Family-food-recipes

This is the family recipe book...It started as a paper project, but I think this should work much better in the long-term.

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Kadet’s Christmas Duck

If we’re close enough…I’ll tell you the story behind this dish.

Ingredients

  • Duck Breasts preferrably on the bone
  • Dried Cherries 1 cup
  • Apple Cider .5 cup
  • Star Anise 1 ea.
  • Apple Cider or Champagne Vinegar
  • Ceylon Cinnamon 1/4 stick
  • Baby Turnips
  • Small Radishes
  • Butter
  • Pine or Spruce shoots (Optional)*

*Pine or Spruce shoots are only available for a short time period. You see them on pine or spruce trees (aka Christmas Trees) as small bunches of tiny needles right at the tips of the branch. Taste them right off the tree. They should be lemony and tender. If you taste it and it’s more like eating sticks or hard needles, the shoots are too old to use.

Instructions

Aged Duck Breasts

This part is optional, but trust me, it’s worth the effort.

  1. Place your Duck Breasts on a Wire rack and put it, uncovered in the fridge.
  2. Check the Duck every day, you want it to dry out and age. There should be no molding.
  3. You’ll know it’s ready when the keel of the bird is easily seen through the translucent skin and the skin has slightly shrunken away and become more taught. The flesh will take on a deeper color.
  4. This process should take anywhere from one to two weeks.

Cherry-Apple Sauce

  1. Heat up the Apple Cider in a sauce pan with the Star Anise and the Cinnamon Stick.
  2. Add Vinegar to taste.
  3. When the mix comes to a boil, pour it over the dried cherries and let steep until the cherries have rehydrated.
  4. Once the cherries have rehydrated, remove them and set aside.
  5. Strain the spices from the liquid and reduce the sauce until tasty. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Roast Duck

  1. Remove the Duck Breasts from the fridge 1-2 hours before cooking and allow to come to room temp.
  2. If the breasts are particularlly fatty, score the skin without cutting into the flesh. If the fat looks thin enough, do not score.
  3. In a pan at medium-high heat with a generous amount of oil sear the breast cage, skin side down. If you handled the Duck breast correctly, it should be dry and not splatter much. If it’s at all damp, you best be wearing some serious skin protection.
  4. Manipulate the cage in the pan to crisp up all parts of the skin. It should be a nice even brown.
  5. Place the breasts on a wire rack and foil lined pan.
  6. Roast the breast cage in a 300F oven until medium-rare. (130F)

To Finish

  1. Clean the turnips and radishes.
  2. Place in a pan in a single layer with just enough water to cover.
  3. Add some butter, salt and a splash of vinegar.
  4. Bring to a boil and boil until the water evaporates.
  5. When the remaining butter starts to coat the turnips and radishes, remove from the pan and season.
  6. Carve the duck breasts off the bone and cut into slices across the grain. Season with Halen Mon or other finishing salt.
  7. Plate a few slices nicely along with some of the glazed turnips and radishes.
  8. Add the cherries and drizzle with some of the spiced cherry liquid.
  9. Sprinkle with some pine or spruce shoots.
  10. Pour out a little liquor for my hommie Kadet.