Canard - Why a Duck? Because It's Simple Yet Still Grand
08/10/2004 06:39:31
Why a Duck? Because It's Simple Yet Still Grand
By NIGELLA LAWSON
Published: September 29, 2004
MY family teases me that whenever they call me while I'm cooking and ask what I'm making, I answer, "Roast chicken." Personally, I don't get the joke. I really do believe most people would want to eat roast chicken for dinner, given a choice. And the dish certainly represents the best ratio of reward to effort in the kitchen that I can think of.
But even I don't want to give friends the same dinner every time they come around for a cozy gathering. This menu, duck breasts with a kidney bean and tomato salad followed by a chocolate lime pie, turns a simple meal into an occasion.
Duck has a traditional affinity with orange, and you don't need to go in for fancy sauces to prove that the combination works. Just as I have an addiction to roasting chickens, I seem to possess an automatic marinating function. The minute I get home from the butcher with chicken cutlets, pork loins, steaks or whatever, I plunk them in a freezer bag and add oil; some acid in the form of citrus fruit or good sherry or red wine vinegar; onion; herbs or spices; and garlic. Then I add drops of soy or Worcestershire sauce and a splash of alcohol: sometimes wine, sometimes brandy, sometimes even sake or vodka.
I seal the bag and then leave it in the fridge for up to a day to let it do its work, which minimizes mine. I know the meat will taste good and cook without drying out, which can be a problem with small cuts. This is particularly important when the meat is lean, as even the duck is here, since I remove the fat. Now, I love crispy duck skin, but you do get an awful lot of messy and stressful spluttering when you cook duck with the skin.
I like a heavy, ridged griddle for cooking the duck breasts, but the broiler or a thick-bottomed skillet (maybe you would need to add a spoonful of oil in the latter case) would do as well. Afterward, let them sit for a while to rest before cutting them in thin slices on the diagonal, to be spread welcomingly out on a platter, with or without a scattering of chopped chives, as you wish.
You can fiddle with the marinade to your taste. If you do not want chili oil, garlic oil or regular olive oil would be fine. You may like to add a couple of star anises or some ginger. Use sherry or marsala in place of the wine. Do whatever you want; the principle still works.
I am happy enough to offer only one accompaniment here, a red salad that is substantial enough for even heavy eaters. It's important to let the onion slices macerate in the red wine vinegar (make it good vinegar or it will be too caustic); not only does macerating make the onion light up with an almost stained-glass quality, but it also tempers the onion's familiar acridness. The taste is mellower, and the afterburn is gone.
Tumble this pile of onions into a bowl of rinsed and drained kidney beans together with a little olive oil and sweet cherry tomatoes, halved and salted. It's worth bearing in mind that adding a few cubes of feta turns this into a fine vegetarian main course, for another meal.
The dessert is simplicity itself, but far from pedestrian. You are in effect making a Key lime pie, only the juice is from regular limes. Add cocoa to a pressed graham cracker base, and grated chocolate on top at the end. I like to whip some cream and pipe it in rosettes around the edge, but if that seems like too much hard work, then forget it.
By replacing the eggs in a regular Key lime pie with cream, you make a pie that doesn't have to be baked, but just whisked and put in the fridge, which makes life very much easier. And isn't that what all of us want?
Why a Duck? Because It's Simple Yet Still Grand
By NIGELLA LAWSON
Published: September 29, 2004
MY family teases me that whenever they call me while I'm cooking and ask what I'm making, I answer, "Roast chicken." Personally, I don't get the joke. I really do believe most people would want to eat roast chicken for dinner, given a choice. And the dish certainly represents the best ratio of reward to effort in the kitchen that I can think of.
But even I don't want to give friends the same dinner every time they come around for a cozy gathering. This menu, duck breasts with a kidney bean and tomato salad followed by a chocolate lime pie, turns a simple meal into an occasion.
Duck has a traditional affinity with orange, and you don't need to go in for fancy sauces to prove that the combination works. Just as I have an addiction to roasting chickens, I seem to possess an automatic marinating function. The minute I get home from the butcher with chicken cutlets, pork loins, steaks or whatever, I plunk them in a freezer bag and add oil; some acid in the form of citrus fruit or good sherry or red wine vinegar; onion; herbs or spices; and garlic. Then I add drops of soy or Worcestershire sauce and a splash of alcohol: sometimes wine, sometimes brandy, sometimes even sake or vodka.
I seal the bag and then leave it in the fridge for up to a day to let it do its work, which minimizes mine. I know the meat will taste good and cook without drying out, which can be a problem with small cuts. This is particularly important when the meat is lean, as even the duck is here, since I remove the fat. Now, I love crispy duck skin, but you do get an awful lot of messy and stressful spluttering when you cook duck with the skin.
I like a heavy, ridged griddle for cooking the duck breasts, but the broiler or a thick-bottomed skillet (maybe you would need to add a spoonful of oil in the latter case) would do as well. Afterward, let them sit for a while to rest before cutting them in thin slices on the diagonal, to be spread welcomingly out on a platter, with or without a scattering of chopped chives, as you wish.
You can fiddle with the marinade to your taste. If you do not want chili oil, garlic oil or regular olive oil would be fine. You may like to add a couple of star anises or some ginger. Use sherry or marsala in place of the wine. Do whatever you want; the principle still works.
I am happy enough to offer only one accompaniment here, a red salad that is substantial enough for even heavy eaters. It's important to let the onion slices macerate in the red wine vinegar (make it good vinegar or it will be too caustic); not only does macerating make the onion light up with an almost stained-glass quality, but it also tempers the onion's familiar acridness. The taste is mellower, and the afterburn is gone.
Tumble this pile of onions into a bowl of rinsed and drained kidney beans together with a little olive oil and sweet cherry tomatoes, halved and salted. It's worth bearing in mind that adding a few cubes of feta turns this into a fine vegetarian main course, for another meal.
The dessert is simplicity itself, but far from pedestrian. You are in effect making a Key lime pie, only the juice is from regular limes. Add cocoa to a pressed graham cracker base, and grated chocolate on top at the end. I like to whip some cream and pipe it in rosettes around the edge, but if that seems like too much hard work, then forget it.
By replacing the eggs in a regular Key lime pie with cream, you make a pie that doesn't have to be baked, but just whisked and put in the fridge, which makes life very much easier. And isn't that what all of us want?
posted by Sigalon | 11:10
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