Bear Cuisine

The Christmas Duck

We had a delightful Christmas Day, watching Julie and Julia as I cooked a duck. As it happened, I used a method proposed by Julia in her The Way to Cook. It may sound complicated, but it is reallly quite easy and does yield a tender, juicy bird with crispy skin. If you have tried roasting a whole duck, you know the problems with tender breast meat, tough leg-thing joints and too much grease from all the fat under the skin. This method offers a solution to all these potential difficulties.

STEAM-ROASTED DUCK

(4 servings)

• a five-pound duckling
• 1 lemon
• Salt
• Sage or thye, pitional
• 1/2 cup each: chpped onion, carrot and celery
• 11/2 cups red wine, white wine or water

 

Equipment suggested: A covered roaster or casserole with rack, just large enough to hold the duck comfortably and a shallow roasting pan with a rack for the final cooking.

Preparing the duck for roasting. Pull all loose fat out of the cavity of the duck, remove the wishbone for easier carving of the breast, and, for even easier carving, cut through the ball joints of the wings and thighs. Chop off the wings at the elbows, save them, as well as the neck and giblets, for duck stock. Wipe the duck dry, and rub all over the outside and inside the cavity with cut lemon. Salt the inside of the cavity lightly and add, if you wish, a sprinkling of thyme or sage.

Preliminary steaming-30 minutes. Place the duck breast up on the rack in the casserole, add 1 inch of water and bring to the boil on top of the stove. Cover the caserole tightly, reduce heat, and let it steam for 30 minutes.

Braising--30 minutes at 325 degrees F. Remove the steamed duck from the casserole, pour out the liquid (which you can degrease and use for your duck stock), drain the duck. Place a double thickness of foil over the rack, and return the duck, breast down. Strew the vegeables around, and pour in the wine or water. Bring to the simmer top of the stove, cover the casserole and braise in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Final roasting--30 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees F. Remove the duck to the rack in the shallow roasting pan. roast uncovered to brown and crisp the skin--the duck is done when the legs feel reasonably tender.

Sauce. Meanwhile skim the fat off the cooking liquid in the covered casserole, and simmer the liquid, mashing in the vegetables. then boil it down until it is almost syrupy. Strain, pressing the juices out of the vegetables--you will have just enough liquid to moisten each serving.

Celery Root and Apple Puree

I don't know how it goes in your kitchen,but this time of year often finds me in a vegetable rut. My family groans and asks if there is another vegetable besides broccoli that I know how to cook. So, when I saw this recipe on Turkey Confidential I knew that I had to try it. I love celery root and the combination is delicious.

Sally Schneider says that she learned this technique from Chef Michel Guerard. It really works ; the flavor is clean and rich at the same time.

Cooking watery or fibrous root vegetables like celery roots, turnips, carots, rutabagas and beets with a little white rice ensure that they will be exceptionally creamy and have a very pure flavor. The recipe can be doubled or tripled. Do not double or triple the amount of milk; use just enough to cover the celery root by 1 1/2 inches.

CELERY ROOT AND APPLE PUREE

(4 servings)

1. 1 pound celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2. 3 cups milk
3. 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4. Freshly ground black pepper
5. 2 1/2 tablespoons white rice
6. 2 small McIntosh apples (about 8 ounces total) peeled, cored and quatered
7. 2 teaspoons unsalted butter

Place the celery root in a medium saucepan, add the milk, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and a grinding or two of pepper, and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Stir in the rice, lower the heat, partially cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the apples and simmer for 10 minutes longer, or until the celery root is very tender.  (The milk will curdle, but the curds will be incorporated when the celery root is pureed.) Drain the mixture in a colander set over a bowl;save the cooking liquid.

In a food processor, puree the celery root mixture for 1 to 2 minutes, until perfectly smooth, adding a tablespoon or two of cooking liquid if necessary. (Save the remaining liquid for soup; it can be frozen.) Process for several minutes more, scraping down the sides several times, until you have a fine puree. Season withe remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Add the butter and process to blend.

You can make the puree several hours ahead and rehet it (or keep it warm), stirring frequently, in a covered double boiler.

This is a great side for roast turkey or other roasted meats.

Salad of White Asparagus and Celeriac

White Asparagus is everywhere in French markets in the spring. Farmers go to a lot of trouble to grow this colorless vegetable. This salad makes excellent use of the prized white asparagus and offers a vegetable tip for cooking artichokes, white asparagus, celeriac and Jerusalem artichokes when you want to keep their color.

SALAD OF WHITE ASPARAGUS AND CELERIAC

(Serves 6)

• 18 Even-sized (not too thick) white asparagus
• 1/2 celeriac, peeled and diced into 1 cm squares
• about 12 chestnut mushrooms, depending on size (may substitute shitaki, shimeji or sliced oyster mushrooms)
• 2 tablespoons sweet walnuts
• enough watercress, rocket(arugula) or other small mesclun greens for a base of green on six plates

DRESSING

• 6 tablespoons walnut oil plus 2-3 extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar 
• salt, pepper, pinch powdered mustard
• couple of drops of truffle oil (optional)

To cook the vegetables in a "blanc": This is the cooking method for white asparagus artichokes, celeriac and Jerusalem artichokes when you want to keep their color; it also give them texture.

Peel the white asparagus and discard the base of the root at the point where it begins to toughen. Peel the celeriac and dice as required. Take 2 saucepans large enough to fit the vegetables and place a spoonful of flour in the base of each. Using a whisk, add in enough cold water to cover the vegetables, and bring each to the boil, stirring with the whisk to prevent lumps. Add one of the vegetables to each pot and cook until just tender to the taste, but a little crunch--about 6 to 8 minutes, depending on toughness. Drain and combine in a bowl; set aside.

Rinse the mushrooms if necessary, or wipe over carefully. Set aside. Wash and prep the greens; set aside. As near as is comfortable before diner, put a film of olive oil on a pan and quickly saute the mushrooms just enough to give them a sheen. Add to the bowl, without stirring them in.

The Dressing: Combine all the all the ingredients except the truffle oil in a jar or bowl; season and set aside until dinner.

To Serve: Place a bed of greens on each serving plate. Shake or whisk the dressing and pour over the combined vegetables and mix. Pile in the center of the greens, dot with sweet walnuts, add a few drops truffle oil is using and serve immediately.

Carving a Leg of Lamb

Even in the blistering heat of a southwestern summer, a roasted leg of lamb can be a great dinner. Outdoor grills were made to cook such delights. While we were at La Combe en Perigord, Di Holuigue showed us a very neat and easy way to carve a leg of lamb. My efforts at carving have always been pretty much hit and miss. This method makes it almost foolproof. I don't remember the name of the very cool tool that she used to hold the bone, but I think one could easily make do just by grasping the bone with your hand. Not elegant, but I know it will work.

What could be simpler? And it makes for a very nice presentation on the plate or platter.