cooking – Alice the Cook

September 16, 2013

Duck L’Orange with Potato Dauphenois

duck2 — Close up look of the duck breast

During Love and Romance weekend at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, we decided to make the most decadent (calorie laden) and romantic meal we could come up with. Duck L’Orange and Potato Dauphenois. The potato dish has been a long-standing favorite of Alice the Cook’s and it was nice to show it off again. Ideally, the potatoes and the duck should be nicely caramelized on the top for appearance and taste sake.

There were no leftovers with this dish.

Duck
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons Sherry
1 ½ cups orange juice
2 tablespoons shallots, minced
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
4 oranges, sections cut from membranes
2 duck breast halves, seasoned with salt and pepper
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons orange zest

Preparation:

Boil the sugar and water for several minutes, until the syrup caramelizes and turns a golden brown color. Add the vinegar, juice, shallots, and chicken stock and simmer until the sauce is reduced to a little less than a cup. Add butter and 1 tablespoon of orange zest. Stir in orange sections.

Before cooking, score the duck fat with a knife so that the duck fat made render properly. In a hot skillet, sear the duck breasts, fat side down, over very high heat until caramelized (not burnt) for about 3-5 minutes. Turn the duck breasts over and continue cooking for about 5 more minutes. Pour the prepared sauce over the duck breasts and continue cooking with the duck fat and sauce together for 4 more minutes. Take the duck and let it set for 2 minutes outside of the pan and cut on a bias, garnish with the sauce and remaining orange zest.

Potato Dauphinoise
Preheat over to 350 degrees F
3 lbs of red potatoes, thinly sliced
6 large garlic cloves, minced
1 large garlic clove, halved
4 table spoons of butter
2 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the potato slices into a bowl of cold water to remove the excess starch. Drain and pat dry with paper or cloth towels. Take the halved garlic clove and rub the cut side around a wide, shallow, ovenproof dish or cast iron pot. Butter or spray oil the dish/pot generously and blend the cream and milk together.

Cover the bottom of the dish with a layer of the potatoes. Dot a bit of the butter and minced garlic over the potatoes and season with the salt and pepper. Pour a bit of the cream and milk mixture over the layer. Continue making layers until all of the ingredients have been used, ending with just a layer of cream.

Bake for about 1 1/4 hours. If the potatoes are browning too quickly, cover with a lid or a piece of aluminum foil. The dish is done when the potatoes are soft and tender and the top is golden brown.
Serves 8

September 3, 2013September 3, 2013

Moroccan Tangine Chicken

This was one of our more popular shows this weekend. Tangine cooking uses a cone shaped ceramic pot that bastes the food as it cooks. For those who travel, the ceramic pots would not hold up, so cast iron pots were often used instead. We used a cast iron pot and the results were delicious. Traditionally, lamb, goat, and camel were used in tangine cooking. We used chicken in this particular recipe.

Ingredients
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp kosher or sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 large Spanish onion, grated (about 1 cup)
2 tbsps canola, grapeseed or olive oil (not a heavy olive oil)
1 to 2 preserved lemons, depending on size
8 chicken thighs, with bone and skin
Stems from the parsley and cilantro, tied with twine
1/4 tsp powdered saffron or 1/4 tsp powdered turmeric and 4 strands saffron
1 cup pitted green Moroccan or Greek olives
1/2 bunch Italian parsley, about 1/4 cup chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, about 1/4 cup chopped
Optional: Tomatoes and/or red peppers, coursely diced

In a large bowl, mix the garlic, cumin, ginger, paprika, salt and pepper, 1/2 cup grated onion, and the oil.

Rinse the preserved lemons, and remove the pulp. Reserve the lemon peel for later use.

Add the lemon pulp to the mixing bowl. Add the chicken. Mix everything together and place in a large plastic bag to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. (Twenty-four hours really gives the chicken the best flavor.)

In a large Dutch oven or casserole, place the chicken and marinade; add the stems of the parsley and cilantro, the rest of the grated onion, the powdered saffron and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat, turn down to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

Remove the cover, stir the chicken and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

Remove the chicken to a serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm. Keep sauce on stove and begin to reduce.

Slice the preserved lemon peel into thin slices and add to the sauce along with the olives, parsley and cilantro. Reduce until the sauce is just a little thick. This shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes at most.

Uncover the chicken and remove the skin from the chicken. (It doesn’t look pretty and who needs the extra fat.) Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

September 2, 2013September 3, 2013

Middle Eastern Themed Curry Egg Salad

During shows, my assistant and I encounter leftover items that we do not want to throw out. During the Siouxland Renaissance Festival in 2006, we encountered post-breakfast issue of having leftover hard boiled eggs and rice porridge. By combining them with chickpeas (garbanzo beans), spices, and other vegetables, we came up with this tasty dish that tastes great served with some pita bread.

This past weekend at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, we altered this traditional recipe and used leftover couscous instead and it was a favorite!

This dish is especially good made in bulk and used for lunches at work. It’s cost effective, healthy, and tasty. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced into disks
1 cup of chickpeas/garbanzo beans
2 cups of cousous (as in photo)
3 green onions or 1 large leek, diced or 1/2 red onion or 2 shallots
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 – 1/2 TB yellow curry powder
1 TB cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp of sesame or olive oil
2 TB cilantro
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
* A dried pepper powder may be added if you need more spiciness.

Blend all together in a single bowl wooden or ceramic. Let sit for an hour and stir again. Serve in some pita bread. DO NOT PREPARE THIS RECIPE IN A METAL BOWL!! The metal bowl will affect the flavor of the salad.

It should be a very mild curried egg salad. If you require more spice, feel free to add peppers or chili oil at will. I encourage experimentation.

August 26, 2013August 26, 2013

Crumpets, Lemon Curd and Clotted Cream

Despite this past weekend’s heat at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, my assistants and I made some beautiful wood-fired crumpets, lemon curd and clotted cream. They are all fairly easy to make, but require some patience and time.

Crumpets
4 cups of white bread flour
1 tsp of salt
2 oz of butter
1 cup of milk, warmed
1 tbsp of dried yeast
Corneal or flour
2 tbsp sugar

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and rub in the butter. In a separate bowl, stir in the warmed milk and yeast and add the sugar. Wait two minutes before adding the yeasted milk into the flour. Mix together to form a soft dough. Need for 10 minutes until soft and silky.

Crumpets with lemon curd and clotted cream

Put the dough in a large clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for two hours until it has doubled in size.

After the dough has risen, roll it out until 2.5 cm thick and cut out the dough in
2 -3 inch circles. Cover with a damp cloth for another 30 minutes and bake at 350 degrees.

These should only bake for 350 degrees. First side bakes for 3 minutes. They are flipped and baked for another 4-5 minutes until they are golden brown. Serve warm.

Lemon Curd:
3 eggs
1 cup of white sugar
1/3 cup of lemon juice
¼ cup of butter
2 tsp of lemon zest

Whisk eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in a double boiler over simmering water until mixed well, then continue to stir until thick, 7 to 10 minutes.

Drain through a mesh sieve to get rid of lumps. Fold in butter until well incorporated. Mix in lemon zest. Cover curd and chill in the refrigerator until it has thickened, about 4 hours.

Clotted cream:
1 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1/3 cup of sour cream, room temperature
2 tbsp powdered sugar

Using a whisk attachment on the mixer, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Remove from mixer, and hand whisk in the sour cream and confectioners’ sugar until just joined. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

January 4, 2013

First Promotional Video

After years of being asked what I do, I created a video from the photographs supplied by my fans. They are each recognized for their kindness at the end of the video and I received written permission from the band, Misplaced, to use “Tell My Ma” for this video. Please be kind with the comments, I am a cook and not a videographer.

Thank you all for your continued support. I look forward to seeing many of you in 2013.