Duck

Duck hunting in Louisiana is probably the best in the country. Since we live close to Louisiana we have many friends that duck hunt, but until this year no one gave us any ducks. I was thrilled when one of our friends gave me 4 ducks which his grandson had killed----two mallards and two teal.

Ducks gravitate to Louisiana because of the endless coast marshes which provide an ideal habitat. Many stay for the winter, while others continue on south to Mexico. It is not easy hunting, I hear, since they have smartened up by the time they get to us. The blue-winged teal is the first to arrive and it is a really small duck but fine eating. The main duck season begins in November and lasts about 60 days. Among the other species to come are the gadwell, mallard, green-winged teal, pintail, wigeon, mottled duck, shoveler, resident wood duck, and lesser scaup.  You don’t need to pull off the fat since it is fine in gumbo and for roasting.

My new issue of ‘Garden and Gun’ had a recipe for duck breasts and suggested using mallards. I had two of these and also went ahead and used the teal also. The recipe was easy and it turned out to be delicious. So if you get some ducks try this instead of gumbo!

 

February/March 2014 Issue of ‘Garden and Gun’

Cast-Iron Seared Duck Breasts with Orange-Ginger Marmalade

Ingredients

6 skin-on breasts from 3 wild ducks, preferably larger ducks such as mallards, blacks, or pintails

1 sprig fresh rosemary

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups milk

2 Tbsp. honey

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

5 Tbsp. duck fat or peanut oil

Preparation

Clean duck breasts of any excess feathers and be sure to check for any hidden birdshot. Combine duck breasts, rosemary, garlic, milk, and honey, and let sit overnight. Drain; pat dry with paper towels, and season liberally with salt and black pepper. Heat cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and add duck or peanut oil. Once the skillet is hot, add duck breasts, skin side down. Sear about 2 to 3 minutes, or until skin is crispy, then flip and continue cooking for about 5 to 7 minutes, basting the breasts with fat. Cook them to an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees, then place on a cutting board and let rest for several minutes.

Slice duck breasts thinly and place each slice on a piece of grilled sourdough (recipe below). Drizzle with orange-ginger marmalade (recipe follows).

 

Orange-Ginger Marmalade

Ingredients

4 oz. sweet orange-marmalade

1/8 cup water

¼ cup orange juice

1 knob fresh ginger, peeled and minced

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Preparation

Combine marmalade, water, orange juice, and ginger in a small saucepan. Heat gently over low heat for 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper, then swirl in butter and hold warm.

 

Bread

Ingredients

1 loaf quality sourdough

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

Cut loaf in half lengthwise, and then slice each half into thin pieces and coat with olive oil. Grill or toast lightly.

Donald Link and Kumquats

When ‘Food and Wine’ did a survey of where people would go to have a great vacation and good food most people wanted to go to New Orleans. I totally agree. Even though I have been lucky to eat in a lot of interesting cities I always come back to New Orleans for the best food.

Donald Link is just a great chef and so innovative. His restaurant Cochon is just one of my favorites. He has a new cookbook called Down South, which I do not have but I can put it on my wish list. In ‘Food and Wine’ magazine a review of his cookbook gave us three lessons from Donald Link.

Lesson one: He folds mascarpone with sour cream for his onion dip, this deepens the flavor and then adds a splash of Cognac or brandy.

Lesson two: Don’t throw fish fins in the garbage. He fried them until crispy, and called them “chips”. (I’m not so sure about this one!)

Lesson three: Instead of barbecues sauce, Link serves grilled chicken breasts with a vinaigrette made from black and green olives, olive oil, sherry vinegar and lemon juice.

‘Food and Wine’ also had a recipe from Mr. Link using kumquats and mint. Kumquats are in season and we have a lot of them so this is a good use of them. The cold has reduced my mint to zero but I have been able to bring the kumquat tree in during the bad freezes. Kumquats are hardier than some other citrus. This recipe could not be healthier and more beautiful in presentation.

Taken from February 2014, issue of ‘Food and Wine’ magazine.

Poached Tuna with Kumquats and Jalapeño

Makes 2 servings

Two 6-ounce tuna steaks, cut 1 ¼   inches thick

Kosher salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 small jalapeño--stemmed, seeded and minced

4 kumquats, thinly sliced

¼ cup mint leaves, torn

Season the tuna steaks with salt. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter in the olive oil and lime juice. Stir in the minced jalapeño and sliced kumquats. Add the tuna steaks and cook them over moderate heat, turning once, until they’re rare, about 4 minutes.

Transfer the tuna steaks to a carving board and slice them 1/3 inch thick, then arrange them on plates. Stir the torn mint into the sauce, spoon over the tuna and serve.

Kumquats can be eaten raw for a great little snack. You eat the whole thing---you can even eat the seeds. They can be used in duck recipes and also used for a great boost for salsa. Try this recipe to add to meat for dinner.

Kumquat Salsa

Makes about 2 ½ cups

2 cups chopped cleaned and thinly sliced kumquats

½ cup chopped red onion

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Dash of cayenne pepper

Pinch of kosher salt

Combine all ingredients. Add more or less red pepper and cayenne to desired heat. Let sit for 1 hour for the flavors to more fully blend.

Great served with steak or seafood such as halibut, black sea bass, or salmon.

 

 

Trifle for Valentines

When I had my Bobby Burn’s dinner in January (which was very successful) I did a trifle for my dessert. At that dinner I realized how wonderful a trifle would be for Valentine’s Day. I had chosen a recipe with raspberries and pears. The raspberries made the dish so beautiful and the red so appropriate for Valentine’s Day. I realize by the time you see this recipe Valentine’s Day will be past but this recipe could be used for anyone you love and want to surprise and maybe you are celebrating Valentine’s this weekend. My husband loves trifle so it is fun to cook it for him. We had our first trifle on our honeymoon in British Bermuda. A trifle can be made of any cake (pound cake or even ladyfingers) and made with a stovetop custard. You can use any fruit you like and any liqueur if you so wish. Trifles are great for a large group since they can serve many people. I had to give to give some of my trifle away there was so much. Have fun with it and enjoy!

From Step-by-Step Cookbook, Good Housekeeping, 2008.

Raspberry-Pear Trifle

Makes 16 servings

2 ¼ cups milk (use whole milk)

¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

6 large egg yolks

¼ cup almond-flavor liqueur (amaretto)

3 cans (16 ounces each) pear halves in extra-light syrup

1 package (10 ounces) frozen raspberries in light syrup, thawed

1 cup heavy or whipping cream

1 store-bought pound cake (10-12 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes (I baked a yellow cake from a mix.)

8 pairs amaretti cookies, coarse crushed (about 1 ½ cups) (I found at Central Grocery in New Orleans while picking up a muffuletta for lunch.)

Fresh raspberries for garnish

In 3-quart saucepan, heat 1 ¾ cups milk and ¾ cups sugar just to boiling over medium heat. Remove from heat. In medium bowl, with wire whisk, mix cornstarch, salt, and remaining ½ cup milk until smooth; beat in egg yolks.

Into yolk mixture, stir small amount of hot milk mixture; gradually stir yolk mixture back into milk mixture in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.

Remove custard from heat; stir in liqueur. Pour custard into clean bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of hot custard to keep skin from forming as custard cools. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, until chilled.

Drain pear halves, reserving 1/3 cup syrup. In blender at low speed, blend thawed frozen raspberries with their syrup and reserved syrup from pears. In small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat heavy cream, gradually adding remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, until stiff peaks form. Reserve 1 rounded cup whipped cream for garnish.

Gently fold remaining whipped cream into chilled custard. In 4-quart glass trifle or serving bowl, place half of cake cubes, top with half of raspberry mixture.

Arrange half of pear halves over raspberry mixture. Reserve ¼ cup cookie crumbs for garnish; sprinkle pear halves with half of remaining cookie crumbs.

Spread half of custard over crumb layer. Repeat layering. Garnish trifle with reserved whipped cream, fresh raspberries, and reserved cookie crumbs. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours to blend flavors.

 

 

 

Sweet Potatoes

I happened to watch a PBS program called The Chef’s Life, about Vivian Howard who is a chef in Kinston, North Carolina. I rarely watch cooking shows, but she just seemed fresh and interesting and since I have lived in North Carolina most of my life I was interested. She and her husband came back to Eastern North Carolina (even though they did not wish too) because Vivian’s parents gave them the money to open a restaurant, but it had to be in Kinston. She and her husband opened The Chef and The Farmer and have been running it successfully for 8 years. She is also building a house beside her parents and has twins. The show is about her struggles with all this.

I like her use of local farmers and their local ingredients. She does a lot with pork and sweet potatoes, very typical produce in Eastern North Carolina (and the South in general). I watched some of her videos on cooking sweet potatoes and got some great ideas on new uses with them. She incorporates pork with the sweet potatoes and it is a great combination. These two recipes below are my favorite. They are attractive to serve and interesting to cook. Your family and friends should like these.

Citrus Sweet Potatoes with Pork Cracklins

Serves 4

4 large roasted sweet potatoes

½ cup butter

1 orange

1 lime

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

Peel the sweet potatoes in a food processor. Melt butter and sugar until they come together as a liquid. Zest the orange and lime into the processor and add the juice as well. Begin processing and stream in the hot butter and sugar mixture and salt. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with maple vinegar sauce and top with cracklins. I bought some cracklins in the grocery and they were a bit hard. See if you can find some local vendors with fresh cracklins—or make your own with some pork fat rendered. As I am learning lard is not such a bad oil if it is from pastured pork.

Maple Vinegar Sauce (This sauce would be terrific over any pork dish)

½ cup butter

¼ cup chopped shallots

½ cup maple syrup

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

Black pepper

Nutmeg

Melt the butter and sweat the shallots. Add the maple syrup and cider vinegar. Reduce for about 5 minutes. Add the black pepper and nutmeg

Place some sweet potato puree on the place and add a tablespoon of maple vinegar sauce on top of this and top with cracklins.

 

Candied Yams with Bacon Pecan Syrup (Yes, I know that yams are technically different but sometimes the names are used interchangeably and cooking is much the same for both.)

Serves 4-6

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1 ½-inch-thick rounds

Canola oil for frying

Salt

In a large pot, boil sweet potatoes until tender. Allow slices to cool completely. Press them between 2 pieces of parchment paper or oil, working in batches, so the slices flatten slightly and the edges spread. This can be done 2 days ahead. To finish, fill a deep skillet with an inch of canola oil and heat until simmering. Fry sweet potatoes for about 4 minutes on each side, or until browned and crispy. Drain on paper towels, and season generously with salt. To serve, stack sweet potatoes, top with syrup, and garnish with sliced scallions.

Pecan Bacon Syrup

2 cups bacon, cut into small dice

2 cups pecans, chopped

2/3 cups sliced scallions (white part primarily; plus more for garnish)

2/3 cups lemon juice

¼ cup molasses

2 1/3 cups maple syrup

¼ teaspoon chili flakes

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoon butter

Heat skillet over medium heat and render bacon until almost crisp. Add pecans and scallions, and toast for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer until mixture has reduced by almost one-third. Whisk in butter just before serving.