‘Duck’ Articles
Written by Dave Budge on 23 November 2007
Since no one else has been filling these pages lately I figured I would brag on my Thanksgiving turkey a bit. I usually put the bird in a brine and this year I made a brine that was from Alton Brown.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large cinnamon sticks
- 12 whole allspice berries
- 12 white pepper corns
- sprig of fresh sage
- sprig of fresh thyme
- 2 gallons of water
Method:
Combine 1 gal of water with all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. The night before you wish to cook your bird place the bird in a container large enough to hold both the turkey, the seasoned water and the second gallon of water. I use a 5 gal. bucket that I bought in the paint department at Ace Hardware. Allow to brine a minimum of 6 hours but 8 to 12 is better. Place container in a cool place. Since salt is so hostile to bacteria there is no need to refrigerate. I put mine in the garage to both keep it out of the way and take advantage of the cool space.
There are lots of differing opinions about how to cook a turkey. I put mine in a 475 degree oven for an hour and the reduce the heat to 350 after covering the breast with a triangular piece of tin foil – not a tent but a piece of foil that is folded to just cover the breast tightly. When the internal temp of the breast reaches 161 degrees remove from the oven and let stand for 30 minutes. The residual heat will cause the breast temp to increase to about 170 during the resting period.
A few years ago I got a probe thermometer that has a cord going to the digital readout that sits outside the oven I think it’s one of the best investments a cook can make. Every time one opens up the oven the temp drops about 20 degrees thereby increasing the cooking time. This gadget saves that and has an alarm on it for when your food reaches the desired temp. It may not mean much for a turkey that you get on sale for 49 cents a pound just before Thanksgiving, but it’s good insurance for the next time you put a $60 prime rib in the oven to make sure you get the end product you’re looking for.
Anyhow, the bird turned out excellently. It was moist, perfectly seasoned, and had all those wonderful background notes from the sugar and spices. It’s just a little more work but pays big dividends (and the leftovers stay moist as well.).
This brine works well with chicken and duck too.
Posted in Brines, Chicken, Duck, Recipes, Turkey | 2 Comments »
Written by Mike on 26 September 2007
I’m a little late in coming with my High Holy Days duck recipe…so sue me. This recipe is timeless and simple and I found it while going through a book of my grandmothers recipes. As some of you know, my mothers family escaped Europe (Norway) at the start of WW2 and ended up in South Africa before arriving in the US. My guess is that this recipe originated while they were in Sud-Afrika because it was written in both Afrikaans and Norwegian by my grandmother. If you’re a fan of duck this won’t disappoint.
Marinade:
1.5 cup red wine
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon coriander
3/4 cup prunes
2-3 tablespoons of capers drained
1 cup black olives
2 bay leaves.
Rinse duck and place in a bowl. In a small bowl mix all ingridients for marinade. Pour over duck, cover and marinate 4 hours in the refrigerator, turning occasionally.
Apples: 4 medium size apples (quartered).
Preheat oven to 375F. Place a duck into deep baking dish and pour marinade over. Place apples around. Bake about 1 hour. Serve duck with a little pan juice poured on top.
Posted in Duck, Recipes | No Comments »
Written by Dave Budge on 19 September 2007
Now that hunting season is on us I was looking for a good source for wild game recipes. I ran across The Wild Gourmet, Larry Copenhaver, who is the resident “chef” for the Montana Hunting & Fishing Journal.
He has some interesting recipes not the least of which is his Duck ala (Hunter) Orange. Check it 0ut and the other recipes.
The Spoon needs more wild game recipes and if you know anyone who is good ask ‘em to join. I’m going to try to get Larry Copenhaver to let us post his recipes directly – if I can find an email address. But this is Montana after all and there’s no shortage of good ideas on how to prepare game animals.
Posted in Duck, Recipes, Wild Game | 5 Comments »
Written by Aaron Weissman on 10 September 2007
Rosh Hashanah is approaching very fast. It is traditional to serve pomegranate for Rosh Hashanah.
Why pomegranate? Well, on the second day of Rosh Hashanah we are commanded to eat of new fruit that we have not yet eaten this season. As pomegranates are harvested in the Fall, this is often the fruit of choice. More symbolically, our tradition teaches us that a pomegranate has 613 seeds. Similarly, there are 613 mitzvos we are commanded to perform in our holy scriptures.
Anyway, Fessenjan is a Persian Walnut Stew. Although this recipe uses duck, you can use chicken. The procedure will be different, as will the taste. However, it will still be good.
My recipe has been modified from one given to me by a member of the Jewish community here in Great Falls. I don’t like using names on the Internet without permission.
I enjoyed this recipe very much. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Ingredients:
5 cups finely ground walnuts
1 cup concentrated pomegranate juice
2 TBL Tomato paste
1 – 2 lbs. quartered duck. Bone in and skin on, please!
1 onion, grated
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp baking soda
Salt and Pepper
1 cup basmati rice
handful pine nutes
2 quart chicken stock
1 pomegranate, seeded
Method
Start the rice cooking in the chicken broth. You know how to make rice, right?
While the rice is cooking, toast the ground walnuts briefly in a nonstick fry pan. Lower the heat to a simmer and add about 3/4 inch of water. Add the pomegranate juice and tomato paste and simmer 45 minutes. The surface should get oily from the walnut oil. You should stir this so the walnuts don’t develop a crust.
Meanwhile, add about 3/4″ of water to a dutch oven. Score the duck skin with a knife. Place the duck pieces in a steamer basket, and steam them in the covered dutch oven for about 25 minutes. This will render out most of the duck fat, which is about the best stuff ever.
Reserve the duck pieces and boil the water until most of it is evaporated. What is left in your pan is white gold, rendered duck fat. Scoop it into an appropriate vessel, leaving about 4 TBL in the pot.
Cube the duck meat, removing the bones. Sear the duck meat, and then add the onion. After the onions have become translucent, add the tumeric, salt and pepper. Stir and add 1 quart chicken stock. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered. Add the walnut mixture to the stew, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
Add the pine nuts and pomegranate seeds to the cooked rice. Serve the stew over the rice.
Enjoy!
Posted in Duck, Ethnic, Jewish, Kosher, Middle Eastern, Persian, Recipes | No Comments »
