Posts tagged duck

Duck & Watermelon Salad

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Duck & Watermelon Salad

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‘ve a list of recipes that just catch my eye for one reason or another that I immediately add to my ‘to cook’ list. Those reasons could be the choice of ingredients, the vibrant colours or just a mood and craving but all contribute to the creation of this list. Shamefully the list has been growing faster than it has even had a chance to be depleted this summer! However an easy Tuesday this week called for this vibrant and fuss free salad. Not much cooking here – just a lot of chopping and fancy scattering. Studded with pomegranate gems, hidden with crispy morsels of duck supported by a solid foundation of juicy watermelon bricks.

Having just this week returned from a bootcamp-esque paradise holiday in Greece filled with wake boarding, yoga, volleyball (I could go on), this recipe offered the perfect balance to continue the health kick while fantasising about being back in the turquoise oceans and white sands of my much beloved Greece.

It has been adapted by a recipe from ‘The Londoner’. Adapted with an alternate dressing more heavy on the lime and some extra hidden gems – roasted peanuts in any dish are rarely a bad thing. But what we do share is our appreciation for the hot duck – cold melon combo that is just so refreshing and de-wicious.

*[Alex and Alice – if you’re reading (which I hope you are), put this on your ‘to cook’ list too before summer is completely over!]

Serves 2

  • 1/2 large watermelon, chopped into chunks
  • 2 duck legs
  • 4 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely diced
  • Bunch of mint, leaves picked and chopped
  • Bunch coriander, chopped
  • Handful of salted, roasted peanuts
  • Handful pomegranate seeds
  • 1-2 limes, zest and juice
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Extra Virgin olive oil
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Season the duck and roast in a tray for an hour.
  2. While the duck is cooking, chop your watermelon into big chunks and add to a large salad bowl big enough to contain the whole salad.
  3. Add the chopped spring onions, red chilli and chopped herbs.
  4. Add the peanuts and pomegranate seeds (as many as you wish to balance the rest of the salad) and combine well.
  5. Combine the juice of 1-2 limes (depending on how juicy they are!) and the zest in a jam jar. Add almost the same measure of extra virgin olive oil, but a touch under so its more ‘limey’.
  6. Add the soy, sesame and some seasoning. Place the lid on the jam jar and shake well to combine. Taste and adjust to your liking. The last thing you want to do is add a bad dressing to your wonderful salad!
  7. When the duck is ready, quickly shred the meat and crispy skin. It cools quickly so in order to maintain the hot/cold vibe you’re trying to create here, pop it back in the oven for a final blast of heat to warm.
  9. Once hot, add the shredded duck quickly to the salad bowl and coat the salad and duck liberally in the dressing and combine well.
  10. Serve immediately!

I served mine with a nice fresh rocket and cucumber salad and some homemade coconut flatbreads. But this is still a good and healthy meal in itself. A few chunky roasted croutons would not go a miss here however. Just sayin.

‘forage in the pantry’ Summer Supper Club

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fter a successful first supper club earlier in the year, the excitement, delight and adrenaline of the event left me hungry to plan and host another! And with that, 3 apprehensive months later my summer edition arrived with a spice packed menu to tempt my next set of 30 greedy foodies.  And what a sunny and  special one this continued to be. Complete with the tuneful soothing and mesmerising sounds of my beautiful singer Doll Duncan…

For this summery occasion the menu was themed around spice from around the world in an original and eclectic mix of flavours and dishes to reflect my style. The sun was beaming as guests arrived to be welcomed with a crisp glass of sparkling Nyetimber to ease us all in to what I hoped to be an evening not to be missed. I began the menu with a fresh colourful starter of warm feta, pea, mint and dill fritters topped with a quenelle of beetroot and walnut humus. Served alongside this, some warm crusty bread and my homemade smoked salt and fennel butter! And who’d have thought, after all the flavours and tastes the evening offered I had more comments and astonished delight at my flavoured butter! On par with my truffles for simplicity, flavoured butter truly is an amazingly simple and easy addition to create which adds a brilliant twist to a meal (recipe to follow). With the taste buds awoken, I followed the starter with a generous oozy and velveting spoonful of my creamy spiced take on a lentil dahl (I did’t hold back on chilli, I’m told….). My ‘hug in a bowl’ dahl was then topped with a curry roasted cauliflower salad flecked with crisp spring onions, chopped mint and coriander. This miniature mountain of flavour was finally topped with a juicy and lovingly warm shredded handful of duck coated in a fresh zesty lime dressing…..

Jess - Dahl and Cauliflower duck

Jess - Butter

Fennel and Smoked Salt Butter

  • 250g unsalted butter (Softened)
  • 1 heaped tsp fennel seed
  • 1 tsp smoked salt
  1. Dry toast the fennel seeds in a pan until fragrant. Leave to cool before grinding in a pestle and mortar.
  2. Tip into a bowl and then grind the salt flakes to a fine powder too.
  3. Add about 1 tsp each of the ground fennel seed and the salt to the butter and stir well to combine evenly throughout. Add a little more fennel or salt dependant on taste.
  4. Spoon the butter onto a piece of cling film in an oblong shape. Roll into a cylinder and tie up the end tightly like a cracker. Place in the fridge to harden before slicing into rounds.

With satisfied tummies, my lovely diners were relieved momentarily from their eating duties digest and embrace the gorgeous and charming sounds of my dear talented friend Doll Duncan who took to the piano like Beyonce to the stage. With a mix of unique covers (including a fantastic version of Billie Jean) and her own thoughtfully written lyrics she captured the room, and all thoughts of food, stomachs and wine were banished as she distracted our senses.

A short moment of sadness followed as she signed off with her last song but souls were comforted with the arrival of dessert! A very English and seasonal affair. A stick sweet ginger and treacle tart topped with a (ironical festively) spiced apple puree and a spoonful of my homemade rhubarb crumble ice cream. Happy diners.

As the evening darkened and many a late night punter strolled past the open windows curiously wondering what they had missed out on, my velvety homemade dark chocolate truffles teased the room only to be accompanied by coffee, teas and late night tipples from Market Porter’s fantastic range. We drank, talked and relaxed into the wee hours…

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Hosted once again at the charming Porter at Embassy Gardens, nothing sums up the evening better than the video snapshot above, created and shot by the talented Keith Hammond.

 

 

Dahl, Roasted Curried Cauliflower, Shredded Duck in Lime

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Dahl, Roasted Curried Cauliflower, Shredded Duck in Lime

Jess - Dahl and Cauliflower duck

Jess - Dahl and Cauliflower

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ou won’t be surprised to hear it was another week of stressful and busy work so the long weekend glowed like a beacon on Friday evening with promises of yoga, long runs in the sun and some experimental time in the kitchen to blog and relax the mind. I woke to a beautiful sunny day and after a long run to clear the working cobwebs I was already on my way to some downtime. All that was required was some time in the kitchen.

With a stressful period at work keeping 90% of my mind on the task it was time to start planning my second supper club to focus and begin that excitement again! With the date confirmed and inked in the diary I was more than eager to start developing the menu! With just over 2 month before the (second) big day it might seem premature but to get the invites and advert out as soon as possible and the ticket confirmations rolling in the menu was vital. Starter done. Dessert done and obviously featuring ice cream the main needed some attention. With the somewhat limited kitchen facilities and equipment of my cosy, niche and atmospheric chosen venue the dish needed some attention. Ambition needs to be carefully managed and focussed int he right direction.

While flavour is key here using wholesome ingredients cooked from scratch I wanted a menu that would make my potential guests salivate on reading and be booking tickets on autopilot before they could say ‘Deliveroo’! Flavour vital but practicality is also a contender here when cooking solo for 30 paying guests. And in addition economics, aesthetics and style are also important. Factoring all these competing aspects and a love of all things spice this punchy dish was created. I won’t give anything away but the next supper club main with feature something along these lines…

Serves 4

  • 4 duck legs
  • 1 x speedy dahl recipe (see here) with juice of 1/2 lime added at the end.
  • 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp of black mustard seeds and cumin seeds
  • 3 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
  • Handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
  • Handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 large lime
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Season the duck legs and roast for about 40 minutes in the oven.
  2. Scatter the cauliflower florets in a large baking tray and drizzle with a good glut of olive oil.
  3. Toss in the curry powder, turmeric cumin and mustard seeds and stir to coat. Add some seasoning.Jess - Curried Cauliflower2Jess - Curried Cauliflower
  4. After the duck has had 20 minutes of roasting add the cauliflower to the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile make the dahl and set aside to keep warm.
  6. Once the duck and cauliflower are ready remove from the oven. leave the duck to rest for a few minutes before shredding the meat into a warm bowl with two forks and quickly squeezing over the juice of the fresh lime.
  7. Toss the warm cauliflower in the spring onions and herbs.
  8. To plate up, ensure you have warm shallow serving bowls or plates and spoon a generous spoonful of dahl onto the bottom and let it ooz out onto the plate. Top with a handful of the cauliflower before finally topping with a quarter of the shredded duck
  9. Serve immediately while still warm and devour! Serve with warm homemade flatbreads or roti if needed.

WINE: This would be great with an aromatic white such as a Riesling or a Gervertz to balance the spice.

Jess - Dahl and Cauliflower2

Plum and Five Spice Duck

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Plum and Five Spice Duck

 

An archived recipe I should have posted back in Autumn…pretend its Autumn and read on…

Slow cooked to perfection – plums are fashionably in season at the moment and duck is frankly deliciously tasty. It was a cold Autumnal evening. Need I say more….?

(Adapted from Jamie O)

Serves 4

  • 4 duck legs
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tsp five spice
  • 2-3 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red chilli, chopped
  • 16 plums, halved and stoned
  • 1 tbsp demerara sugar
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • Handful coriander, chopped
  • 8 oz wild/brown rice
  • 1 lime
  1. Marinade the duck legs in the soy, five spice, oil, star anise and cinnamon for as long as you can.
  2. Preheat the oven to 200°C and get a roasting tray ready.
  3. Place the chopped chillis, plums and sugar in the tray and drizzle over the marinade and mix well. Top with the duck legs, skin side up.
  4. Roast for 1-½ hours, turning the heat down after about 20-30 minutes once the skin is crisp and the fat has rendered a little. Alternatively, roast at a low 160-170°C for about 2 hours until the meat comes away from the bone and is tender.
  5. Meanwhile cook the rice. This is also lovely made with coconut milk (see here).
  6. Once the duck is ready, taste the sauce and adjust with soy to season and remove the cinnamon and star anise. Serve the rice topped with a duck leg and the roasted plums. Scatter with the sliced spring onions and coriander and a generous squeeze of lime.

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Roasted Duck, Carrot and Orange Puree, Red Wine Sauce

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Roasted Duck, Carrot and Orange Puree, Red Wine Sauce

This week I christened the kitchen of my new London flat. I bagged myself a feathery topped bunch of bargain carrots from Portobello Road market in my fleeting lunch break; a seasonal orange for companionship and festivity; a couple of fatty winter warming duck legs and some obliging red wine (of which I am not short of these days…). Flat hunting had evoked far too many saddened hours separated from my apron and camera so a free evening midweek was the perfect time to be reunited. Whilst it tasted delicious, I’m still to work on the lighting in my new environment….

Serves 2

  • 2 duck legs
  • Bunch carrots (About 4 large carrots), peeled and chopped
  • 25g butter
  • 1 orange
  • 250ml red wine
  • 250ml beef stock
  • ½ onion, diced finely
  • 1 small carrot, diced finely
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Bunch of thyme
  • 1 knob butter
  • 1tbsp flour
  • Handful of greens to serve
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Season the duck legs generously on the skin side and roast for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until crisp and tender. Turn the heat down to 190°C after about 30 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, fry the diced onion and carrot in a little oil until soft. Add one of the garlic cloves finely chopped and the thyme leaves and fry for a further few minutes.
  3. Turn up the heat and add the red wine and simmer for a few minutes. Add the stock and simmer briskly for about 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced by half.
  4. Once reduced by half, sieve and discard the vegetables and return to sauce to the clean pan. Season to taste and simmer very gently while you do the puree.
  5. Heat half the butter in another saucepan and add the chopped carrots. Add a whole clove of garlic (in skin) and 2 big strips of orange peel. Add enough water to just cover the carrots and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until really soft and almost all the liquid has been reduced.
  6. Puree the drained carrots in a food processor with the remaining knob of butter and some seasoning. Add a splash of the reserved liquid if you like to thin it out and then keep warm.
  7. Return to the red wine sauce. Mix together the knob of butter and the flour to form a paste in a small bowl. Whisk this, bit by bit (as you may not need all of it) into your simmering sauce which will thicken and turn glossy. Simmer until thick enough and ready to serve,
  8. Serve the puree topped with the roasted duck legs and a liberal drizzle of your red wine sauce. Serve with some cooked greens.

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