Category: Holidays

Duck Rillettes on Goat Cheese Croquettes with Black Pepper Balsamic Cranberry Relish…Marx Foods Iron Foodie

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I was stunned when it was announced by Foodie Blogroll and Marx Foods, that I was chosen as one of the twenty five challengers for Iron Foodie. I didn’t even see the email. As I said before, I have stopped with contests for a lot reasons. But this was real challenge that I believe is more about skill , than say…popularity.

Iron Foodie 2010 | Here's Why that will be me:
MarxFoods.com -- Fine Bulk Foods The Foodie BlogRoll

A mystery box was sent to all of us, with instructions to make a dish with at least three of the eight ingredients  in the box. The box contained Aji Panca Chilies, Dried  Wild Porcini’s, Smoked Sea Salt,Maple Sugar, Fennel Pollen, Bourbon Vanilla Beans, Dulse( dried sea weed), and Tellicherry Peppercorns.

I chose to use four ingredients in my Amuse Bouche. Smoked Sea Salt, Fennel Pollen, Maple Sugar, andTellicherry Peppercorns. There are three components to this recipe that will go a long way.

Rillettes are slow cooked meat such as duck, pork, rabbit that are cured with salt and spices , then simmered in fat for hours, and then beat into a paste to eaten as a spread. Wonderful for the holidays and long lasting if preserved and sealed in fat.

Black Pepper Balsamic Cranberry Relish is a new take on a holiday staple. Rather than cooked stove top, I roasted the cranberries with less sugars and balsamic vinegar. The true flavors shine and are not masked by heavy sugars like traditional cranberry sauces. The tartness offsets the rich fattiness of the Rillettes.

Goat Cheese Croquettes are inspired by of one my favorite salads of crusted fried goat cheese with apples. I decided to make small patties to top off with the other two components. I rolled them in fennel pollen ,orange zest and panko before frying.

Be sure to have the rillettes at room temperature when assembling. Many of the components can be made ahead, leaving the goat cheese for last.

I was expecting this to be really rich. It is rich but not unbearably so. It’s like the entire holiday meal in one luscious mouthful.

Check out my other challengers.

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Duck Rillettes on Goat Cheese Croquettes with Black Pepper Balsamic Cranberry Relish

Duck Rillettes

24-48 hours prep. Several hours cooking time.

  • 1 whole ducking quartered
  • 1 tsp  Marx Foods smoked sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • Bay leaves
  • 4 allspice cloves
  • 4-5 cloves garlic
  • Marx Foods Ground Tellicherry black pepper
  • 2 tsp Marx Foods Fennel Pollen
  • 1-2 cups vegetable stock
  • 1/3 cup Cognac

*you may want to purchase additional duck fat for sealing.

  1. In a dish season raw duck with salt, bay leaves, allspice, garlic, pepper, etc.
  2. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 24 hrs, but up to 48 hours.
  3. Place seasoned duck in Dutch oven.
  4. Add vegetable stock and fennel pollen.
  5. Place and cover in oven at 250.
  6. Cook for 4-5 hours until liquid is mostly gone, meat is tender, and fat is rendered.
  7. Remove carcass bones and skin, allspice, bay leaves.
  8. Add the soft garlic cloves to meat pile.
  9. Strain liquid and fat and add to shredded meat with cognac, and continue to cook for a two more hours in oven.
  10. Reserve some fat.
  11. Beat meat with fat but not to make a paste.
  12. Place in jars or one dish.
  13. Cover with reserved fat to seal.
  14. Stores for several months in the refrigerator as long as sealed well in fat.

Black Pepper  Balsamic Cranberry Relish

Can be made days ahead

  • 1 bag /1lb cranberries
  • 3 tablespoons Marx Foods Maple Sugar
  • ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 2-3tabslespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • Ground Marx Foods Tellicherry Pepper
  1. Wash cranberries.
  2. Place in metal baking pan.
  3. Add maple sugar, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of water.
  4. Toss all ingredients.
  5. Roast at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  6. Stir halfway through roasting.
  7. Remove from heat and cool.

Goat Cheese Croquettes

  • Log of goat cheese (4oz log makes 7 croquettes)
  • 1 tsp Marx Foods Fennel Pollen
  • Orange zest( 1 orange)
  • Panko bread crumbs
  • Vegetable oil to coat pan
  1. Zest orange peel and add to fennel pollen.
  2. Make round patties with goat cheese by hand.
  3. Dust with fennel pollen mixed with orange zest.
  4. Roll in Panko.
  5. Heat oil. Fry croquettes on each side for a few minutes until panko crust is browned. Be careful and only turn minimally (once on each side)

Assembly

Take a croquette. Top with rillettes. Top with cranberry relish. Garnish with dusting of fennel pollen and orange zest.

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Roasted Honeyed Sweets

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Here is a quick and  easy recipe to add to your holiday or just regular table as a side. A little back story…growing up I hated sweet potatoes. Candied or in  pie, I just couldn’t fall in love with them.I dreaded when holidays arrived and I  had to eat my obligatory spoonful. No matter who made them, I just didn’t like that orange sweet mush.Now, I love them. I love them most in their simplest form, roasted. So rather than dump a ton of brown sugar, butter, and marshmallows (shudder) on your sweets, next time try this. Honey is a natural healing sweetener that pairs perfectly with this root vegetable chock full of anti oxidants.

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Roasted Honeyed Sweets

* I used  a raw honey which is  pure, healthier, and is more solid in form. I melted it slightly before use on the stove. Use either clarified runny or raw honey. The choice is yours.

Quantities can be adjusted for amount of servings.

  • Sweet Potatoes with skin , washed
  • Olive Oil to coat
  • Kosher Salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon honey for every sweet potato used
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Cut sweet potatoes in wedges , with skin.
  4. Toss in olive oil generously to coat.
  5. Place on baking sheet.
  6. Sprinkle with Kosher Salt to taste.
  7. Roast  for 15 minutes until tender.
  8. Take honey( which has been pre melted if raw) and toss over sweet potatoes on baking sheet.
  9. Continue to roast for another 5 minutes or so.
  10. Serve hot.

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Holiday Entertaining Tips and Links

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Just a quick list of links for you when planning your Holiday entertaining .Some of these are from years back on Coco Cooks.

Enjoy and have a  Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans.

Cocktail Nibbles and Small Bites

Homemade Pork Rinds

Mini Grilled Camembert and Garlic in Toasted in Duck Fat

For Your Vegan Guests Onion and Broccoli Bajji

Spicy Cauliflower Pate

A Classic French Treat… Rillettes de Paris

Tea Smoked Wings

Wasabi Deviled Eggs

Figs and Brie En Croute

Chorizo Rolls

Cheesey Craisin Puffs

Sweets and gift ideas

A European Classic Confection…Marzipan Fruits

Lolli Pies for the Dessert  Table

A Luscious Sauce…Cajeta

Fruit Leathers for the Kids Gift Baskets

Rum Raisin Egg Nog Ice Cream

Coconut Cream Pie with White Chocolate Shavings

Coco’s Asian Apple Pie

Drinks

Hot Buttered Rum

Time to Start Brewing…Cream Limoncello

Homemade Plum Brandy

Cheesy Craisin Puffs…Holiday Leftover Idea

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I came up with this recipe   a few years ago for a Ocean Spray Competition. Nothing came of it, but I feel they are quite good and an excellent way to use leftovers if you have lingering holiday guests, open houses, or what have you. You can make  these for any event using cooked turkey breast or leftovers. I like that the prep can be done in advance.  The puffs are essentially Gougeres, that can be baked ahead and stored in airtight containers for 1 day or frozen until use.The Chicken or Turkey Salad can also be made ahead until assembly.

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Cheesy Craisins Chicken or Turkey  Puffs

makes 40 appetizers

Puff Ingredients
1 cup milk
8 tbsp butter ( 1 stick)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/2 cup Craisins chopped fine or dried cranberries
1/2 cup Swiss or Gruyere Cheese grated
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
* a large Piping bag or Ziploc bag
Craisins Chicken Salad
3 1/2 cups cooked chopped chicken breast or turkey breast
1/2 cup Craisins chopped fine
1/4 cup finely chopped  peeled apple
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard or extra strong mustard
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
Puff Preparation:
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, add milk,butter, sugar, and salt, and bring to a boil over medium heat.Stir while  the mixture is coming to a boil.Turn down heat or remove . Add the flour and mix until combined with a wooden spoon. Turn up heat to medium and mix the dough until it forms a ball and none is sticking to the sides of the pan. This will take a few minutes.
In a large bowl with a electric mixer or a stand mixer with paddle attachment, add the dough. Carefully add the eggs, one at a time until all is incorporated . Add the cheese , Craisins, and spices. Mix well.
Fill either a large Piping Bag or a Ziploc bag with the dough mixture. Cut the tip opening to no more than 1/2 inch in diameter( this will allow the dough to be piped, without the Craisins bits blocking the opening).
Preheat oven to 350 F.
On a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet , pipe small bite size rounds of dough. Smooth any pointed tips with an oiled/buttered spoon.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool on rack. When cool enough to handle, take a small serrated knife and slit the puffs to prevent sogginess. Store in an airtight container, freeze, or set aside until ready to fill.
Craisins Chicken Salad Preparation:
In a large bowl  combine  chicken, Craisins, apple, mayonnaise, mustard, and spices. Mix well. Allow to set for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Assembly
Take a slit puff and fill with a generous mound of Craisins Chicken Salad.Assemble on a platter and serve at room temperature.

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Homemade Pork Scratchings aka Pork Rinds

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In the carnivore realm there are two groups. Those that eat pork and those that don’t. In our household we love the Swine. Sausages, bacon , chops, loins, roasts,etc.Need I say more? Pork really is a tastier and a more versatile meat.Religious reasons I get and respect.Even those restrictions were an early form of food safety. But,I hear a lot of people for various reasons profess why they don’t eat pork, is that it’s dirty. That excuse  is dated, period. Nowadays eating poultry, fish, and eggs can out you at more risk than eating pork. There are fewer cases of Trichinosis out there and reported than Salmonella or E Coli. I’m not here to convert but I’m just saying….

Not believing in waste, I had a whole large piece of pork skin left over from the belly used to makeChorizo. The perfect crispy skin has always eluded me. Close but not perfection. Then I came across some references to the famous English Chef Fergus Henderson, who is known for his nose to tail style of cooking. Nothing is wasted and respect is shown to animal  without waste. It seems his pork scratchings( pork rinds) are a huge deal and a superior recipe. A total of a five to six day process, the skin is lovingly salted for five days to confit and swathed in duck fat andconfited .Once tender and jelly like after the confit, the skin is then racked in the oven and puffs and bubbles to a beautiful golden brow, It really is the perfect recipe. Your next cocktail party, football game, or holiday gathering , offer up these nibbles and your swine eating guests will bow at your feet. You can purchase pork skin in most Latin markets, or save it from when you buy whole roasts.

I did make a little error with these nibbles. I didn’t soak the skin after salting. Fortunately I didn’t use loads of salt, so a nice cold beer washed it away. That’s my second salt accident this month.When doing the final baking , rather than keep the skin intact, cut it up into smaller pieces to aid crispiness, I find the smaller pieces puff more. Then you break it up even more when complete.

You know this isn’t  health food and should only be made on special occasions. But it is way better than deep frying the rinds in my opinion like the Mexican Chicarron,but its wickedly good. Enjoy!

I did feel like Hannibal Lecter while making this. Carefully tending to large swathes of skin. My refrigerator looked like a lab.So this recipe isn’t for the squeamish, if things like that bother you. You know, the type that likes their meat all neat and packaged in Styrofoam and wrapped in plastic. Kidding!

Be sure check out the Duo Dishes , who posted their own version of pork rinds this week too.

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Pork Scratchings

adapted by Fergus Henderson from Beyond Nose to Tail


 

 Ingredients

  • Pig’s skin  with a little fat on the underside
  • Kosher Salt or Sea Salt
  • Duck fat (about 1 cup or more to cover the skin)
  1. Spread a layer of sea salt on a glass , plastic or non reactive tray.
  2. Apply sea salt on top of the pork skin liberally( approx about 1-2 tbsp. Depending on size of skins.
  3. Cover salted skin and leave in  the refrigerator for five days.
  4. Remove skin and soak in cold water overnight for several hours or overnight.
  5. Dry skin and place on a lipped baking sheet.
  6. Rub duck fat on both sides of skin .
  7. Cover with foil.
  8. Bake  in a medium oven( about 220-225 F) for 2½ hrs.
  9. Take out to cool.
  10. At this point you can make sure fat solidifies over skin and keep covered with fat until ready to use at alater date in the fridge.
  11. Or…Place a rack on a lipped baking sheet, then lay your skin on top.
  12. Turn oven to approx 350-375 F and roast. Skin should  slightly puff up  and turn golden and crispy.
  13. Do not overly brown or burn
  14. Remove from the oven  and cool.
  15. Place the crispy skin on a board and  break it up with with a heavy knife.
  16. Serve

* skin can be chewy and tough in some parts so be careful with sensitive teeth or dental issues.

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