My friend Sophie and I have long wanted to cook a dinner from the cookbook Le Pigeon. It is a cookbook from a restaurant in Portland, OR that specializes in offal and game. I have been to the restaurant twice and loved it. My one experience with the cookbook was for a 3-course dinner party I made in January 2018. (Someday I hope to update this blog with my past notes on such dinner parties.) The results were mixed – very interesting food, but with some obvious errors in the instructions. The errors were unusually overt and numerous for a modern cookbook from 10-Speed Press. We approached these recipes with caution and were rewarded with an amazing meal!

Course 1: Hamachi, Foie Gras, Truffles, Mandarins
I checked out “The Mushroom Shop” in Somerville for the first time, and I was surprised to find fresh summer truffles from Spain, morels, nettles, chanterelles, and other goodies. I chose this ceviche to include the truffles and some foie gras (which seems appropriate for a Le Pigeon dinner!) I was able to find hamachi sashimi at my local Japanese market. The resulting dish made a nice appetizer. The creamy home-cured foie added an important textural element to the citrusy, truffly ceviche. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture, but it looked very nice.
Joe’s Rating: 7
Difficulty: 6

Course 2: Pheasant Gnocchi, Sake Pears
Poaching pheasant and pear in sake caught my eye. I used a blend of 2/3 regular dry sake and a 1/3 super-funky “yellow-can” sake. The funky sake worked really well for the pheasant, but made the pear taste like a banana (in a really convincing way.) I’d recommend using a 50/50 blend for the pheasant and using 100% clean dry sake for the pear next time. The gnocchi were made with 100% flour and no potato, which tasted boring by itself but was very good at absorbing the flavor of the pheasant stock. The gnocchi were made using a piping bag. This is something I always have wanted to do after seeing many contestants on Top Chef use the technique; I included a picture of me doing it below. It worked really well! Finally, the dish includes both parsnip and shiso leaf in ways that make the flavor addictingly complex. This makes more than 4 servings, so you’ll have leftovers for everyone.

Joe’s Rating: 7.5
Difficulty: 7.5

Course 3: Grilled Lamb’s Tongue, Creamed Peas, Morels
In a cookbook focused on offal and game, peas, morels, and the charcoal grill would have to be our seasonal note. I got the lamb tongues incredibly cheap from Savenors in Cambridge; this was nice because I actually needed to get them twice. The first time I tried braising them, the liquid dried up and they got tough, so I needed to start over. I recommend making double the amount of wine in the braising liquid (with only 1x the amount of spices.) Also, there is a type in this recipe – only use 1 tsp of salt, not 1 tbsp. I braised for an extra half hour than suggested.

The dish was our favorite of the bunch; the tongues were incredibly tender, and the BBQ sauce was not overly sweet despite my concerns. The morels were juicy and crunchy; I’ve never had them so fresh or good. A knockout dish! Just make sure your include enough braising liquid.
Joe’s Rating: 8
Difficulty: 8

Course 4: Apple Cheddar Crostada, Choose-Your-Own Condiment
Sophie took the lead on this one. I loved the savory cheddar notes mixed into the sweet and flaky crostada. We used a sweet wine pairing, but next time I would choose a dry pairing (I was thinking an oxidized Jura savagnin).
Joe’s Rating: 7
Difficulty: 5