How about I write about this recipe before I finish making it? Fred has hunted these awesome ducks and I’m excited about rewarding him with a good duck dinner. I thought he’d like to show off his duck hunting prowess to his brother and Dad, who have never duck hunted before, so I brought all the ingredients for the Cassoulet recipe down to Fred’s folks’ farm this weekend to make for him and his family while Fred is deer hunting.
The recipe calls for smoked duck first off. I’ve never A. smoked anything (I promise, officer) nor B. cleaned or cooked duck. I am using the technique in the book for tea smoked duck. It’s interesting. You put a piece of tin foil in a skillet, top it with a mix of uncooked rice, brown sugar and dry tea leaves, top that with another piece of tin foil, cover the foil with duck pieces, top with a lid and put over medium heat. Will it work? Not sure if I’ll know one way or the tuther, but we’re giving in a try. Later this afternoon, I’ll cook the beans that have been soaking with a bouquet garni (in other words herbs tied in cheese cloth pouch. Mine will be in a wash cloth we found in the rag box. Close enough?), add a bunch of other stuff like smoked sausage, tomato, carrots and the smoked duck, top with a bread crumb mixture and bake. That process takes about three hours. But, deer season is a great time to make such a dish when Fred is busy hunting.
The only duck I'd had the first about 35 years of my life was the crisy duck you get at a Chinese restuarant. I have to say, there is a bigger difference between domestic and wild duck than any other domestic verses wild animal I know. Domestic duck is a white meat and fatty. Wild duck is a dark meat that is often described as tasting like beef liver. There's really no resemplence whatsoever between the two that I can tell. The wild duck worked well in this recipe because its flavors were used to enchance the whole cassolet. I'm not sure about slices of wild duck on a salad. That may be too real for my blood.
OK. We've dined on the cassolet now. I've got two things to say. One, it was a lot of work and two, it was good. The dish made more than seven of us could eat. Eight or nine would be fine to serve it to. I'd make it again, and would consider making with with chicken or turkey for the duck if I didn't have any duck on hand. Indeed, I think Fred enjoyed trying the duck he had hunted in such a pretty dinner and sharing it with his family. That was satisfying. And it helped that my mother-in-law mentioned about five times to everyone that I'd worked a long time to make the dish!
No comments:
Post a Comment