Archive for » September, 2007 «
I love Duck, I cook it often whether a whole duck or duck breast it has such a lovely flavour and duck meat is very low in fat. Ducks have thick fatty skin a lot more than chicken or other poultry but when crisped up although naughty, it is oh so yummy. I am very fortunate as I live in Geneva very close to the French border so I can get very cheap duck magret.
You can use any duck breast for this recipe as duck magret is more expensive. Duck magret is the breast of a duck that has produced foie gras, by being force-fed unnaturally large amounts of high energy foods (mostly corn) to produce the fatty
liver used to create foie gras. This tends to make the duck breasts themselves quite large, so if you are not buying magret duck make sure the breast is of good size. Duck goes well with a lot of sauces, more traditional are fruity ones like orange, fig or grape. But you can use duck in curries and stews which are great. I have posted this recipe as it is one of my son’s favourites but keep checking for other duck recipes.
Marinade
2 Duck Breasts
2 Tablespoons Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
11/2 Teaspoons fresh Ginger,grated
1/4 Teaspoon 5 Spice
Sauce
Reserved Marinade
2 Tablespoons hoisin (extra)
1 Tablespoon honey (extra)
1 Teaspoon cornflour
Method
1. Combine all marinade ingredients and add duck, marinate several hours or overnight.
2. Remove duck from marinade and prick skin all over, reserve marinade for later use.
Heat fry pan add duck skin side down and cook until browned and crisp (a lot of fat will escape from duck, drain fat from pan several times while cooking skin) remove duck and place on wire rack breast side down and cook in pre-heated oven 190c for
25 Min’s. Let rest for 5 Min’s after cooking.
3. While duck is cooking make the sauce. Add reserved marinade, extra honey and hoisin to a saucepan bring to boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Mix cornflour with a little water add to pan and stir until mixture thickens.
Serve duck with either rice timbales or vegetables and noodles I made both so you could see what it looks like.
Serves 2
Rice Timbale Recipe
1/2 Cup white rice
20g butter
3-4 mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
1/2 small red pepper, chopped fine
2 Teaspoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
1. Boil some water in a pan, add rice and boil until tender.
2. Melt butter in a fry pan, add chopped mushrooms and pepper and cook until soft. Add chopped herbs and rice and stir until heated.
3. Butter the inside of two moulds and press rice mixture into them, leave them for 5 Min’s before turning out. You can also make these ahead of time and just reheat in the microwave before serving.
Vegetable Noodle Recipe
Olive oil
1 Large carrot, chopped into strips
100g Snow peas, chopped
100g Egg noodles
1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 Teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
3 Teaspoons soy sauce
11/2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoon of water
1. Cook noodles in a pan of boiling water until tender, drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a fry pan or wok add garlic and ginger stir fry for about 1 minute. Add carrots and cook for another minute, add sauces and water and cook for a couple of minutes more. Add snow peas and cook until vegetables are just tender.
3. Add noodles and stir until heated through.
Photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated
My Husband loves curries but he doesn’t like meals which are high in carbohydrates, as it doesn’t make him feel the best after. I have experimented with a few different ways of making curries that a lower in carbs than traditional methods. Of course there are some curries which are very yummy, that you have to pair with rice.
I am posting this recipe below for tikka Marsala on bean sprouts but bean sprouts are also ok with Tandoori and some Thai curries. You can also do curries by themselves in a bowl and don’t pair with anything, whether your doing a plain curry by itself or with bean sprouts it will not not soak up the juice as much as rice. The great thing about doing it this way, is you tend not to feel so heavy afterwards. Also you can make rice for the people that want it, in my family my son love’s his rice as it fills him up, so it is quite easy to throw some basmati rice on for him. If you don’t want to make this a low carb dish you can make the same recipe and just pair with Basmati it is still delicious.
Tikka Ingredients
1kg Chicken fillets, sliced thinly
1 Brown onion chopped into wedges
2 Red Chillies, seeded (Reserve about a 1/4 teaspoon of seeds to add to dish)
2 Tablespoons Mild Tikka paste (I use Patak’s Tikka curry paste)
2 Tablespoons Medium Tikka paste (I use Patak’s Tikka Masala curry paste with coriander and lemon)
2 Tablespoons Mango chutney(I use Rajah sweet Mango chutney)
1/4 Teaspoon of chicken stock
1/4 Cup water
2 Teaspoons of lime juice
250ml Light cream
1/4 Cup chopped fresh coriander
450g Bean Sprouts
Raita
300g low-fat natural yogurt
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
2 Teaspoons mint sauce
Method
1. Heat small amount olive oil in a large frying pan or wok, cook chicken in batches until browned all over and set to one side, wipe pan clean.
2. Add a little more olive oil to pan, add onion and cook until onion softens, add chili and two pastes stir until fragrant then return the chicken to the pan.
3. Add chicken stock, water and lime juice stir until stock dissolved. Then add the mango chutney, again stir to combine.
4. Add the cream and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 Min’s this is to cook chicken all the way through. Just before finishing cooking add chopped coriander.
5. While chicken is finishing off cooking, add sprouts to another pan with a little bit of oil and cook slightly to soften. They should not be cooked all the way, as they should still have a good crunch.
This is a mild curry if you want it spicier add more medium curry paste than mild and add more chili seeds.
To serve place sprouts in a bowl or on a plate and top with chicken and drizzle raita over.
Raita
1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
I like to make mine before I start making the chicken tikka, as it allows the flavour of the mint to come through. You can also add cucumber seeded and chopped finely. I do add cucumber to my raita on other recipes but I prefer plain mint with this one. So make it whatever way you enjoy the most!!!
Photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated
