#Duck Quail and Other Brid

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Cognac Foie Gras Terrine

To toast to the end of a year and celebrate the coming of a new one, we indulge in foods and drinks we don’t usually eat. Foie Gras, for instance, is a staple of Holiday tables in France, and cooking it yourself is rather simple. Thus, spooning slices of this festive, tasty Cognac Foie Gras Terrine is a delicious way to start your last meal of 2022! Happy New Year’s Eve!

Ingredients (serves 6 to 8):

500 grams/1.10 pound whole raw Grade A duck foie gras at room temperature, cleaned and deveined

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

6 tablespoons good quality Cognac

Separate foie gras lobes and place them in a shallow dish. Season with fleur de sel and black pepper on all sides.

Pour Cognac over the foie gras and gently rub onto the lobes. Place dish in the refrigerator, to marinate and infuse overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 100°C/210°F. Place one of the foie gras lobe, plump-side down into a 600-millilitre/20-fluid-ounce terrine dish, pressing gently to fit. Drizzle with a little of the remaining Cognac marinade. Place remaining foie gras lobe on top, pressing gently and rubbing the edges to seal. Close with the lid and place in the middle of a large baking dish. Fill baking dish to three-quarters with warm water, to make a bain-marie.

Place baking dish in the middle of the oven, and cook in the bain-marie, 1 hour, at 100°C/210°F.

Once cooked remove bain-marie from the oven, and let cool, half an hour. With a spoon, scoop out excess fat at the top of the terrine, leaving enough to make a thin yellow layer when it cools down and congeal. Cover with the lid once more, and place foie gras terrine in the refrigerator, to chill and infuse, overnight to four days.

Serve Cognac Foie Gras Terrine, cut in slices, with slices of toasted Brioche, or Soft White Bread, fig halves sautéed in butter and honey, and a slightly sweet, well-chilled white wine, like a moelleux Côtes de Gascogne.

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Lemon Roast Cockerel

Because Ava only arrived here in the arvo yesterday, we’re having our Sunday Lunch today! This Lemon Roast Cockerel might be a smaller bird --more than enough for two-- but it still makes a proper roast, with crispy skin, and delicate, juicy, citrus-scented flesh. Absolutely delicious! Happy Monday!

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

½ tablespoon olive oil

1 shallot

1 (520-gram/1.15-pound) cockerel

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 large lemon

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 200°C/395°F.

In a roasting tin, melt butter with olive oil over a medium flame on the stove-top. 

Peel and thinly slice shallot.

Once the butter is just foaming, add shallot slices to the tin. Cook, a couple of minutes until softened. Remove from the heat.

Season both the inside and outside of the cockerel with fleur de sel and black pepper. Stuff cockerel with the lemon halve (cut-side in), and rub the whole bird generously with softened butter. Sit cockerel in the middle of the tin, onto the shallots.

Pour water at the bottom of the tin. Place in the middle of the hot oven and roast, at 200°C/395°F, 45 to 55 minutes.

Serve Lemon Roast Cockerel hot, with Roasted Potatoes, Herb and Honey Carrots, and a light, crisp, well-chilled Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

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Honey and Rosemary Roast Partridge and Potatoes

This Honey and Rosemary Roast Partridge and Potatoes with its gorgeously crisp skin, and its juicy buttery flesh is a beautiful bird to have on your Sunday Lunch table. Have a good one, friends!

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 fluffy sprig fresh rosemary

2 large garlic clove

8 small or new potatoes

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1 (1.430-kilo/3.15-pound) partridge

1 fluffy sprig fresh rosemary

1*2 teaspoon fleur de sel

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1/3 cup water

1 heaped tablespoon pure local honey

Preheat oven to 210°C/410°F.

In a large roasting tin, melt butter with olive oil over a medium flame on the stove-top. Once the butter is just foaming, break rosemary sprig in halves, and add to the tin. Cook, 1 minute.

Peel and halve cloves, and add them to the tin. Cook, 1 minute more.

Peel potatoes and add them whole, to the tin, coating them in butter, oil and herbs. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, a cook, shaking the tin often to coat the potatoes, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, set aside.

Sit partridge in the tin, in the middle of the potatoes. Stuff rosemary sprig inside the bird and season both the inside and outside with fleur de sel and black pepper.

Rub softened butter all over the partridge, and pour water at the bottom of the tin. Place in the middle of the hot oven and roast, at 210°C/410°F, 30 minutes. 

After half an hour, generously brush the whole bird with honey, and return to the oven. Roast, a further 20 to 25 minutes, at 210°C/410°F.

Serve Honey and Rosemary Roast Partridge and Potatoes hot, with a full-bodied red like a Barossa Valley Shiraz or a crisp, chilled Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

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Thyme Roast Turkey with Boudin Blanc Sage and Onion Stuffing

The pièce de résistance of our Christmas Day Lunch was this beautiful Thyme Roast Turkey Boudin Blanc Sage and Onion Stuffing! It had been a long time since we’d had turkey for Christmas, and we did love this beautiful bird with its crispy golden skin and juicy and fragrant flesh. And it makes excellent Boxing Day sandwiches, to eat whilst playing Clue or 221B Baker Street with the family, too! A very Happy Christmas to you all, friends!

Ingredients (serves 6):

1 (3-kilogram/6.65-pound) whole turkey

1 lemon

2 fluffy sprigs fresh thyme

1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

5 litres/quarts water

1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil

2 (125-gram/4.40-ounce) boudins blancs (white sausages, preferably with mushrooms)

2 onions

a dozen fresh sage leaves

6 thick slices stale Sourdough or Bloomer Bread

1 cup Fragrant Capon Broth 

a pinch of salt

¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

2 fluffy sprigs fresh thyme

The day before, rinse turkey thoroughly under cold water, and pat dry.

Make the brine: Place turkey in a large pot. Slice lemon into slices, and add to the pot. Place thyme sprigs inside the turkey. Sprinkle the inside and outside of the bird with coarse sea salt and black peppercorns. Cover with water. Cover with the lid, and keep in a cool place overnight.

In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil over medium heat. Cut boudins blancs into thick slices, and add to the skillet. Cook, about 3 minutes on each side until browned. Transfer to a plate, keeping the fat in the skillet. Set aside.

Finely chop onion, and add to the skillet. Cook, 5 minutes, until softened, stirring often to prevent colouring. Finely chop sage and add to the onion mixture, cook 1 minute more. 

Cut Sourdough slices, into cubes, and stir into the skillet. Return reserved boudin blanc slices, and their resting juices, to the skillet. Pour in Capon Broth all over, and season with salt and black pepper.

Preheat oven to 205°C/400°F. Remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry. Stuff turkey with Boudin Blanc Sage and Onion Stuffing until full.

Sprinkle turkey liberally with salt and black pepper. Sit the turkey in a large roasting dish. Remove thyme leaves from their sprigs, and sprinkle all over the turkey. Spread butter all over turkey. ��Add thyme sprigs and a cup of water to the roasting pan.

Roast turkey, at 205°C/400°F,  basting occasionally with pan drippings, about 2 hours. In the last hour, cover with foil. Transfer turkey to a platter and cover with foil. Allow it to rest in a warm place 15 to 30 minutes before carving.

Serve Thyme Roast Turkey with Boudin Blanc Sage and Onion Stuffing hot, with Port Cranberry Sauce, Gravy,Sweet Potato Casserole.

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Duck Noodle Stir-Fry

It is quite incredible what amazing and tasty things one can do with frozen vegetables, a pack of rice noodles and leftover meat from one’s Sunday lunch! At least, turning leftovers into a completely different dish never cease to inspire me. There’s a little magic in it, I find. Like a typically French Confit Duck becoming a Duck Noodle Stir-Fry! Happy Wednesday!

Ingredients (serves 1):

50 grams/1.75 ounces wide rice noodles

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 1/3 cup frozen stir-fry vegetable mix (with the likes of carrots, peas, sugar snap peas, red pepper...)

1/2 leftover Confit Duck Leg

1 tablespoon nuoc mam (fish sauce)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 sweet chili sauce

Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, stir in the rice noodles, and cook, about 6 minutes. Then, drain the noodles and rinse under cold water, to remove the starch. Drain again thoroughly. Set aside.

Heat a large wok over high heat. Add toasted sesame oil.

Once hot, add the stir-fry vegetables, and cook, shaking the wok often until well hot, about 5 minutes.

Tear the cold Duck flesh off the bones into chunks, and add to the wok. Sauté, a couple of minutes. Drizzle in nuoc mam and soy sauce. Cook, 1 minute. Then, stir in reserved rice noodles, coating well with meat, vegetables and sauce. Finally, stir in sweet chili sauce. Sauté, a couple of minutes more.

Serve Duck Noodle Stir-Fry hot.

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Capon and Chestnut Minestrone

We do love eating leftover roast bird and spuds with cranberry sauce and stuffing in the days following Christmas, and we do adore our Boxing Day Sandwiches. But we also enjoy eating something a bit lighter, with fresh vegetables and bright flavours. Like this Capon and Chestnut Minestrone, a hearty, chunky, tasty Winter soup!

Ingredients (serves 3 to 4):

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 small orange bell pepper, rinsed

1 large Green Onion

1 large courgette, rinsed

a whole thigh and little breast meat leftover Pine Nest Roast Capon 

1 cup cooked chestnuts (bottled or sous-vide)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

3 Whole Peeled Tomatoes and 1/3 cup of their juice

3 1/2 cups Fragrant Capon Broth , warmed

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cut belll pepper into thin strips, and add to the pot. Sauté, 1 minute.

Finely chop white part of the Green Onion, reserving green part, and stir into the pot. Sauté, 1 minute more.

Cut courgette into thick slices. Cut the smaller slices in halves and the larger in quarters. Stir into the pot, cook, about 4 minutes. 

Meanwhile remove the meat from the bones of the leftover  Pine Nest Roast Capon. Chop roughly, and add to the pot, with its skin. Cook, a couple of minutes more. 

Add the chestnuts; cook, 1 minute. Season with dried thyme and oregano.

Finally, roughly chop Whole Peeled Tomatoes and stir into the pot, along with their juice. Cook, another minute. Then, stir in warmed Fragrant Capon Broth, and bring to the boil.

Finely chop reserved green part of the Green Onion.

Serve Capon and Chestnut Minestrone hot, sprinkled with chopped green part of the Green Onion.

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Confit Duck, Spiced Cranberry and Honey Satsuma Vol au Vents

The second vol au vent hors d’oeuvre on our New Year’s Eve table were these delicious Confit Duck, Spiced Cranberry and Honey Satsuma Vol au Vents. They may look impressive and taste delicious, but, once agai, are rather easy to make and are excellent party food, should you be hosting friends on this fine Saturday! Have a good one!

Ingredients (makes 4 vol au vents):

1 large satsuma

1 heaped tablespoon fragrant pure honey (like Manuka Honey)

1 egg yolk

½ tablespoon milk

about 300 grams/10.5 ounces Rough Puff Pastry

1 ½ tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 cup water, plus more if needed

1/2 cup fresh cranberries, rinsed

1 teaspoon Mixed Spice

2 tablespoons pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup

1/2 leg Confit Duck

With a sharp knife, cut satsuma into supremes, and put them into a small bowl. Stir in Manuka Honey until well-blended. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk and milk until well-blended. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Roll out Rough Puff Pastry onto a lightly floured surface to about 1cm/0.5” of thickness. Using a 9cm/3.5” round cutter, cut out 8 discs of the Pastry. Brush the edges of 4 of the discs with egg wash, and place another disc on top of each, pressing very gently to seal. Using a smaller cookie cutter, lightly press in the centre of each double Pastry circle, to define a centre. Place the four Pastry circles onto prepared baking tray, and brush the tops with egg wash. Place in the middle of the hot oven, and bake, at 180°C/355°F, 20 to 25 minutes, until beautifully golden and puffed, and the bottom is a nice golden brown colour.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

In a medium saucepan, combine water and cranberries. Sir in Mixed Spice. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Once the cranberries have all popped, stir in Maple Syrup. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring often, until you have a compote, about 5 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Keep warm.

Heat Confit Duck over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Keep warm.

Using a sharp knife, cut out and remove the centre of each vol au vent. Spoon a generous tablespoon of spiced cranberry compote at the bottom of each. Carefully lift Confit Duck out of the hot fat, and pull the meat apart with forks -it should fall off the bones. Fill the vol au vents pastry cases with Confit Duck, and top with honey satsuma supremes. 

Serve Confit Duck, Spiced Cranberry and Honey Satsuma Vol au Vents immediately.

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Pine Nest Roast Capon

After proudly cooking .Ruth’s Roast Goose last year, this gorgeous Pine Nest Roast Capon was the centre piece of our Christmas Lunch Table, and I’m also very proud of it. Its flesh was juicy and fragrant with the pine flavour. And as, once more, it was just for Jules and I, there are plenty of leftovers for today, and perhaps until the New Year! Happy Boxing Day!

Ingredients (serves at least 6):

1 Chicken Stock Cube 

1 cup boiling water

5 rashers smoked streaky bacon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion

250 grams/1 cup cooked chestnuts (bottled, canned or sous-vide)

2 tablespoons brandy

1 fluffy sprig fresh rosemary

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 leaves fresh sage

3 thick slices stale bread

½ teaspoon freshy cracked black pepper

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 (3.5-kilo/7.70-pound) fresh capon (preferably free-range)

½ teaspoon salt

½ freshly cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup pine needles (foraged or collected and stored from last year’s tree)

the tip of a couple of your Nordman Christmas tree (provided it hasen’t been treated or sprayed on with fake snow)

Place Chicken Stock Cubes  in a medium bowl. Cover with boiling water, and let melt. Stir well to mix. Set aside.

In a large, deep nonstick skillet, cook bacon rashers over medium-high heat, a couple of minutes. Transfer bacon rashers to a plate; set aside.

Add olive oil to bacon fat. Peel and finely chop onion, and add to the skillet. Cook, 1 minute. Stir in chestnuts. Cook, 3 minutes. Pour in brandy, and reduce heat to medium.

Finely chop rosemary, thyme and sage; stir into the skillet. Finally, cut stale bread into dices, and add to the skillet. Stir in Chicken Stock. Season with black pepper. Once almost all the Chicken Stock is soaked up, remove from the heat. 

Preheat oven to 240°C/465°F.

Remove pockets of fat inside the capon. Season the inside and outside of the bird with salt and black pepper. Rub the seasoning and butter gently all over, and stuff with the chestnut and bacon stuffing. Tie the legs with twine, if necessary, so the stuffing doesn’t spill out.

Sprinkle pine needles at the bottom of a large roasting dish. Top with Nordmann branches. Sit stuffed capon onto that nest in roasting dish, add water, and place in the middle of the oven. Cook, at 240°C/465°F, 10 minutes. Then, reduce oven temperature to 170°C/340°F, and cook, 2 hours and thirty-five minutes*. Regularly baste the capon with its pine-needle-fragrant fat .Collect some of the fat in a bowl each time you baste it, and use it to make Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes.

Once cooked, carefully remove from the oven, and cover with foil. Let sit, a quarter of an hour, before serving and carving.

Serve Pine Nest Roast Capon with Apple-Cranberry Sauce, Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes and green beans, and feast merrily!

*count three quarters of an hour of roasting per kilo (2 pounds)

Capon Fat: Once the roasting juices and fat have cooled, place the roasting tin in the refrigerator, covered with cling film. The following day, remove from the refrigerator and, with a tablespoon, gently scoop out the cream-coloured capon fat and spoon it into a clean, sterelised jar, making sure not to scoop the congealed juices of the capon. Close tightly; it will keep for a few months (up to six) in the refrigerator, and will make delicious Roasted Potatoes, Confit Duck or make a tasty, hearty alternative to olive oil all Winter long!