#3.0 a recipe
before she left for paris alice b. toklas used to live in seattle on the same block as the sorrento hotel. in paris her and her gregarious lover gertrude stein fed, supported, and introduced the leading artists of the twentieth century; hemingway, picasso, matisse, braque, f. scott fitzgerald. it would be in terrible taste to not pay homage to the remarkable cooking lineage and infamous documentation let behind by alice. for instance the word “toke” hails from her scandalous recipe for cannabis brownies. for songs 3.0 we dug deeply into her cookbook and adapted a version of “braised pigeons on croutons.” (we used pouisson – or very young chickens in place of pigeons a.k.a. squab)
from the alice b. toklas cookbook. 1954.
I carefully found the spot on the poor innocent [pigeon’s] throat where i was to press and i pressed. The realization had never come to me before that one saw with one’s fingertips as well as one’s eyes. It was a most unpleasant experience, though as i laid them one by one the sweet young corpses there was no denying one could become accustomed to murdering. So i plucked them, emptied them and was ready to cook.
Braised pigeons on croutons .
For 6 pigeons cut 1/2 lb. salt pork in small cubes, place in dutch oven with 6 tablespoons butter, place pigeons in oven, brown slightly cover and cook over low flame for 1 hour turning and basting frequently. While pigeons are cooking wash and carefully dry 2 lbs mushrooms. Chop them very fine and pass through a coarse sieve, cook over brisk fire in 1/4 lb. butter until liquid has evaporated. Reduce flame and add 1 cup heavy cream sauce and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Spread on 6 one-half-inch slices of bread that have been lightly browned in butter. Spread the puree of mushrooms on the croutons. Place the pigeons on the croutons. Skim the fat from the juice in the dutch oven, add 2 tablespoons Madeira, bring to a boil and pout over pigeons. Serves 6 to 12 according to the size of the pigeons.
Michael
