Good Morning.
February gets a bit long and tedious. There are several cures for it depending on what floats your boat. Some go shopping,
some get a massage, and some buy an airline ticket to any place where the sun shines on sand rather than snow. I hate to shop, I don't like people pushing my flesh around now that I have too much of it, and I'm not an agreeable flier. My solution is to have a scrumptious dinner party with people who are handling February better than I am.
Have your favorite beverages and set out a few nuts, then start the dinner with a Grapefruit, Avocado, and Goat Cheese
Salad. I will substitute a couple of navel oranges for the grapefruit because grapefruit messes with my cholesterol medication
that allows me to have the other items on the menu. The avocado, of course, raises the good cholesterol. I eat a lot of avocado.
1 grapefruit, red is prettier
1 large avocado
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper
4 cups salad greens, torn into pieces
4 tbsp. crumbled goat cheese
Cut the grapefruit in half and extract the sections with a grapefruit knife or other serrated item. Set the sections aside.
Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and carefully remove the flesh with a sharp paring knife. Cut into nice slices.
Combine the olive oil, dry mustard, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stir with a whisk. Place the greens in a salad bowl,
add the grapefruit and avocado sections, sprinkle the goat cheese on top, throw in the dressing, and toss carefully.
The grapefruit sections and greens can be done ahead. Do the avocado, goat cheese, and dressing just before serving.
Multiply the recipe as needed because the following entree, Roast Duck with Curry Sauce, serves 6.
2 4 to 5 pound ducklings
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp. curry powder
1 1/2 cups honey
More salt and pepper
Rinse the ducks and pat them dry. Tie the legs together. Place the ducks on a rack in a large roasting pan. Prick the skin
all over and sprinkle with salt. Roast them for 20 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce to 350 and continue to cook for
another hour and a half. Remove the pan from the oven occasionally and dump the fat but not down the drain unless
you want trouble. While the meat is in the oven, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, vermouth, and minced garlic
in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until reduced by half. Stir in the curry and honey and continue to cook for
another 20 minutes on low heat. Strain the sauce into a second pan and taste for salt and pepper. Fifteen minutes before
the meat is done, start basting the ducks with the sauce every few minutes. Remove from the oven, cover with foil, and
let rest for 10 minutes, then slice for serving. Pass any remaining sauce in a gravy boat.
Serve the duck with something besides the traditional rice - wild, white, brown, or a combination thereof. I suggest
Roasted Stuffed Onions.
6 medium onions
6 bacon strips, cut into one inch pieces
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
8 cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed and coarsely chopped
6 cups French bread, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 cups cashews, coarsely chopped
3/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
Cut a slice from the tops of the onions and discard. Trim just enough from the bottoms so the onions will stand up straight.
Scoop out all but the outer 3 layers of each onion and reserve what you scooped. Chop this stuff up and set aside. Cook the bacon in a skillet, drain, and reserve half of the bacon fat. Add the chopped onion with salt and pepper to the skillet and saute over medium heat until translucent, maybe 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic for the last minute. Place this mixture in a large bowl and set aside. Toast the bread cubes on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes, turning once, until
slightly golden in color. Add the bread cubes, cashews, 1/2 cup of the chicken broth, and bacon pieces, stir well to combine, and set aside to cool. Arrange the onion shells, open sides up, in a 9x13 glass baking dish, then add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the dish and cover it with aluminum foil. Roast the onion shells in a 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes. They should be tender but not floppy. Reduce the oven temp to 350. Transfer to shells to a platter and dump the water from the baking dish. Fill the shells with the cooled stuffing and return them to the baking dish. Drizzle with the rest of the chicken broth and bake for 25 minutes. Serves 6.
This recipes takes some time but is worth the effort. Vegetarians can substitute chopped celery for the bacon and vegetable
broth for the chicken broth and have a meal unto itself with the salad. For the carnivores, these onions provide all you need
for a side dish.
For dessert we recommend a Cranberry Slump. It sounds like my mood but tastes a great deal better.
2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup granulated sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Mix the cranberries, nuts, and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl. Pour into an ungreased 9 inch springform pan. Mix the butter,
1 cup sugar, eggs, flour, and almond extract in another bowl. Pour this mixture over the cranberries and nuts. Bake at 375 degrees for 38 minutes, give or take. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes, then unhinge the top part of the pan, and remove. Cut the slump into wedges and serve warm with freshly whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Now that I think about it, this menu would be a fine Thanksgiving if you're willing to forego the turkey, mashed potatoes,
and pumpkin pie. In my family, people nearly writhe on the floor at the mere suggestion of fooling with tradition, so
I present this menu to deal with the cold and ice. Serve your favorite wine with dinner. Some will choose white, I will choose a less than heavy red like a Pinot Noir or a Beaujolais. I do not give up spirits for Lent. I give up eggplant.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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