 g each)
• 5 green cardamom pods
• black pepper
• 4 tbsp grenadine
• 2 quails (about 250 g each)
• 150 g shallots
• 100 ml chicken broth
• 30 g lavender honey
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 30 g sugar
• 30 g Butter
• 75 g dried figs
• Salt
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 3 small bay leaf sprigs
• 1 Pomegranate
• 1 Mint sprig
• 1 parsley sprig

Instructions

1. 1.

   Clean, rinse and pat the pigeons dry. Tie them with kitchen twine and place on a baking sheet. Remove cardamom seeds from the pods and crush in a mortar. Mix cardamom with pepper and grenadine, then brush this mixture over the pigeons.

2. 2.

   Peel the quails, remove the core and cut the flesh into pieces. Peel the shallots. Whisk chicken broth with honey and lemon juice. Melt sugar in a wide pot until golden brown, then add butter to foam. Add the quail pieces and braise, pouring in the honey broth. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 20 minutes in a covered pot, turning the quails occasionally. Then reduce in an open pot until a glossy syrup forms.

3. 3.

   Drizzle pigeons with olive oil. Roast in a preheated oven on the second rack from below at 200°C (Gas 3, convection 180°C) for 25-30 minutes. Add bay leaf sprigs five minutes before the end of cooking time.

4. 4.

   Slice the pomegranate, open it and remove the seeds. Roughly chop mint and parsley. Mix pomegranate seeds and herbs into the fruit syrup and serve with the pigeons.