Quack, quack there goes the duck - Confit de Canard

Here is the traditionnal recipe for Confit de Canard. For my good friend Mikrouli


Ingredients for 4 people. Prep time 10 mins. Cooking time 3 to 4h plus 24 hours 

• 4 duck legs
• 150 g Coarse sea salt
• 1.5 to 2 kg duck fat - depends on the size of the legs
• 1 clove of garlic
• Freshly ground pepper

1. Peel the garlic clove, cut in 2 and rub on the legs. Rub the salt on the legs, pepper generously, put them in a dish, cover with cling film - make sure the cling film does not touch the meat. Stick it in the fridge for 24h.
2. 24 h later, melt the fat slowly on a low heat in an iron cast pot.
3. Gently pat the legs - do not rinse them.
4. Once the fat has melted, put the legs in the pot making sure that they are well covered.
5. Cover and stick in the oven for 3 hours. Stick a very fine knife in one of the legs to check that the meat is on the verge of falling of the bones and that the juices are clear. If not cook for longer.
6. Once cooked, you can put the legs in a sterilized jar and keep in the fridge. Eat within 2 to 3 weeks. Can be kept much longer if you are a pro at sterilization. 
7. Or can be eaten straight away. Take the legs out of the pot, place in an metal oven dish, crank up the oven at 190 C. Once the skin as brown it's ready. About 15 mins.
8. Serve with duck fat roasted or fried potatoes and a lushious green salad.
9. Enjoy!

Keep the fat from the pot. Filter, stick in a sterilized jar and keep in the fridge. I am still using some that is over a year old.

Gosh I am starving now. 

Basic Cookie Recipe and a few twists

The easiest cookies to do. They are an adaptation of Rachel Allen's recipe.


Ingredients for about 35 cookies. Prep time 10 mins. Cooking time about 10 mins.

• 225g butter, at room temperature
• 275g plain flour
• 50 gr Agave Nectar or 70g light brown soft sugar

1. Preheat the oven at 170 C if baking the same day.
2. Beat butter and sugar until soft and creamy.
3. Mix in flour.
4. Bring together with your hand. You will get a soft dough.
5. 2 options to form the cookies. Roll in log, chill for 30 mins then cut slices or roll wlanut size balls in your hands.
6. Put on baking tray, not to close as they expand slightly.
7. Stick in the oven for about 10 mins. Check after 8 mins. When they are light and gloden pale, you can take them out.
8. Cool on a wire rack.
9. Once cold and you can bare the thought, store in airtight container. They can be kept for 4/5 days, though if they make it to day number 2 let me know. Never been heard of.

The dough can be kept in the fridge for 5 days or frozen for a month.


Now for the TWISTS:
There are so many combinations. Just do what tickles your fancy and don't forget to share your ideas.

Here are a few examples to get you started.

Before adding the flour add the following ingredients and follow the recipe as above.

• Orange and ginger

Zest an orange, add 2 heaped tsps of ground ginger

• Citrus

Grate an orange, a lemon and a grapefruit.

• Too good for Rudolph

1 handful dried cranberries
1 handful chopped and roasted hazelnuts
2 bars of chopped white chocolate, from a 200g slab.
1 grated orange

• Smelling Christmas

1 tsp ground cinamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

• Chocolate Addict

1 bar white chocolate, chopped
1 bar dark chocolate, chopped
1 bar milk chocolate, chopped
When I talk of bars its 1 one bar from a 100g slab of chocolate

• Chocolate Rehab

1 handful ground almond
Follow recipe, then when cool, dip in dark melted chocolate.
To melt chocolate, put 100 g chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Make sure the water is just simmering and not touching the bowl. Melt slowly, take off the heat then dip. Let them dry on baking parchment paper.

Blue Christmas - Pimping the porridge!

Soooo bored with my breakfast. One can get very creative when one cannot face another plain bowl of porridge. 


Ingredients for one person.

• 1 portion of cooked and unsweetened porridge still piping hot.
• 1 small handful of dried Cranberries.
• 1 small handful of chopped and roasted hazelnuts or any nuts of your choice.
• Orange zest.
• 1 pinch of cinnamon.
• A splash of maple syrup if you need a sugar fix.
• And if you are feeling decadent, some grated bitter chocolate.

1. Put cranberries in the porridge, let stand 5 mins.
2. Add all other ingredients.

Bon Ap!

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Eggnog

Nothing says Christmas like Eggnog or Mulled Wine. (Recipe for the latter in the drinks section).
The first time I heard about eggnog was when I was a teenager watching a Christmas movie. What was that drink that they were talking about? For many years I was fascinated with it and when I moved to the UK a few years ago, I was on a mission to discover THE recipe. What I learned is that in the old recipes, no ingredients saw heat. These days, with a lot of people freaking out over raw eggs, the liquids are heated up with the eggs. It just looses out on freshness.
Some people skip the booze. WHY?? Except if you are attending the AA, it is a must ingredient and it's the season for spoiling yourself. Over indulging eggnog is not a good idea. You apparently feel it for days... Must be the cream.


Ingredients for 4 servings. Prep time 15 min.
Prior to making this, make sure all the ingredients are very cold.

• 2 Organic Eggs, no free range or basics.
• 60 gr Light brown Sugar.
• 200 ml Double Cream, preferably organic.
• 200 ml Whole Milk, preferably organic.
• A good pinch of grated Nutmeg, ground Nutmeg will also do.
• 80 ml Rum. I sometimes use Cointreau instead when I feel like a change.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and the sugar until pale and frothy. Use an electric mixer, it's just easier and pain free. You need that arm to drink.
2. Gradually add the cream, milk, rum and nutmeg while still whisking.
3. Taste. Add more alcohol if you need an extra kick.
4. It can be made in advance. Keep in the fridge and re-whisk before serving.

Cheers.

Frosty the Snowman - Mulled Wine

Cooold. Winter is starting to bite. I think we need a little warmer. It's Mulled Wine time people.
I drank one this weekend and it was OK. It lacked fruitiness and tasted of powder towards the end. Ground cinnamon will do that.
Any purist, will go totally bonkers when they read that I simmer the mulled wine until it reduces by a quarter. Well I like it like that and so do my friends. The flavours of the wine deepen and lift my spirits up. 


MULLED WINE


Ingredients for 4 to 6 glasses. Prep time 10 min. Simmering 20 min.

• 1 Bottle of fruity Red Wine. 
• 3 Clementines preferably organic, more flavour less pesticides.
• 2 Cloves
• Half a stick of Cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground Ginger
• 1 shot of Rum, Cognac or Cointreau. 
• 4 tbsp light brown sugar

1. Pour bottle in saucepan.
2. Juice 2 clementimes, add to the wine.
3. Cut the third clementine in two, sideways. Pierce halves with cloves. Add to saucepan.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients.
5. Simmer until it reduces about a quarter. DO NOT boil.
6. Taste. If it lacks a little punch add some more of your tipple of choice.
7. You can prepare this in advance but discard the cinnamon once reduced, otherwise the wine will have a bitter taste. Just reheat before drinking.

Cheers!

Baby It's Cold Outside - It's stew time!

With Christmas fast approaching, I will be posting some of my favourite festive recipes and some winter dishes that keep me going when I do not feel like cooking.
So to start you guys off, here is my stew of the moment. I recently discovered pig cheeks. Slowly braised in the oven they are just fabulous. Remember that it always tastes better the following day.

BRAISED PIG CHEEKS

Ingredients for 2 people. Prep time 10 mins. Cooking Time 2 to 3 hours depending on how tender you like your cheeks.

To cook this dish I use a Le Creuset pot. If you don't have one you can use any pot with a lid that can stand the oven heat. Beware of plastic handles as they will met... Pot ruined and funky smell!

• 6 to 8 Pig cheeks depending on how hungry you are
• A sprig of thyme, 5 sage leaves or any herbs that you like. 
• Dry to Medium Dry white wine - one that you would drink. You can also use Red wine if you want your dish to have a deep earthiness flavour.
• Chicken stock
• Flour
• Olive Oil or any good quality cooking oil
• Salt & Pepper

1. Pre-heat the oven at 160 C.
2. Pat dry the cheeks.
3. Salt and pepper the cheecks 
4. Flour them on both side- it will help with the browning and to thicken the sauce.
5. Put about 2 tbsp of oil in the pot, heat and then add the cheeks. Brown both sides - about 2/3 min on each side. If your pot is on the smallish sides, brown in batches. Take off the heat.
6. Add your chosen herbs.
7. Liquid time! Depending on my mood I either add the wine or the stock. Sometimes both of them. You need to add enough liquid to just cover the meat.
8. Put the lid on and stick in the oven for 2 to 3 hours depending on how famish you are. The cheeks are ready when you can cut them with a fork.
9. Serve with mash potatoes end ENJOY!!

Now, you probably want the Mash recipe... 

CREAMY MASH POTATOES

Ingredients for two people. Prep time 10 mins. Cooking time about 20 mins depending on the size of the potatoes.

• 7 to 8 medium Organic potatoes - yes ORGANIC. You keep asking why it tastes so good, well that is a BIG part of the reason.
• Organic Whole or semi skimmed milk. Don't even think about skimmed milk for this recipe. 
• Organic Cream or butter. Depends on how creamy you want it. It's winter, knock yourself out.
• Salt & Pepper

1. Thoroughly wash the potatoes. I do not peel them as I find the mash has a watery taste if I do.
2. Put in a pot with salt, cover with water. 
3. Cook until they are very tender. Pierce them with a knife. If it goes through easily, they are done.
4. Once cooked, drain them.
5. If you like your mash rustic, leave the skin on and mash them with a fork. If you want it looking all grown up, peel the potatoes and mash them with a food mill.
6. Once mashed, add 50ml of warm milk, a good knob of butter and the CREAM. It goes without saying that the more cream you put in, the silkier is the mash. It's not a time to worry about waistlines here. But if you do, skip the cream and add more milk. The amount depends on the consistency you are looking for.

Bon Ap!

Shortbread

For me cooking is about pleasure and adapting recipes. I rarely follow a recipe except when it comes to baking, yet I sometimes feel the need to tweak it.
Here is the basic recipe for shortbreads and variations that I have made depending on the season and my mood.


Ingredients for 24 fingers - 15min prep - 20 to 30 min baking


100gr Sugar
200gr Cold Butter cut into pieces
300gr Flour
Extra Caster sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven at 160C/325F
2. Mix sugar and flour together
3. Rub in all the butter with the tips of your fingers. You should get a sand type of mixture.
4. Knead mixture until you start getting a dough
5. Press down in a 20 cm square tin. If you do not have this type of tin, don't filp out. Any tin will do as long as as the dough is about 1cm to 1.5cm thick.
6. Bake in the oven for for 20 to 30 mins until golden pale. Once out of the oven sprinkle with caster sugar - just a light coating- and then cut into fingers or triangles and leave to cool in the tin.

Twists on the Recipe.

• Citrus kick: Grate lemon and/or orange zestes into the sand mixture.
• Vanilla: Split lengthways a vanilla pod. Scrape seeds and add to sand mixture. You can put the leftover pod in a sugar jar.
• Chocolate: Add 2 tablespoon of good cocoa to the flour and then grate an orange.
• Christmassy: Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the flour and then add some chopped preserved ginger in the sand mixture.

I could go on forever on all the twists but I'm sure you will find the one you like best.

Bon Ap!