We bought four lovely looking pigeon breasts at Tonbridge Farmer's Market on Sunday and I came up with a version of Surf and Turf; which I have called Shell and Sky because, hopefully, I'm marrying the pan fried pigeon breast with some deep fried scallops and using my version of the wasabi mayonnaise as both a dressing for some new potatoes and as a dip on the side of the plate.
First off I made the wasabi mayonnaise. This was a ramekin full of mayo with a good glug of olive oil bunged in and then wasabi powder added, to taste, and stirred in. Covered and popped in the fridge to let the wasabi do its job. Be careful, though…it gets hotter the longer it's left!
Then I softened about 3/4 of a finely sliced small red onion in about 25g of butter, a little olive oil and a touch of seasoning. To this was added a peeled clove of garlic and a small chilli which had been finely sliced. Once all was lovely and soft I turned of the heat and removed the garlic as all I wanted was an infusion of flavour and not a massive kick. This was left to rest for the flavours to get acquainted.
I cooked enough Charlotte potatoes for two; about 300g, in some salted water. The potatoes had been cut into a 1cm dice. As soon as the water came to the boil I turned it off and let the potatoes slowly cook in the hot water as I wanted to turn them into a sort of fondant for the finished dish.
We bought some lovely small Patagonian scallops from work (Yep! Half six until half two today!) and these I panéed in flour; into which had been mixed a fair bit of paprika and a little hot curry powder, a beaten egg and a some wholemeal breadcrumbs which had been dried out in a low oven for a few minutes. These went into the fridge until easy to deep fry. If you don't know how to panée something it's three easy steps. Coat in flour…dip in beaten egg…and then coat in breadcrumbs…simples!
Once ready to go I turned the deep fat fryer on to around 185* and let it heat up. I put a low heat under the oniony, buttery mixture and added the drained potatoes to let them slowly cook and absorb loads of the buttery goodness.
I pan fried the pigeon breasts, which had been rubbed with olive oil and lightly seasoned on both sides, in a little butter on a high heat. One minute each side and then left to rest in the hot pan. We like ours really, really pink but if you like them a little more done you can either pop them in a 180* oven for two to three minutes or keep pan frying and basting them for the same length of time.
The scallops were deep fried for a few minutes until crisp and golden brown.
Once cooked through the potato/onion mix was dressed in some of the wasabi mayonnaise. Turn the heat off first, though, and allow to cool for a few minutes otherwise the mayonnaise will curdle.
The potatoes went onto a plate with some baby leaves. The scallops were arranged round the plate with a little pickled ginger. The pigeon breasts went onto the leaves and the last finely sliced quarter of red onion was scattered over the top. A dollop of wasabi mayonnaise on the side of the plate and it was job done!
The Woo loved it and so did I…try it - it's an absolute winner. The scallops alone I could have eaten about a hundred of on their own!
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