Posts tagged ‘recipe’

Apr 4

A Saucy Series, Part II

Welcome to guest blogger Deana Sidney of Lost Past Remembered, a blog dedicated to discovering, replicating and adapting historic recipes. In this saucy series she demystifies one of the cornerstones of classic French cuisine: the mother sauces.

Sauce Madame

As part of my series on sauces, this goes to the top of the pack as an ancient ancestor of European sauces. Even ketchup owes a debt to this sauce, as does Sauce Espagnole.

This recipe for Sauce Madame is over 600 years old, and comes from the oldest cookbook in England – actually, it wasn’t even a book, it was a long scroll that a household scribe kept in the kitchen of Richard II that has come to be known as the Forme of Cury (cury comes from the French, Querie – the business of a cook –– not the spice). If you would like more of the history, visit my blog for the rest of the story.

Sauce Madame meets Rohan duck

The recipe is richly flavored, full of fruit and enriched with breadcrumbs and not flour, as was the style from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. The texture is smooth and elegant. I include a recipe for the sauce without galyntyne, if you want to skip the bread addition –– it was made that way as well.

Normally made with goose, I decided to use one of D’Artagnan’s Rohan ducks and the result is delicious. You could also make the stuffing separately (in a covered casserole with a tablespoon of duck fat and 1 cup of demi-glace cooked for ½ hour to 45 minutes till fruit is tender) and use it with duck breast or legs and thighs…it would be good with chicken as well. The sauce keeps well and you can make the poudre douce and galyntyne ahead of time. I froze some of the galyntyne to use later and it worked beautifully.

Duck in Sauce Madame (original recipe, with measurements interpreted)

1 duck (a Rohan duck ) 5 ½ to 6 pounds
2 T salt
3 c cored, peeled and roughly chopped pears and quinces or tart apples (if you use quince, chop small or steam for a few minutes to soften). I only had pureed quince that I had put up this year so added ½ a cup of that and ½ an apple for texture.
2 c grapes
5 cloves peeled garlic, cut in slices
branch of sage
1 c chopped parsley
2-3 sprigs fresh hyssop or thyme (or 2 t dry)
2-3 sprigs fresh savory (or 2 t dry)
½ to ¾ c juices from duck with some of the fat –– if there’s not enough add demi-glace
¼ c galyntyne (recipe below)
½ c red wine
2 t powdered or grated galingal to your taste (available in the Thai section of your market) or use powdered ginger
3 t poudre douce (recipe below) or to your taste

Preheat oven to 375º

Rub duck with salt inside and out.

Combine fruit, garlic and herbs and stuff the duck with it. Truss up the bird so the stuffing doesn’t leak out.

Put ½ an inch of water in a roasting pan and put the duck on a rack, breast side down. Turn the bird after ½ an hour so the breast side is up. Roast about 1½ hours total for a medium bird –– you will be keeping it warm so you don’t need to cook it to death (around 150º when measured at the thigh). Check the bird regularly and turn the pan in the oven every half hour or so. You may want to put foil around the legs so they don’t burn.

When the bird is done, remove the stuffing and tent the bird. Put the juices in a heavy saucepan with the stuffing. Stir and allow the fruit mixture to cook a bit more; the fruit may not be softened enough and will improve with a bit of a cook. Add the galantine and wine and spices. Stir to combine.

While the mixture is cooking and after the bird has rested 10 minutes, carve the bird into serving pieces and keep warm in a 200º oven while you finish the sauce. Originally these would be speared with a knife and eaten with fingers. Pour the sauce over the duck and serve.

Poudre douce:

4 t powdered ginger
1 t cinnamon
1 t grains of paradise
1 t ground nutmeg
1 t sugar

Grind together.

Deana’s galyntyne, a medieval recipe

Galyntyne

1/4 cup toasted bread crust, ground good pinch each of galingal, ginger, cinnamon
1 t salt
½ c wine vinegar (approximately)

Combine the breadcrumbs with the spices and salt. Add enough vinegar to make a thick sauce and set aside. You can push though a strainer if you want a finer texture.

Notes: I used about ¼ of the crust of a peasant loaf. I cut it off the bread and toasted it till medium brown (a toaster oven works well, but you can do it in the oven on a cookie sheet at 300º). Then I put it in the processor. To make it extra fine I put it in the spice grinder in batches to give it a fine texture. Then I toasted it in a skillet to get it a little browner –– don’t take your eyes off it when you are doing it. It goes from perfect to burnt quickly –– stir constantly.

Sauce Madame, sans bread

Sauce Madame sans Bread

Stuffing from bird
juices from duck with some of the fat (around a cup, about 2 T of that duck fat or to taste)
½ c demi-glace
½ c red wine
1 t powdered or grated galingal
2 t poudre douce

Cook the stuffing with the rest of the ingredients. Reduce till thickened somewhat and serve on the duck.

Mar 6

1 Comment

A Saucy Series, Part I

Holy Mother of Sauces
Lots of people are a bit afraid of French sauces because they think they are too complicated and not worth the effort. I think they are so wrong. Take a little time on a weekend to make the great base, Sauce Espagnole, and then you are good to go for so many sauces that are made from it; Bourguignonne, Champignon, Bigarade and a million others come from Espagnole, and can be used on all varieties of meat, fowl and game. I make a batch of Espagnole and freeze it in 1 cup bags so I can make a “fancy” dinner in no time, even on a weeknight. I have even come up with a shortcut to Espagnole that is a winner. If you want a more classic, long version of Espagnole Sauce with some history of ”Mother Sauces,” visit my blog.

Sauce Chevreuil is a brown sauce made with Espagnole; adding port and currant jelly makes it perfect on venison, beef or even duck (try it on duck breast). It really is finger-licking good with a silky texture that will make you fall in love with it.

If you make the sauces in advance, you can do a dinner like this in no time at all…don’t forget the Stilton Mashed Potatoes, they are so good!

Deana Sidney Venison with Chevreuil Sauce

Deana Sidney’s Venison with Chevreuil Sauce and Stilton Mashed Potatoes

Quick Version of Espagnole Sauce

4 T butter
4 T flour
3 T diced carrot
3 T diced onion
3 T bacon
2 c stock
1 t thyme
piece of bay leaf
2 T white wine
1/4 c demi-glace
2 T tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Melt your butter and add the flour on a low to medium flame. Stir regularly until the mixture turns a medium brown… kind of a medium caramel color. Don’t let it get too dark. This takes 5-10 minutes.

Add the vegetables, ham and bacon to the roux and stir. Slowly add the stock, wine and demi-glace. Cook over a low flame for 45 minutes and add the tomato sauce. Cook for another 10 minutes and strain, pressing on the solids. Add salt and pepper to taste

To make a brown roux, melt your butter and add the flour on a low to medium flame. Stir regularly until the mixture turns a medium brown… kind of a medium caramel color. Remove from the stove and use. Don’t let it get too dark. This takes 5-10 minutes.

Chevreuil Sauce (an amalgam of many recipes)

1 T butter
2 T chopped shallot
2 T ham
any venison trimmings you may have (optional)
2 chopped mushrooms
bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay and sage tied up)
¼ c wine vinegar
1 c Espagnole
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 mashed anchovy
1 c demi-glace or stock
3 oz port
1 T red currant jelly
pinch of cayenne

Sauté the shallot, ham, venison trimmings and mushrooms in the butter till softened. Toss in the bouquet garni and add the vinegar. Reduce till syrupy and add the Espagnole, stock, Worcestershire, and anchovy. Cook for ½ an hour at low heat or till thickened. Strain, pressing on the solids and add the red currant jelly, port and cayenne.

Boneless Venison Steak for 2

2 venison steaks or tenderloin (4 – 6 oz each serving)
salt and pepper
2 T butter
3-4 chanterelle and/or shitake mushrooms, sliced

Heat oven 400º

Heat a cast iron skillet till hot. Salt and pepper the steak. Put in the butter to melt and add the mushrooms and steak. Sear on one side and then the other, stirring the mushrooms as you do.

Flip and put in a 400º oven for 5 minutes for rare.

Remove from oven and put the meat on a plate and tent for 5 minutes. Take the mushrooms and add the Chevreuil Sauce to warm. Pour over the meat and serve.

Note: if you use beef filet, the technique is the same

Stilton Mashed potatoes for 2

6 blue potatoes peeled or unpeeled
2 T butter
½ c milk
¼ cup crumbled stilton or to taste
pinch of mace
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes until tender and drain. Add the rest of the ingredients and mash.

Feb 18

1 Comment

Presidential Palates

Happy President’s Day! We’ve done extensive internet research on presidential preferences in food. As a result, we now have a game plan in case any of our presidents come over for dinner.

George Washington (1789-1797) liked a savory steak and kidney pie, a common dish in his day, so we would bake him up some Venison Pie. Since he had his own whiskey distillery, we’d pour a few fingers of quality American whiskey. It’s classic tavern food for the father of our country.

Whole books have been written about Thomas Jefferson’s (1801-1809) love of food and his contributions to gastronomy. He introduced macaroni and ice cream to the United States, began experiments with viticulture, and wanted to make the country completely self-sustainable on the food front. We would honor him with a plate of Black Truffle Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

Pancakes were favored by Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929), Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945). Now, they might have meant fluffy breakfast pancakes, but we’d serve savory crepes with a béchamel sauce and sautéed wild mushrooms.

Since Washington, Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945) all liked sweet potatoes, they would surely appreciate this Pork Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Prunes.

James Buchanan (1857-1861) and FDR relished cabbage, so to please them, along with Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), who had a taste for game meat, we would serve Pheasant Braised under Cabbage. Three presidents, one dish.

Our 16th president Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) liked simple foods: fresh fruit, crackers and cheese, which we would arrange along with a few choice pieces of charcuterie like saucisson sec and jambon de Bayonne.

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) also kept it simple, preferring vegetable soup and steak. We’re sure he’d chow down on this Rib Eye Steak with Greens and Root Vegetable Mash and enjoy it.

For Texan Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969), steak reigned supreme. But he loved every type of cooking; the White House kitchen said that “he will eat anything that doesn’t bite him first.” He adored French haute cuisine, Southern cooking, German specialties, but most of all, he loved Mexican food (also the favored cuisine of George W. Bush). LBJ took entertaining from the white tablecloth to the backyard when he threw barbeques for foreign heads of state. He sounds like our kind of eater! We could make him happy with any number of dishes, from Terrine of Foie Gras to Sweet and Sticky Baby Back Ribs or Duck Confit Tamales.

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) really went for soups. His favorite was New England Fish Chowder, which was frequently served in the White House. He was perfectly happy with soup, a sandwich and some fruit for lunch. Though simpler in his tastes than Mrs. Kennedy, who planned elaborate French menus for state occasions, he did enjoy Poulet a l’Estragon, that is, Chicken and Tarragon.

Barack Obama loves a good hamburger, and we think our Big Bleu Burger is perfect for him. We’d like to serve that with some of his beer brewed at the White House. Come to think of it, Bill Clinton (1993-2001) famously loved a burger when he was in office. So burgers all around!

Many of the founding fathers loved ice cream (quite a novelty with no refrigeration); Thomas Jefferson is responsible for the first ice cream recipe in the States. He probably kept cool on hot days in Virginia with his favorite flavor: vanilla.

George Washington, James Madison (1809-1817), and in the modern era, LBJ and Barack Obama have all confessed to a fondness for the cold stuff. But who doesn’t like ice cream? So we know what’s for dessert: Black Truffle Ice Cream.

Theodore Roosevelt loved drinking tea, so we’d be sure to include a steaming pot of black tea. And of course, a bowl of jelly beans in honor of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989).

Apr 19

Duckspotting @ La Esquina, New York City

Duckspotting is snapping & sending in pics of dishes, from your favorite restaurants, made with D’Artagnan ingredients! We supply restaurants all over the country & love to see what creative chefs are doing with our products. Keep sending them in!

Where: La Esquina

What: Chef Akhtar Nawab makes a killer pepita mole sauce – here, it finishes arepa dumplings and our Rohan duck breast.

How: La Esquina is @ 114 Kenmare, New York, NY 10012 | Reservations for the brasserie are taken 21 days or 3 weeks to the day. Call (646) 613-7100

There are 3 ways to enjoy a meal at celebrity favorite, La Esquina – at the walkup taqueria (open daily from 8am – 2am), the street level cafe (open for lunch from 12-4pm, sunset menu from 4-5pm, then dinner 5-midnight, 1am on Fridays & Saturdays, weekend brunch from 11am-3:45pm) and the underground brasserie – see above for reservations. Hidden behind a secret door, the basement level brasserie is well worth the wait. The dinner-only space features an expanded menu, over 200 premium tequilas and nightly live DJ’s from 11pm-2am.

Dining out & spot some fabulous dishes made with D’Artagnan ingredients? Snap a pic & email with the details to alishah@dartagnan.com We’ll give you & the restaurant a shout out

Nov 21

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 14

Here is an easy, straightforward method good for oven roasting a perfect capon for the holidays, or anytime you want to serve this fabulous bird. The method works for birds whether or not stuffed with dressing. Truss the capon first, as it will make turning the bird easier and help prevent the skin from tearing at the joints in the process. It is also a good method for roasting other large chickens.

The Holiday Capon Part 2

Two Stage Roasting

Roasting begins on the lower middle oven rack in a preheated 450°F oven, then 30 minutes into the roasting the heat is reduced to 350°F for the remainder of the cooking time. This jump-starts the browning process and sears the meat, sealing in precious juices. As mentioned, you turn the bird a few times in the process, and baste every 10 or 15 minutes. Rub the capon with our pure, renderedduck fat, lightly softened before gently ‘massaging’ it into the skin. Season the capon with a good salt and freshly ground pepper before putting it in the oven, and baste with melted duck fat until the bird creates enough of its own pan juices for basting.

If you are using an x-shaped rack, you can start the bird breast down for about 15 minutes. Then turn the bird on one side for 20 minutes, then onto its other side for 20 minutes. After that, turn the bird breast up and finish roasting. You can easily coordinate this with your basting. If you use a flat rack, forget about starting breast down, and instead start roasting on one side, then turn onto the other, giving each side an extra five minutes, and finish roasting breast up.

For a 7- pound capon, this should take about 1-1/2 hours. Use a quick read meat thermometer to test the internal temperature for doneness. Transfer it Read more

Nov 20

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 13

Trussing is a means of binding a bird before cooking, to hold the wings and legs close to the body. This gives the bird a compact shape, often enhancing the symmetry in the process; and making for more even cooking, a beautiful presentation, and simplified carving. Some recipes call for turning a bird during roasting which is also much easier when trussed, and it will help prevent tearing the skin at the joints in the process. Of course, a full trussing will also help to hold in the dressing when a bird is stuffed.

Trussing Basics

No matter what method you choose, it is always a good idea to truss a bird – pure and simple. The only real exception would be if you plan to butterfly or spatchcock it before cooking. Untrussed legs on a whole bird may gape away from the body or even fall off, while the drumstick and wings stick up and dry out… Need we say more?

What’s Good for the Goose…
As with many cooking techniques, there are several types and styles of trussing, some suited to particular types of fowl. Since turkeys, capons and chickens share similar physical attributes, the same types of trussing and roasting methods will do for all of them. Geese and ducks on the other hand, have a narrower body and thicker skin with an abundance of good fat, which requires different trussing and roasting altogether. Smaller birds the likes of game hens and squabs need trussing only enough to bind the legs.

First Things First
Regardless of the technique you choose, a few things need doing beforehand. First, remove the neck and gizzards and reserve for making stock or perhaps as ingredients for your stuffing. Next, take a good look at the shape of the bird. Trussing will give you an opportunity to slightly cinch up the Read more

Nov 19

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 12

If you are considering an intimate holiday for two, or even a dinner party of six, and in a quandary about the practicality of a full on turkey versus stuffed chicken to stand-in for a celebrity bird, there is no need to fret any further, because we have the perfect solution. Forget about those two this holiday, and do something truly special and better scaled to your needs, by oven roasting a capon.

The Holiday Capon (Part 1)

Smaller than a Turkey – Bigger than a Basic Chicken

If you are not familiar with this hefty bird, do not think for a minute that a capon is a compromise you have to make because you are not feeding a small army. Quite the contrary, these extraordinary birds are raised exclusively to be a culinary treat of the highest order. Plump breasted with prized, white flesh wonderfully marbled with fat; capons are destined for greatness and can easily carry any holiday feast. It can be especially gratifying for the cook, as this is not a bird upstaged by any dressing or side dish. When you are lucky enough to have the pleasure of eating an oven-roasted capon, you will find the meat distinctively flavorful, lusciously rich and moist, and tender beyond belief. So much so, that this could be the start of a new tradition. At the very least, you will not want to wait another whole year before enjoying one again.

The News Just Keeps Getting Better
Another beauty is that there is no elaborate recipe, complex technique, or special handling required. Fill this bird with your favorite dressing, or season the cavity with a good sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and truss it. After, you just rub it with softened, rendered duck fat, salt and pepper the skin and oven roast, similarly to roasting a large chicken. You might even want to try on some new cooking methods to go with your new bird. In the Gascon countryside, capons are the traditional Sunday Chicken cooked as Poule au pot – slowly poached in a pot of vegetables and rich stock, and stuffed with a delicious soft dressing. Here are links to two of our favorite capon recipes.

Capon Poule au Pot with Foie Gras Stuffing
Truffled Capon with Wild Mushrooms

The Well Trussed Capon
When roasting a capon for your holiday meal, truss it much the same as you would a turkey or a chicken. Remove the wishbone, and bind the bird so that its drumsticks rest nicely in place against the tip of the breastbone, with the wing tips folded back neatly beneath the shoulders. It will make for a beautiful shape, cook more evenly and be easier to carve. This is especially brilliant because capons are the perfect bird to carve at the table. Large enough to be grand, they make for an impressive entrance, yet they are small enough to manage easily. Use the links below to learn how to quick roast the perfect capon, and remove the wishbone before trussing.

Nov 18

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 11

In our third installment of Talking Turkey with Ariane, she’s sharing her favorite recipes for impressive yet easy Thanksgiving side dishes, like creamy and rich truffle mashed potatoes, Wild Boar and Apple Stuffing and Harvest Bisque Soup with Smoked Duck Breast.

Nov 17

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 10

If have the good fortune of a temperate climate, or are intrepid and adventurous enough to brave the elements, grilling can be a much more than just a novel way to prepare your holiday bird. Grilling aficionados will tell you “Where there’s smoke, there’s flavor!” and grilling one of our organic free-range turkeys or all natural turkey breasts is no exception.

Grilling Your Holiday Turkey

You can use the rack to roast a butterflied turkey, flattened halves or a breast; and a kettle barbeque will allow you to use a roasting pan to cook a traditionally intact bird. Add the science of seasoned brines, and a myriad of marinades, spice rubs, and BBQ sauces to the mix, and you may never throw a bird in the oven again. These wonderful preparatory techniques enhance the succulence of your bird, with a spectrum of flavor bases that run from the sublime to the wow. Remember too, one huge bonus is that grilling will also free up precious oven space.

Get to Play with Fire
There are a few considerations before grilling a big bird. For instance, it will take more than a humble pair of tongs to flip a butterflied turkey, and comparatively speaking summer steaks, plump chicken, and sausages all grill relatively quickly. Even a small turkey calls for a substantially longer Read more

Nov 16

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 9

If a grand entrance with a bird straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting is not part of your Thanksgiving ritual, you can cut cooking time substantially by butterflying the bird, and giving the roasting a juicy jump-start under the broiler. This is an especially good method if you prefer to bring platters of carved meat to the table, or are setting a buffet.

How to Roast a Butterflied Turkey

Searing for Juicy Goodness
This method of roasting uses the high broiler heat to sear and brown the skin, sealing in the meat’s juices. You start by laying out the butterflied bird, skin side down in a shallow roasting pan, basting it generously with melted, rendered duck fat, and then position the bird so the meat is 7 or 8 inches from the preheated element.

Broiling uses intense heat, so if your oven has only one broiler setting that temperature is likely a whopping 550°F. If you can thermostatically control your broiler, set the temperature between 350°F and 400°F. You want a slower searing than is usually gotten by broiling, say about 16 to 18 minutes or so on the first side, so adjust the broiler heat accordingly. In either case, watch the bird carefully, and baste frequently during this process.

Once the meat has browned nicely, take it out of the oven to season with a good salt, and turn the Read more

Posts tagged ‘recipe’

A Saucy Series, Part II

A Saucy Series, Part I

Presidential Palates

Duckspotting @ La Esquina, New York City

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 14

The Holiday Capon Part 2

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 13

Trussing Basics

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 12

The Holiday Capon (Part 1)

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 11

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 10

Grilling Your Holiday Turkey

D’Artagnan Thanksgiving Survival Guide: Day 9

How to Roast a Butterflied Turkey

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