Entries Tagged 'Cooking' ↓

No one should have to prepare any meal just because its expected. Dining should be pleasurable. So sometimes we have to break with tradition and try something new.

Here are three other birds that make delicious substitutions for the regular holiday meal.

Pineapple Glazed Game Hens
Recipe courtesy Georgia Downard

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Glaze:
Juice, from 1 can pineapple slices
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon vinegar (any type)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Hens:
2 cornish game hens, about 1 1/2 pounds each
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the glaze, cook pineapple juice over medium heat until it has reduced to 2 tablespoons. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil and curry powder and cook for 1 minute more. Take off heat and stir in vinegar. Preheat the broiler. Cut the hens in half, using either a cleaver or poultry shears, cutting around and discarding the backbones. Use the palm of your hand to flatten the halves slightly. Brush hens with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the hen halves, skin side down, on a broiler pan and broil for about 5 inches from the heat source for 10 minutes. Brush the hens with the glaze. Turn skin side up and broil for 5 minutes. Brush liberally with glaze and continue to broil for about 5 minutes longer, until the thigh meat juices run clear when pierced with a knife and the skin is nicely browned.

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Roast Duck in Cherry and Black Peppercorn Sauce
c.1997, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger, all rights reserved

Recipe Summary
Yield: 2 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, minced
1/2 cup dried cherries
2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
3 cups duck stock or chicken stock
1 tablespoons arrowroot
1/2 cup Madeira wine
1 duck (5 pounds)
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon sherry wine vinegar

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over low heat. Add the shallots and saute slowly, until soft. Add the dried cherries, molasses, pepper, and duck stock. Simmer 15 minutes.

Blend the arrowroot with the 1/4 cup of the Madeira. Mix the Madeira into the duck sauce and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, until slightly thickened. Set aside. (The sauce may be made ahead, up to this point.)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Season the duck cavity with the salt and pepper. Pierce the skin thoroughly around the lower breast, back, and thighs. Truss the duck and place, breast side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Place the duck in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and roast the duck 30 minutes per side. With a bulb baster, remove some of fat that accumulates as the duck roast. Turn the duck, breast side up, and sprinkle with salt. Roast 10 to 15 minutes longer for medium rare or until juices run rosy when a thigh is pierced with a fork. For well done, roast until juices run clear.

Remove the trussing. Place the duck on a serving platter and keep warm in a turned off oven while finishing the sauce. (The duck may be roasted in the morning, if desired, and reheated at 300 degrees at this point.) Place under a broiler for 3 to 5 minutes for extra crisp skin.

Remove all but 1 tablespoon fat from the roasting pan. Add the remaining 1/4 cup Madeira to the drippings in the pan. Boil rapidly, scraping the brown bits from the bottom and reducing the wine to 2 tablespoons. Strain the wine reduction into the prepared duck sauce. Finish the sauce with the sherry vinegar. Simmer 1 to 2 minutes and swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.

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CANADA GOOSE WITH SWEET BRANDY SAUCE

1 (6 lb.) goose
Salt to taste
1 lg. onion, peeled
2 apples, cored and quartered
1 med. potato, halved
6 to 8 strips bacon
1 recipe sweet brandy sauce

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Rub cavity generously with salt. Place onion, apple quarters, and potato halves inside goose. Cover goose with strips of bacon. Place in oven and bake for approximately 3 hours or 30 minutes per pound of goose. Baste every 15 minutes of last hour with Sweet Brandy Sauce. Serves 6.

SWEET BRANDY SAUCE
3/4 c. honey
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. red wine
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 oz. brandy

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir briskly for 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Serve warm. Makes 1 3/4 cups.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been very neglectful of this category but I plan to rectify that starting now.

This was conceived as a place to talk about all things food related, from interesting restaurants I’ve eaten at, to cookbook reviews, cooking stories, what ever. But I’ve been busy lately, so not only have I not had time to devote to this area, I haven’t even been able to spend time in the kitchen or dine out.

To give this space some new purpose, I’d like to invite you to post any recipes you have. Maybe it’s that special dish you whip up when you’re trying to impress someone, or maybe it’s just one you came across recently that looks interesting and worth a try. Feel free to post it here.

Here’s a quick and simple seafood dish I came across from Cooking Light magazine. Doesn’t take long to prepare or cook. I may give this one a try myself.

Provencale Shellfish Stew

INGREDIENTS
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1 celery stalk, quartered
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
12 small mussels or clams, scrubbed and debearded
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/4 cup orange juice

INSTRUCTIONS

Buying peeled and deveined shrimp costs a little more, but it’s a welcome convenience, especially when you’re in a hurry to get dinner on the table.
1. Place onion, celery, and garlic cloves in a food processor, and pulse to chop.
2. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add chopped vegetables. Saute 5 minutes; stir in clam juice and tomatoes. Bring to a boil; add thyme, pepper, and saffron. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 minutes.
3. Add shrimp and mussels; cook 3 minutes or until shrimp are done and mussels open. Discard any unopened mussels. Remove from heat; stir in remaining ingredients.

YIELD: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)
PREPARATION TIME:10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

NUTRITIONAL INFO
CALORIES 217 (20% from fat); FAT 4.8g (sat 0.7g, mono 2g, poly 1g); PROTEIN 31.3g; CARB 11g; FIBER 0.8g; CHOL 155mg; IRON 18.7mg; SODIUM 355mg; CALC 143mg