Orange Ginger Honey Duck

Materials:

• 1 (6 lb) whole duck, rinsed
• 3 tsp. chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh ginger root
• 3 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 orange, cut into 8ths
• 3 c. water
• 1/2 c. undiluted, thawed orange juice concentrate
• 1-1/2 c. honey
• 3/4 c. butter
• 1-1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 3/4 c. undiluted, thawed orange juice concentrate

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Wash duck inside and out, remove gibblets, and pat dry.
3. In a small bowl mix together basil, rosemary, ginger root, ground ginger and salt. Sprinkle mixture on inside and outside of duck.
4. Stuff duck with orange pieces and lay in roaster, breast-side up. Add water and 1/2 c. orange juice concentrate.
5. In a saucepan, combine the honey, butter, lemon juice and remaining orange juice concentrate. Simmer together on low heat until syrupy; about 20min. Pour some syrup over the duck, saving the rest for basting & sauce later. Cover roaster.
6. Bake/roast duck covered in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
7. Turn duck breast side down, baste with sauce, re-cover and reduce heat to 300F.
8. Roast covered for another ~2 hours, basting every ~30 minutes.
9. Turn duck back breast side up and leave uncovered. Roast at 350F until skin is nice and golden, about 20 minutes.
10. Serve over rice with sauce overtop. Great with snap-peas sauteed in ginger and soy.

Modified from:

Allrecipes.com ' honey duck'

Notes:

This feeds 4 people well, but not much more!

Super super moist : )

Tabbouleh - yeh

Materials:

• 1 c. bulgur
• 1 2/3 c. boiling water
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1/3 c. fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
• 1-1/2 c. chopped fresh green onions
• 1 c. chopped parsley
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh mint
• 3-4 tomatoes (I use 4 on-the-vine), chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 tsp. salt + more to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Methods:

1. Combine bulgur with boiling water in a large bowl. Cover and set aside to soak for 1 hour.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Chickpea Tagine With Chicken and Apricots

Materials:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 skinless chicken thighs, bone-in
• salt & pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
• 3 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 c. dried apricots
• 1 c. chopped tomato (fresh or canned or boxed, with juice)
• 2 c. cooked or canned chickpeas, drained
• 1 to 2 c. chicken stock (or reserved bean liquid), or more as needed
• 3/4 c. bulgur
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Methods:

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Put oil in a large, deep pot over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add chicken and brown well on both sides; remove from pan and set aside.
3. Reduce heat to medium, add onion to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, dried apricots and tomato. Cook and stir long enough to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
5. Add chickpeas and 1 cup of stock to the pan and turn heat back to medium-high.
6. When mixture starts to gently bubble, return chicken to the pan. Cover pot, turn heat to low and cook, checking occasionally to make sure the mixture is bubbling gently, for about 15 minutes, or until tomatoes break down and flavors begin the meld.
7. Stir in bulgur, adding more stock if necessary so that the mixture is covered with about an inch of liquid. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Cover and cook until chicken and bulgur are both done, about 10-15 minutes.
9. Taste, adjust the seasonings, and serve in bowls garnished with chopped fresh parsley.

Cornish Game Hens with Garlic and Rosemary

Materials:

• 4 Cornish game hens
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 5 Tbsp. olive oil
• 24 gloves garlic
• 2/3 c. white wine
• 2/3 c. low sodium chicken broth
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, for garnish

Methods:

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Rub hens with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil. Lightly season hens with salt and pepper.
3. Place 1 lemon wedge and 1 sprig of rosemary in the cavity of each hen.
4. Arrange hens in large, heavy roasting pan with garlic cloves surrounding.
5. In a mixing bowl, whisk together wine, chicken broth and remaining 4 Tbsp. of olive oil.
6. Pour ~1/2 the broth mixture around the pan.
7. Roast hens in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
8. Pour remaining broth mixture over hens.
9. Reduce temperature to 350F. Continue roasting for about 25 minutes, or until hens are golden brown and juices run clear. Baste with pan juices every 10 minutes.
10. Transfer hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices back into the roasting pan.
11. Tent the hens with aluminum foil to keep warm.
12. Transfer the pan juices and garlic to a medium saucepan and boil until liquids reduce to a saucy consistency, about 10 minutes.
13. To serve, cut hens in half lengthwise and arrange of plate, spooning sauce and garlic overtop. Garnish with rosemary.
14. Great with roasted asparagus, some great crusty bread to soak up the juices, and a good Chianti wine.

Modified from: Allrecipes.com

Blue Cheese Scallion Drop Biscuits

Materials

• 2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 6 T. (3/4 stick or 3 oz.) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1-1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese
• 4-8 scallions, finely chopped
• 1 c. well-shaken buttermilk*

*make your own using 1 T. vinegar or lemon juice in 1 c. milk, allowed to set 10+ minutes)

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Make buttermilk, if required*.
3. Whisk together four, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
4. Blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles a coarse meal.
5. Stir in blue cheese and scallions.
6. Add buttermilk, and stir in until just combined (will be sticky still).
7. Drop dough into 12 equal mounds about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet, or one lined with parchment paper.
8. Bake in middle of oven until golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes.

Make-ahead option

Biscuits are always best the day they are baked. However, you can freeze them ahead by dropping them onto a baking dish, freezing until they are firm, and placing them into a freezer bag or container until ready to bake. Bake right from frozen, but add a few minutes to the baking time.

Notes

Had these for breakfast before Dave's somerville open studios. Paired them with scrambled eggs with dill cut from our new herb garden. Lovely. Would also be great with soup and salad for dinner.

Source

smittenkitchen.com, originally from Gourmet magazine

Lamb Sausage Rolls with Orange and Fennell (Sausage & Pastry? Yes please)

Materials

• 1 lb. ground lamb
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. fresh bread crumbs
• 1 shallot, minced (or 1/4 cup onion)
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 T. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tsp. crushed fennel seeds (use a coffee grinder!)
• grated zest of an orange
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• salt & pepper
• 1 pkg (450 g) frozen puff pastry, thawed
• beaten egg, for brushing tops

Methods

1. In a large bowl, mix the lamb, egg, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, parsley, fennel seeds, orange zest, coriander, salt and pepper; set aside.
2. Divide pastry in half. On a lightly florued surface, roll out each half into a 10" square; cut each into 2 equal strips.
3. Spoon the filling down the center of each strip, right to the edges. Fold pastry over filling and press the edge to seal.
4. Cut each roll into 3 smaller rolls ~2-3" long.
5. Arrange rolls, seam side down, on a rimmed coffee sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and chill for about half an hour.
6. Preheat oven to 400F.
7. Brush the tops of the rolls with a little beaten egg.
8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Make-ahead option

After rolling out and cutting the rolls (step 4), you can layer the rolls between waxed paper in an airtight container and freeze up to 2 months.

Notes

Used some wonderful ground lamb from a local farm that we picked up at a "meat meet" (i.e. some folks with a cooler in a parking lot)

Source

Dinner with Julie, adapted from Canadian Living