The Essential James Beard Cookbook (35 page)

TURKEY MOLE

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Editor: Turkey mole is traditionally made with a whole turkey, but Beard’s version, with turkey parts, is much more practical. The turkey wing will add extra flavor to the mole, much more than using the breast half by itself. Serve on top of polenta or rice, or with warm corn or flour tortillas.

One 2½-pound turkey breast half, bone in, skin on

One 1-pound turkey wing, cut apart at the joints

Kosher salt

2 medium yellow onions, chopped

2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat or vegetable oil

1 cup ground almonds, walnuts, peanuts, or cashews

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 garlic cloves

1 small dried hot chile pepper

1 cup drained ripe, pitted California black olives

Place the turkey breast and wing in a deep pot, add water to cover, and bring to a boil. Add 1½ teaspoons salt and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.

Meanwhile, brown the onions in bacon fat in a medium skillet over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Add to the pot along with the almonds, chocolate, chili powder, garlic, and dried chile. Cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce is thickened and the turkey is tender, about 30 minutes more. Ten minutes before serving, add the olives and heat through. Season with salt and more chili powder, if desired. Transfer the turkey breast and wing to a carving board. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces, discarding the skin and bones, and return the meat to the pot. Serve hot.

DUCK GLAZED WITH CURRY AND HONEY

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

These timings and temperatures should give you ducks that are medium-rare—that is, still a bit pink at the joints. If you like your duck well-done, cook longer.

Two 4- to 5-pound ducks

2½ tablespoons curry powder

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon Tabasco

Kosher salt

½ cup honey

¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Rub the ducks inside and out with 1 tablespoon of the curry powder mixed with the garlic, turmeric, and Tabasco. Season with salt. Stir the honey, orange juice, and lemon juice together in a small bowl.

If you are using a spit, truss, spit, and balance the ducks. Roast over medium coals for about 1½ hours. During the last half of the roasting, baste with a mixture of the honey, orange juice, lemon, juice, and the remaining curry powder. Prick the skin from time to time with the tines of a meat fork to release the fat.

If you are using the oven, roast the ducks on a large rack on a roasting pan in a preheated 350°F oven for 1½ hours. Baste frequently with the honey-curry mixture. Be sure to prick the skin occasionally with the meat fork. During the last 20 minutes of roasting time, increase the oven temperature to 475°F to crisp the skin. The ducks are done when the skin is crisp and the juices run pink when the ducks are pierced with a meat fork.

Let the ducks stand for 10 minutes. Using poultry shears, cut into quarters and serve hot.

ROAST DUCK WITH ORANGES

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Editor: This is a much simplified version of the French standard
canard à l’orange
.

4 navel oranges

1 garlic clove

One 4- to 5-pound duck

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Grated zest of 1 orange

¼ cup Grand Marnier or other orange-flavored liqueur

1½ teaspoons unsalted butter

Grate the zest from 1 orange; set the zest aside. Using your hands, peel another orange and separate it into sections; set the sections aside.

Insert the garlic and orange sections in the duck cavity. Rub the skin with salt and pepper. Place on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast in a preheated 350°F oven, occasionally brushing the duck with ½ cup orange juice and pricking the skin with the tines of a meat fork, for 1 hour, 10 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 475°F and continue roasting until the skin is crisp and the juices run pink when the duck is pierced with a meat fork, about 20 minutes more. Transfer the duck to a warm platter.

Skim the excess fat from the roasting pan. Add the remaining ½ cup of orange juice, zest, and the orange liqueur. Cook the orange juice mixture over high heat, scraping up the browned residue in the pan with a wooden spatula, until it has reduced by half. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper. Using poultry shears, cut the duck into quarters and serve with the orange sections and sauce.

ROAST DUCKLING AU POIVRE

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Duck takes nicely to this peppery treatment, based on the same idea as steak au poivre.

One 4- to 5-pound duck

Kosher salt

Dried thyme or rosemary

1 small yellow onion, stuck with 2 whole cloves

1 tablespoon crushed black peppercorns

Rub the duck skin with salt and the herb of your choice. Put the onion in the cavity. Place the duck on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Roast in a preheated oven at 350°F for 30 minutes. Prick the skin with a meat fork all over to release the fat. Roast for 30 minutes longer. Remove the duck from the oven and press the peppercorns into the skin. Return it to the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Increase the oven heat to 500°F and continue roasting until the duck juices run pink when pierced at the thigh joint with the meat fork, about 15 minutes longer. (For well-done duck, roast for 15 to 30 minutes longer, or until the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked.) Let the duck stand for 10 minutes. To serve, cut into halves or quarters with poultry shears.

ROASTED STUFFED WILD DUCK

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Serve fresh corn bread, a puree of fresh turnips, and an orange and onion salad with a rosemary-hinted vinaigrette with this duck.

For the Stuffing

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup thinly cut celery

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 cups fresh bread crumbs (made in the blender or food processor from day-old bread)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, melted

1 large egg, slightly beaten

For the Ducks

Two 2½- to 3-pound wild ducks, liver and heart reserved

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¹
⁄
₃
cup unsalted butter, melted

¹
⁄
₃
cup red wine, Port, Marsala, or Madeira

The duck giblets

To make the stuffing: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour out half of the butter and set aside. Sauté the celery and onion in the remaining butter in the skillet until they are beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Mix the onion, parsley, thyme, and bread crumbs, with the reserved melted butter. Season with salt and pepper then mix in the egg.

To prepare the ducks: Stuff the ducks with the bread mixture, tie and truss them, and place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Rub the ducks with 2 tablespoons of butter and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Mix the melted butter and red wine together in a medium bowl. Roast the ducks in a preheated 350°F oven, basting every 10 minutes with the red wine mixture, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how well-done you like your ducks. When pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, pink juices indicate medium-rare duck and clear juices indicate well-done duck.

While the ducks are roasting, sauté the liver and heart in a small skillet with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Finely chop the liver and heart and season with salt and pepper.

Remove the ducks from the oven and transfer to a hot platter. Let stand for 10 minutes. Blend the pan juices with the giblets, and reheat until hot. To serve, split the ducks in half lengthwise with poultry shears and serve with the pan juices as a sauce.

VARIATION

SOUTHERN-FRENCH-STYLE WILD DUCK:
Sauté
1 thinly sliced yellow onion, ¾ cup finely cut celery, ¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, 10 to 20 pitted Mediterranean black olives (such as Kalamata),
and
1 minced garlic clove
in
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter.
Stir in
1 cup fresh bread crumbs,
¹
⁄
₈
cup Armagnac, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,
and
¾ teaspoon salt.
Stuff 2 ducks with this mixture, truss, and rub with butter. Roast as above, basting every few minutes with a mixture of
½ cup dry red wine
and
½ cup hot
Chicken Stock
. Split the ducks lengthwise and serve with a purée of broccoli.

ROAST HOLIDAY GOOSE WITH APPLE AND PRUNE STUFFING

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

If you cannot find a fresh goose, there are excellent frozen ones on the market. A frozen goose should be thoroughly thawed before roasting, preferably in the refrigerator, in its original wrap, which will take 1½ to 2 days. There is a great deal of fat on a goose. Therefore it should be roasted slowly and on a rack so the bird crisps while the fat drips down into the roasting pan. Reserve the fat for future cooking; it can be used for many dishes.

For the Goose Stock

One 8- to 10-pound goose, neck and giblets reserved for stock, liver reserved for another use

1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped

1 small carrot, coarsely chopped

Pinch of dried thyme

½ bay leaf

A few black peppercorns

2 tablespoons cornstarch

For the Stuffing

½ cup finely chopped yellow onion

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

5 to 6 cups fresh bread crumbs (made in a food processor from day-old bread)

2 cups peeled, cored, and chopped tart apples

1 cup pitted and chopped dried plums (prunes), steeped in hot water or Madeira until puffed

1 cup cooked peeled chestnuts or canned chestnuts

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Kosher salt

To prepare the goose stock: Remove any excess fat from the cavity of the goose. Using a heavy knife or cleaver, chop the neck into 2- to 3-inch chunks. Using poultry shears, trim off the wings tips, and snip them into 2-inch pieces.