Wood Pigeons a la Mechazawa-san

After the incredible experience with the hare from D'Artagnan, I wanted to try more game. So I ordered a pair of frozen wood pigeons. They were even smaller than I expected, as shown below:

One look at the label is enough to confirm that side dishes will be required if there is to be a feast; this bird, the larger of the pair, weighed in at barely over a quarter of a pound.

The label also has a "use by" date of October 19, 2009. This caused a few minutes' concern, not so much because I thought the frozen bird would be unsafe, but because I figured for the price D'Artagnan really should send something still within its "best by" date. Eventually, I noticed the "packed on" date and realized that the "use by" date reflected the safe dates for using the bird fresh, and would more rightly be a "use or freeze by" date. So, no worries.

Unwrapped, the bird was beautifully dark. They are called wood pigeons because they live in the woods, but their flesh is a beautiful wood color, as well. I checked to be sure there was nothing packaged inside the cavity and found that (as with the hare) the packers had left organs intact - in this case, the heart. You can just see it inside the cavity, just left of center in the picture below.

Wanting to cook it simply, I smoked it over nectarine wood on Mechazawa-san (the big Egg) at 275F (140C) for 40 minutes, then let it rest for 5 minutes more.

The result was phenomenal. The meat was earthy, with distinct iron overtones and a gamy tang. The blood left inside the cavity had cooked into a velvet coating on the bones and had an almost liver-y taste. The heart was dense and well-flavored.

Between this and the hare, we understand wanting to learn how to hunt, and I'm even more jealous of Hank and Holly over at Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. Being an urban gal with dicey hand/eye coordination, though, I will settle for being grateful for a source of and the means to buy such wonderful things.

(Oh, and the little "tail" in the first post picture is just a bit of drippings from the grill that plated that way. I thought it was kind of amusing, so I left it.)