If you have ever lived anywhere more than a week, you probably have a "local" - a bar, a cafe, a restaurant where you know the venue, the menu and you recognize, if not know many of the other patrons and of course, you always feel at home.
Our local for all the years we lived in New York, was Café Loup. It was warm and inviting and a little bit upscale but not at all formal. On offer were French bistro standards - Bavette Frites, Salad Lyonnaise, Escargot de Bourgogne, Pate de Campagne, Moules Mariniere ...and on and on. Whenever anyone came to town or we had a birthday to celebrate - and even when we didn't have a special reason - we could be found sitting at the bar or at a small table with white tablecloths and a very good wine list. It never disappointed.
It was with great sadness that we learned it closed. I still long to sit at the bar and settle in.
This year I decided to recreate - no, to reimagine - a classic Café Loup evening in honor of Ken's winter birthday. I knew I wanted to make some sort of duck dish and a chocolate dessert, but that was the extent of it. I invited 8 guests and then went shopping, leaving the details of the side dishes to the whims of the shuk.
I found parsnips and curly kale and blood oranges - yay. I found nearly perfect potatoes, new garlic and 95% cocoa chocolate and crème fraîche. What I couldn't find was duck. Anywhere. Lots and lots of goose, which in the U.S. is nearly impossible to find (except at Christmas time), but no duck.
We phoned all the butcher shops and were told that it didn't exist in the country which was nonsense since we had it at a restaurant a few days before. The more "no duck" answers we got the more intent I became on finding it. It became mission critical.
Finally, Ken located a place which said it could source it and we could pick it up the day before the dinner. I held my breath for two days - I don't know why since I had a Plan B.
Nevertheless, I worried until I laid my eyes on the duck and it was beautiful - thin skinned, properly trimmed, not overly fat and very well cleaned.
That high lasted a minute until I realized that I had focused so much on getting the birds I had never decided on how I was going to prepare duck for 10 people, let alone make everything else and still manage to join the party.
I searched through all my old cookbooks for recipes and and hunted down a bunch of Youtube tutorials online. I was so confused by the time I finished the research I almost decided to serve a lamb roast instead.
In the end I came to my senses. I did the simplest thing. I roasted them whole with rosemary and salt. I made the blood orange jam and the sides the day before. I made the dessert the morning of, and roasted the ducks whole with oranges and rosemary.
I think it came out well. I should trust myself more.
BT's Roasted Duck Dinner (8-10 people) ** All recipes in PDF at bottom of page. Marmalade BT addition to meal
BT's Roasted Duck:
Ingredients:
2 fresh whole duck - cleaned with giblets on side - approx. 2 kilos (4.5 lbs) each
10 sprigs fresh rosemary
6 teaspoons kosher salt
2 apples - peeled and quartered
2 oranges with rinds
Boiled water
1 lemon
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons duck fat
2 tablespoons Cointreau
ground black pepper
Directions:
Line roasting pan with tin foil - dull side up
Wrap roasting rack in foil and place in bottom of pan
Preheat oven to 175 C. (375 F.)
Wash duck thoroughly with cold water
Score duck skin in a crisscross pattern
Pour boiling water over skin to reduce fat
Rub 4 tablespoons of salt over the entire surface of both birds
Stuff cavity with quartered apples
Slice orange and place pieces inside cavity on top of apple
Place birds on rack breast side up and add several grinds of black pepper
Roast in middle of oven for 1 hour
Remove pan and flip birds
Place rosemary sprigs around the duck and add more pepper
Return to oven and roast for 1 more hour
Remove pan and flip birds again
Scoop duck fat that has accumulated at the bottom and reserve
Take 4 tablespoons of reserved duck fat to make glaze.
Add honey, Cointreau and 1 teaspoon salt
Coat duck breast and legs with glaze
Return to oven for 45 minutes
Check temperature - recommended 74 C. (165 F.)
Remove and let ducks rest 15 minutes before carving
BT's Potatoes With Roasted Garlic and Roasted Kale:
Ingredients:
1 large bunch curly green kale or dino kale
8 large yellow flesh, low starch potatoes
2 heads and 1 clove new garlic
240 ml (1 cup) whole milk
120 ml (1/2 cup) cooking cream (15%)
2 tablespoons butter
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons kosher salt
ground black pepper
Directions:
Wash kale thoroughly and pat dry
Place whole leaves in a baking dish and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and several grinds of black pepper over leaves
Roast in oven at 190 C. (375 F.) for 20 minutes
Remove from oven and reserve
Slice top off garlic heads
Sprinkle tops with olive oil and kosher salt
Place in baking dish and bake at 200 C. (400 F.) for 15 minutes
Remove and reserve
Scrub potatoes until they are absolutely free of dirt
Place in a large pot with 1 teaspoon of salt and enough water to cover
Bring to boil and cook the potatoes whole until they are tender - approx. 20 minutes
When peels begin to split, remove from heat and place potatoes in ice water
Peel skins from potatoes and rice the potatoes into a mixing bowl
In a saucepan combine milk, creame, 1 tablespoon of butter, garlic clove, bay leaf and thyme
Heat slowly over low flame
When liquid is tepid (38 C./100 F.) and butter is melted remove from heat
Discard thyme, bay leaf and garlic clove
Add liquid to riced potatoes
Rough chop kale and add to potatoes
Squeeze garlic from its skin and to mix well
Taste for salt and pepper
Add remainder of butter on top of potatoes
Serve immediately or refrigerate and reheat at 175 C. (350 F.) for 45 minutes before meal
BT's Parsnip and Winter Squash Purée
Ingredients
3 large or 6 small parsnips
1 medium winter squash (any sort - acorn, pumpkin, kombucha, delicata)
1 small red chili
1 large yellow onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
pinch of ground cloves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon kosher salt
ground black pepper
Chicken stock - enough to just cover parsnips in saucepan
2 tablespoons 15% cream (optional)
Directions:
Wash outside of squash thoroughly
Prick skin in several places to vent steam
Roast squash at 200 C. (400 F.) for 30 - 40 minutes or until interior is penetrable with a knife
Remove from oven and reserve
Peel parsnips and rough chop
Place in saucepan and add enough chicken stock to barely cover
Add thyme and bay leaf and simmer on low for 10 minutes
Remove thyme and bay leaf and discard
Reserve parsnips in liquid
In a separate saucepan add vegetable oil and butter
Turn flame to low
Dice chili - retain veins and seeds if you want a lot of heat
Add chili to fat
Dice onion and add to pot
Sauté for 4 -5 minutes or until onions are translucent
Add salt and several grinds of pepper
Add parsnips and liquid
Add cloves
Scoop flesh from squash and add to mix
Turn flame to medium and cook for 1 minute
Remove from heat and purée until mixture is smooth
Add cream if using
Serve immediately or refrigerate and reheat at 175 C. (350 F.) for 30 minutes before meal
BT's Blood Orange Marmalade
Ingredients:
7 blood oranges
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) white sugar
2 tablespoons Courvoisier
2 tablespoons water
pinch of salt
3 grinds black pepper
1 sprig fresh thyme
Directions:
Using a vegetable peeler, remove the rind from the blood oranges making sure to include as little pith as possible
Place in small saucepan and cover with cold water
Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes to decrease bitterness
Remove peel from water and julienne and reserve
Juice oranges with a wooden reamer and retain as much pulp as possible
Add juice, water, sugar, thyme, Courvoisier, salt and pepper
Bring contents to boil and then reduce to low heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes
Removed thyme
Add reserved orange peel and turn heat up to medium high
Jam should begin to thicken after 5 minutes
Continue cooking until jam is thick enough to coat back of spoon
Remove from heat and cool in a glass jar
Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before using
Relied on Julia Child for this one
Enjoy! !בתיאבון
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