Tribute to My French Friend

Thank you my dear friend for writing on my profile! It motivates me to give everyone a few recipes from our cooking adventures in France! But before the recipes, let me give everyone a bit of background:

After our middle daughter left for Florence on her semester abroad, my husband and I thought that visiting her, and Europe in general would be a wonderful way to celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary: a little visit to see our daughter, crossing over the Adriatic to visit our good friends on an island off Split, a required return to Paris then down to Marseille to visit our good friend in the south of France, how perfect! When I realized that our friends we cooked for at the wedding in Montana were honeymooning in Europe and picked us up at the airport, I was blown away. Seeing our friends at the airport in Marseille along with their taxi driver at 11:30 in the evening was one of the happiest experiences on the trip!

The 18^th century farm house we stayed in was another treat! We spent the next four days shopping in all the farmer’s markets outside of Aix in Provence, hiking in the hills behind our host’s home, swimming in a pool that looks over the entire valley and my most favorite part, cooking in her kitchen with all of our friends! We literally hiked, swam, cooked, ate and then danced until the wee hours of the morning! We ate lamb, rabbit, pork and French chicken, then paired it with some of the most wonderful vegetables and wines that I have had in a LONG time.

Here are some of the recipe highlights! I hope you enjoy!!

Rabbit in Mustard Sauce

• 1 rabbit cut in eight pieces ( the butcher can do this for you)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup stone ground mustard (more or less)
• 1/3^rd cup chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 cups white wine, or more if needed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the rabbit with salt and pepper then drench with mustard. Roll in rosemary and place in a cooking pan, pour in wine until it covers at least ½ inch of the bottom of the pan, at least 1 cup. Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Once the rabbit is out of the oven take the rabbit out of the pan and set aside. Add the following items in the pan:

• ½ cup wine
• 2 cups chicken or rabbit stock
• ½ cup Dijon mustard

• 2 cups creams

Boil the mixture until it is reduced by half.

Then add cream and reduce until it is flavorful and is in sauce consistency.

Add 2 cups pitted and split picholine olives.

In the meantime, cook one pound of pasta until done. Place the pasta into the sauce and reheat with the rabbit until it is hot. Sometimes I take a few handfuls of spinach and stuff it in the pasta and rabbit as it is reheating to wilt, to create my perfect dish! I always serve this with green beans tossed with toasted almond. For the Italian Museo contest, I added the green beans in the dish (instead of the spinach) and topped the pasta with toasted sliced almonds. I hope you enjoy it!!

Pan Seared Duck Breast with Port Poached Pears

Serves 6

This easy entrée must become one of your entertaining stables. It is unusual and absolutely delicious. You can use chicken stock in place of the duck, just make sure it is true stock, not canned chicken broth. You can find stock in the freezer section of your well stocked super markets.

For the duck

• 3 large duck breasts or 6 small
• 8 cups body temperature water
• ½ cup salt
• ¼ cup sugar

For the pears

• 2 to 3 cups port wine
• 3 large bosc pears or any other firm pear, peeled cut in half with the core removed

For the salad

• 3 tablespoons olive or almond oil
• 6 cups arugula
• ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted in a 350 degree oven for 7 minutes
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce

• 1 cup port from the pears
• 2 cups duck or chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter (optional)

For the potatoes

• 6 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cooked, peeled and cut in ½ inch cubes
• Left over duck fat from the cooking the breasts

Mix the water, salt and sugar and whisk until completely incorporated. Score the fat on the duck breasts in a diamond shape being careful not to cut through the skin. Place the duck breasts in the brine and refrigerate for one hour.

While the ducks are brining, place the prepared pears in a small saucepan and cover with port wine. Bring to a simmer, turn the heat down to a low simmer and poach for about a half hour or until tender. Let cool in the liquid. Once cooled fan the pears by cutting 1/3 inch sliced into the pear keeping the slices intact at the neck of the pear. This can be done a day ahead just bring the pears to room temperature for the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the duck breast from the brine and dry well. Heat a skillet just large enough to hold the breast to a low heat and add duck breasts. No need to add oil, as the duck cooks, it will release the fat which will sear the skin. Cook the duck breast, again over a low heat (to slowly render the fat and cook the meat) for around 20-25 minutes or until the skin is lightly browned. Turn the breast over and cook for an additional 5 minutes and then place on a baking pan (this can all be done ahead of time but bring the duck back to room temperature before continuing). Cook in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove the duck from the oven and let rest in on a plate covered with foil for at least 10 minutes.

While the duck is in the oven (or set aside if you are doing this ahead), place the fat into the pan you plan to cook the potatoes. Reheat the duck pan and add the port wine to deglaze. Boil the wine until reduce to around 2/3 cup. Add stock and continue to reduce until the sauce is syrupy and has flavor. Again, this can be done ahead of time, just reheated when you are ready to finish the serve the dinner. Just before serving, reheat the sauce and add butter to create a shiny more finished sauce.

While the duck is resting, heat the duck fat over high heat and add potatoes. Salt well and let potatoes cook, undisturbed until a nice crust is formed. Turn potatoes over and continue on the other side until well browned. Again, season well with salt and a bit of pepper. All of this cannot be done ahead of time, or you will lose the crisp of the potato.

Dress the salad with the almond oil and season with salt and pepper (no need for a vinaigrette, the meat juice and sauce will properly season the greens). Toss in the almonds. After the duck has rested, slice the breasts in ¼ inch slices. Place the salad on the plates and top with the duck breast on the side of the salad. Place a pear half onto the duck and dress with the warm sauce. Scatter around the fried potatoes and serve!

Finishing Off the Bird

I cannot believe it is already the Wednesday after Thanksgiving and I still have turkey! As with most good cooks, I hate to waste food. Each part of that turkey from the liver to the gizzards to the bones and of course the meat has been turned into some sort of stock, soup, pot pie, mousse and of course Thanksgiving dinner at one point or another. I actually love using all parts of an animal. Since we take that animal's life to energize our bodies, I believe it is our duty to not waste any part of the gift. I actually kind of get in to utilizing all that I can. Saving shrimp shells for stock, keeping the livers in a bag in the freezer until I have enough for a pate, setting aside the rope along the filet for ground round or chili meat, saving bits of sauces in my freezer to enhance a new one, buying a duck then making a confit with the leg, searing the breast and making stock with the bones and so on. While I am neurotic about recycling, I have not gotten into composting but have already made that my 2010 New Year’s resolution. I do my best to do my part in the circle of life, so what about my leftover turkey meat?? My youngest daughter loves my pasta with chicken and goat cheese so why not that but with Turkey meat??

It worked. Actually, it worked pretty darn well!! I used cooked turkey meat for raw chicken and my roasted turkey stock for chicken broth and the family loved it. Again, I did my best to measure as best as I could so I could recreate the recipe for you. The original recipe started from a vegetarian dish in “The Wolfgang Cookbook”, called Angel Hair Pasta with Goat Cheese and Broccoli. I actually think my husband made it one time I was gone and he was cooking for the kids. They LOVED it and asked me to make it and of course, in my hands, it changed a bit. I think my husband added chicken and tomatoes to Wolfgang’s original recipe, then I added pancetta, peas and chili flakes and changed the pasta. The end result is truly delightful. I hope you enjoy it!

Pasta with Turkey and Pancetta in a Goat Cheese Broth

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ cup chopped pancetta (a bit over a 1/3 of a pound)
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon chili flakes
• ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 cups turkey stock (can substitute chicken stock or canned broth)
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned is fine)
• 12 ounces cooked turkey, chopped
• 2 stalks broccoli, cut into small pieces and blanched
• 1 ½ cups peas (frozen is fine, thawed)
• I pound pasta, such as Conchiglie rigate
• 3 ounces mild goat cheese

In a large sauté pan heat the oil over medium heat and add the pancetta; cook slowly until it begins to brown. Remove from pan and add shallot and sauté until soft, around 2 minutes. Add garlic, chili flakes and half of the basil and cook for one more minute. Deglaze the pan with wine, scraping up the font on the bottom of the pan. Reduce by ½ then add the stock and again reduce until you like the flavor. You may need to add a bit of salt to bring up the flavor a bit. Add the tomatoes and again, reduce if needed. Your sauce should have wonderful flavor, if not, reduce a bit and add a pinch more salt. Add in the turkey, broccoli, peas and remaining basil to heat. In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water until it taste like the sea and add the pasta. Cook the pasta until it is al dente, maybe a minute less than normal since you will finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. Scoop a bit of the pasta water out before you drain in case you need it to enhance your sauce. Bring your sauce back up to a boil and add the drained pasta and stir to coat all the pasta. Add the goat cheese in bits and stir to incorporate into the sauce. Add pasta water if you feel there is not enough sauce. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese if you like.