Five Days of Decadence: Day Four

December 23, 2011 Leave a Comment

I am very happy to be posting about today’s meal for two reasons.

1) The duck turned out fantastic and tasted wonderful!

2) I can introduce you to a FANTASTIC food blog that has helped me through a few new experiences in cooking.  Say hello to The Hungry Mouse.  It’s a fantastic food blog with gorgeous pictures and wonderful tutorials.

I knew that roasting a duck would be different from roasting a chicken.  I thank my lucky stars for having already known that.  I’ve heard horror stories of greasy meat, rubbery skin, and way too much fat remaining on the bird.  Because of this, I hit Google and The Hungry Mouse was the #1 response I got.  It’s always nice to see a familiar place when asking a question on Google.

Here is the tutorial on how to roast a duck, or rather, the BEST way to roast a duck.  Yes, it’s time consuming, but WORTH it.  My little duck turned out perfect and I have enough duck fat rendered out to make hash browns on the morning of the 26th.

And boy, am I looking forward to that.

Seriously, if you’re considering roasting a duck, CONSULT THAT LINK!  I cannot stress that enough.  That blogger knows her stuff.

If you’ll remember (HA!  I know better…) back in August I made Chicken L’Orange and expressed my desire to make Orange Duck, or Duck L’Orange for the fancy-pants out there.  Again, if you’ll remember (I keep writing that, but seriously, I know better) I overpaid for a smoked duck last year for the Five Days and was unimpressed.  I knew I wanted to try making a duck all on my own and Orange Duck just sounds so fantastic to me.

It was easier than I thought.

I used the exact same recipe that I used for the Chicken L’Orange except I didn’t stuff the duck with anything (it has to cook for over 4 hours!) but the glaze and sauce were the same.  To make your life easier, I am more than happy to provide a simplified version of the recipe so that you may also someday make homemade Orange Duck.

Orange Glaze/Sauce for Duck or Chicken

Simplified by Me

4 oranges

1 sprig tarragon

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 cups chicken stock

4 peppercorns

1 Tblsp. cornstarch

Peel 1 orange and cut peel in thin strips.  Set aside peel.  Juice all four oranges and add juice to discarded peel.

Dissolve sugar in the vinegar in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Add chicken stock, tarragon, peppercorns and salt to taste.

Add orange juice and orange peel.

Baste the bird during the last half hour of cooking twice in 15-minute intervals.  (Consult the Hungry Mouse on how to cook the duck!)

Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of water and add to glaze.  When thick, pour into serving bowl and serve with the duck.  (You could, and should, strain the sauce before adding the cornstarch, but I couldn’t be bothered with it and it was fine.  The world didn’t blow up.)

Sweet orange-y duck awaits your pleasure.

Once upon a time I took more pictures of the product.  I photographed the before, during, and after.  I’m sorry the quality of the photography has been so poor, but I am going to plead the two small children under school age thing.  I have a 1 year-old who screams at me from a high chair and a 4 year-old who screams at me from my elbow…..pictures aren’t my #1 concern most days.  I’ll get back to it someday.  Just be patient.

I promised yesterday that I would share a recipe for an Orange Martini.  I hate to think that I made the drink to go with the duck so that everything could me matchy-matchy.  That was not the thought process at ALL. The thought process was more like,

“The juicer is out and I have just enough oranges to make a cocktail!  WOOO!”

Simple as that.

And an Orange Martini is yummy.  It’s weird that I like it considering that I find Screwdrivers (Vodka+Orange Juice) to be repugnant reincarnations of stomach acid.

Orange Martini

Who Needs Credit?  It’s a DRINK!

1 oz. vodka

1/2 oz. Triple Sec

2 oz. orange juice (fresh squeezed really is best here or the acid will probably cause painful and horrible death.)  (Just kidding about the death thing.)  (No I’m not.)

Shake with ice and serve over ice.  There’s nothing worse than warm orange juice, let alone a cocktail containing orange juice.

I know martinis are usually served in those angular stemmed glasses.  And I have those glasses and find them to be very posh, but OH MY GOD they are annoying to drink from some days.  Rock glasses work just fine.  I’m not breaking any rules by doing this, and if I am, it’s a stupid rule!

I hope that you notice in that picture that the drink, adorable vintage juicer, and cocktail shaker are sitting on a plywood surface.  This is because we are doing a total kitchen renovation and have been since about July.  It’s a long and terrible process and only crazy people would do this all on their own.  It just so happens that I’m crazy, so if you should notice my kitchen looking rather destroyed in some pictures, it is because of the renovation.

Tomorrow we eat a ham dinner with my mother and Day Five will be on Christmas Day.  You’re probably going to just have to suffer through a bunch of pictures of my husband and children in their pajamas because on Christmas, we have the same breakfast and dinner every year.

Happy Holidays and I hope that you’re enjoying some lovely food of your own!


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Filed Under Beverages, Main Dishes Tagged With cocktail, cooking, duck, duck l'orange, five days of decadence, food, holiday cooking, how to, orange duck, orange martini, recipe

Five Days of Decadence 2011: Day Two

December 20, 2011 Leave a Comment

Today was Coq Au Vin.

It sounds all super fancy because the name is French.  It’s not.  It’s chicken braised in red wine.  Whoop-dee-doo!  I braise pork chops like nobody’s business over here, there’s nothing fancy about it!

But is it delicious and heart-warming and decadent all the same?

Yes.  Yes it is.

And it’s not at all pricey to make.  I use reasonably priced wine, chicken isn’t exactly a high-priced food item, and the vegetables are your standard onions and carrots with a bit of mushrooms added in.

Of course, I used Ina Garten’s recipe for this.  I am attracted to Ina’s style of cooking and technique because she takes a “it’s no big deal” approach to cooking types of food that some people might find daunting or intimidating upon a first contemplation.  But when someone offers to help by teaching you or giving you a recipe and are very relaxed and not at all uptight about it, the learning process is much easier without all of the anxiety.  Ina is great with that mentality.

For your pleasure, here is the recipe!

Coq Au Vin

2007, Ina Garten

2 Tblsp. good olive oil

4 oz. good bacon or pancetta, diced

1 (3-4 lb.) chicken, cut in 8ths

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ lb. carrots, cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 tsp. chopped garlic

¼ cup Cognac or good brandy

½ bottle (375 ml) good dry red wine such as Burgundy

1 cup good chicken stock, preferably homemade

10 fresh thyme sprigs

2 Tblsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided

1-1/2 Tblsp. AP flour

½ lb. frozen small whole onions

½ lb. cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven.  Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.  Remove the bacon to a plate with a  slotted spoon.  Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry.  Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.  When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly.  Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done.  Set aside.

Add the carrots, onions, 2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.  Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot.  Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer.  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is just not pink.  Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.

Mash 1 Tblsp. of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew.  Add frozen onions.  In a medium sauté pan, add the remaining 1 Tblsp. of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, until browned.  Add to stew.  Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes.  Season to taste.  Serve hot.  YIELD:  3 servings.

Ok, so I did a couple of things different.  Yes, I used bacon.  I NEVER have pancetta on hand at my house, but I always have bacon.  Just simple smoked bacon (NOT maple flavored) does the job just fine.

I also used frozen chicken thighs for the meat instead of a whole chicken cut up.  As long as the meat has bone and skin, it’s going to work JUST fine.

I NEVER have brandy of cognac in my house.  I would never use it except for small splashes in dishes I rarely cook.  I’ve found that a good substitute is sweet mash Kentucky bourbon.  It’s not the same, but in the small amount this recipe calls for, it works FINE.

Cremini mushrooms are so delicious.  They are delicious in this dish.  White button mushrooms are also wonderful in this dish and cost a lot less.  There’s no need to spend a lot of money on a back-up flavor in this dish.

This is not a thick dish at all.  You can either serve it like a stew and serve bread as a side (the broth is HEAVENLY), or you can serve it over rice or egg noodles.  I prefer the egg noodle bed, but it’s all good.

Might I recommend that you end this dinner with a fat slice of Candy Cane Cake?

Tomorrow is the appetizer dinner.  Maybe I will serve it late, after my children have gone to bed.  I think that might be nice.  And, I promise it will be prettier this year than it was last year (can you say “embarrassed part-time food blogger posts major food kludge for shits and giggles only to deeply regret it!”)

Happy Holidays everyone!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With cooking, coq au vin, five days of decadence, food, holiday cooking, how to, recipe

Five Days of Christmas 2011: Day One

December 19, 2011 Leave a Comment

Hello all.

Obviously it has been quite some time since my last posting.  I offer no explanation or excuse.  It is what it is.

However, I have not stopped cooking and, although I am in the middle of a very long kitchen renovation, my kitchen is still quite busy.  I wasn’t going to NOT post about the 5 Days this year…that just wouldn’t be right.

A brief update on my Christmas baking:  I made fudge again this year and am happy to report that there were no dramas and there were no scary kitchen fires!  I also tried my hand at making homemade taffy and was surprised at how easy it was.  I’ll share that recipe and the details later.  Other than those things, I haven’t strayed too much from my usual yearly stuff, which is ok.  I’m enjoying this holiday season!

This year’s 5 Days is pretty simple, actually.  Of course, Christmas day will be the usual breakfast torte and lamb chops.  Christmas Eve will be spent at my mother’s house, so that’s one day that won’t count.  Also, my husband will be attending a holiday party in Philadelphia this week which is 2 hours away and means he won’t be eating dinner here at home.  So, the 5 Days started tonight.  I went a little off my usual map and made fish tonight.  A white fish.

Let it be known far and wide that I am NOT a fan of most white fish.  I typically find them to taste a bit like dirt or other unpleasant things.  My favorite fish is salmon.  However, I made a black bass tonight for dinner and it was delightful.  Seriously, I’m not just saying that.  I had two servings, which I almost NEVER do when it’s a white fish.

When approaching something that I normally don’t like food-wise, I’m always thinking on how to make the flavor sing a bit more.  Certainly, there are some foods that require little to no finesse and really are at their best when cooked and served simply.  But seeing how I don’t really care for the taste of whitefish, I was very concerned with making the taste a bit more substantial and aromatic.  I’m explaining myself because you might wonder what the heck I was thinking when you read the recipe.  Anchovies are involved.

Just bear with me and have a little trust, alright?  I promise it’s a good ride.

Black Bass with Anchovy-Garlic Paste

My Recipe

1 3-pound black bass (or some other white fish of similar size) whole, scaled and cleaned

2 cloves garlic

4 anchovy filets

1 tsp. fresh thyme

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. olive oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Place fish on foil.

Make a paste of the garlic, anchovies, thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil and put it inside of the belly cavity of the fish.  Also stuff the cavity with the onion and lemon slices.

Rub a small amount of oil on the skin of the fish and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Voila, you have an eerily aromatic and tasty fish.

It’s no big deal if you would rather not have a face on your plate.  Just have your fish-monger cut the head and fins off for you.

The anchovies serve to give the taste a bit more of a meaty flavor (and SALT, don’t forget the GOBS OF SALT).  They melt away in the cooking process and you can’t even pick out their taste among the natural taste of the bass.  It was very pleasant.  It wasn’t an overwhelming taste and the true flavor of the fish wasn’t lost, although I wouldn’t have been sad if that had happened.  It simply gave the fish a better, more harmonious flavor.  (Sorry, my adjectives are on vacation and I’m stuck with a set of overused ones!)  I really hope you give this a try, especially if you hate white-fleshed fish like I do.  It doesn’t have to be battered and fried to kill that yucky flavor.  Sometimes a tiny fish with a bad reputation as a defiler of pizzas can help.

Tomorrow is Coq Au Vin.  It’s not really a fancy schmancy meal, but it makes GREAT leftovers and is actually pretty easy to make.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With anchovies, bass, cook, fish, five days of decadence, food, how to, recipe, white fish