Crispy Skinned Duck Magret with Asian sauce

I love Duck, I cook it often whether a whole duck or duck breast it has such a lovely flavour and duck meat is very low in fat. Ducks have thick fatty skin a lot more than chicken or other poultry but when crisped up although naughty, it is oh so yummy. I am very fortunate as I live in Geneva very close to the French border so I can get very cheap duck magret.

You can use any duck breast for this recipe as duck magret is more expensive. Duck magret is the breast of a duck that has produced foie gras, by being force-fed unnaturally large amounts of high energy foods (mostly corn) to produce the fatty liver used to create foie gras. This tends to make the duck breasts themselves quite large, so if you are not buying magret duck make sure the breast is of good size. Duck goes well with a lot of sauces, more traditional are fruity ones like orange, fig or grape. But you can use duck in curries and stews which are great. I have posted this recipe as it is one of my son's favourites but keep checking for other duck recipes.


Marinade

2 Duck Breasts
2 Tablespoons Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
11/2 Teaspoons fresh Ginger,grated
1/4 Teaspoon 5 Spice

Sauce

Reserved Marinade
2 Tablespoons hoisin (extra)
1 Tablespoon honey (extra)
1 Teaspoon cornflour


Method

1. Combine all marinade ingredients and add duck, marinate several hours or overnight.

2. Remove duck from marinade and prick skin all over, reserve marinade for later use.
Heat fry pan add duck skin side down and cook until browned and crisp (a lot of fat will escape from duck, drain fat from pan several times while cooking skin) remove duck and place on wire rack breast side down and cook in pre-heated oven 190c for
25 Min's. Let rest for 5 Min's after cooking.

3. While duck is cooking make the sauce. Add reserved marinade, extra honey and hoisin to a saucepan bring to boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Mix cornflour with a little water add to pan and stir until mixture thickens.


Serve duck with either rice timbales or vegetables and noodles I made both so you could see what it looks like.

Serves 2

Rice Timbale Recipe

1/2 Cup white rice
20g butter
3-4 mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
1/2 small red pepper, chopped fine
2 Teaspoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1. Boil some water in a pan, add rice and boil until tender.

2. Melt butter in a fry pan, add chopped mushrooms and pepper and cook until soft. Add chopped herbs and rice and stir until heated.

3. Butter the inside of two moulds and press rice mixture into them, leave them for 5 Min's before turning out. You can also make these ahead of time and just reheat in the microwave before serving.



Vegetable Noodle Recipe

Olive oil
1 Large carrot, chopped into strips
100g Snow peas, chopped
100g Egg noodles
1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 Teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
3 Teaspoons soy sauce
11/2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoon of water


1. Cook noodles in a pan of boiling water until tender, drain and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a fry pan or wok add garlic and ginger stir fry for about 1 minute. Add carrots and cook for another minute, add sauces and water and cook for a couple of minutes more. Add snow peas and cook until vegetables are just tender.

3. Add noodles and stir until heated through.


Photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated

Lower Carb Chicken Tikka Masala with Raita

My Husband loves curries but he doesn't like meals which are high in carbohydrates, as it doesn't make him feel the best after. I have experimented with a few different ways of making curries that a lower in carbs than traditional methods. Of course there are some curries which are very yummy, that you have to pair with rice.

I am posting this recipe below for tikka Marsala on bean sprouts but bean sprouts are also ok with Tandoori and some Thai curries. You can also do curries by themselves in a bowl and don't pair with anything, whether your doing a plain curry by itself or with bean sprouts it will not not soak up the juice as much as rice. The great thing about doing it this way, is you tend not to feel so heavy afterwards. Also you can make rice for the people that want it, in my family my son love's his rice as it fills him up, so it is quite easy to throw some basmati rice on for him. If you don't want to make this a low carb dish you can make the same recipe and just pair with Basmati it is still delicious.


Tikka Ingredients

1kg Chicken fillets, sliced thinly
1 Brown onion chopped into wedges
2 Red Chillies, seeded (Reserve about a 1/4 teaspoon of seeds to add to dish)
2 Tablespoons Mild Tikka paste (I use Patak's Tikka curry paste)
2 Tablespoons Medium Tikka paste (I use Patak's Tikka Masala curry paste with coriander and lemon)
2 Tablespoons Mango chutney(I use Rajah sweet Mango chutney)
1/4 Teaspoon of chicken stock
1/4 Cup water
2 Teaspoons of lime juice
250ml Light cream
1/4 Cup chopped fresh coriander
450g Bean Sprouts


Raita

300g low-fat natural yogurt
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
2 Teaspoons mint sauce



Method

1. Heat small amount olive oil in a large frying pan or wok, cook chicken in batches until browned all over and set to one side, wipe pan clean.

2. Add a little more olive oil to pan, add onion and cook until onion softens, add chili and two pastes stir until fragrant then return the chicken to the pan.

3. Add chicken stock, water and lime juice stir until stock dissolved. Then add the mango chutney, again stir to combine.

4. Add the cream and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 Min's this is to cook chicken all the way through. Just before finishing cooking add chopped coriander.

5. While chicken is finishing off cooking, add sprouts to another pan with a little bit of oil and cook slightly to soften. They should not be cooked all the way, as they should still have a good crunch.

This is a mild curry if you want it spicier add more medium curry paste than mild and add more chili seeds.

To serve place sprouts in a bowl or on a plate and top with chicken and drizzle raita over.


Raita

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

I like to make mine before I start making the chicken tikka, as it allows the flavour of the mint to come through. You can also add cucumber seeded and chopped finely. I do add cucumber to my raita on other recipes but I prefer plain mint with this one. So make it whatever way you enjoy the most!!!

Photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated

Goats cheese stuffed chicken breast with a creamy mushroom sauce

There are many ingredients you can use to stuff chicken with and I will be posting more recipes of the different things I do with chicken over time. I am starting with this one not because it is the best but because I made it last night and was able to take a photo. I don't know about you but I always like to be able to see what a dish looks like as opposed to just reading the ingredients. This recipe used to be my son's favourite until I tried making a crab stuffing for the chicken breast, with a hollandaise sauce and that has now gone to the top of his list.

Stuffed Chicken Breast

4 chicken breasts for stuffing
5 Green onions, chopped
3 Tablespoons of chopped fresh basil
300g Creamy soft goats cheese
8 slices of Prosciutto ham

1. Pound chicken breasts with meat mallet to flatten slightly.

2. Combine basil, onions and goats cheese, mix well. Place a couple of spoonfuls of mixture in the centre of the chicken, spread out so you have the mixture running the length of the chicken top to bottom. I say a couple of spoonfuls but just divide mixture among chicken breasts adjusting for larger or smaller breasts. Each breast should have a generous amount of filling. Wrap fillet over the mixture and wrap 2 slices of prosciutto around each breast this helps to stop all the cheese from running out as it melts.

2. Pre-Heat oven to 180c and bake for 50mins.


Mushroom Sauce

60g Butter
250g Button mushrooms
1 Clove of garlic
4 Tablespoons of dry white wine
3/4 Teaspoon of whole grain mustard
21/2 Teaspoon of Dijon
3/4 Teaspoon chicken stock
3/4 Cup of cream
11/2 Tablespoon of fresh chives,chopped

1. Melt butter in pan add mushrooms and garlic, cook stirring until mushrooms are soft and slightly browned.

2. Add wine, both mustard's and stock stir until combined.

3. Add cream, simmer uncovered until sauce has thicken slightly. Stir in fresh chives and serve immediately.

To serve place chicken breast on plate pour sauce over. I serve this dish with a green salad when the weather is warm. I don't do a traditional green salad I add some bacon, avocado, cucumber and top with grated Parmesan cheese and red onion serve with a creamy white balsamic dressing. When it is cooler I serve with hot veg.

Photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated

Mustard and Herb crusted Lamb Rack

There is so much you can do with racks of lamb, have them as chops, bread them, glaze and grill them and even stuff them. That's why I like cooking them as they are so versatile, that and my husband is a lamb chop lover I think he would eat them every night if he could. Although I could cook the most extravagant recipe that most people would die for, and he would still rather have a lamb chop cooked so well done you might as well have cremated it. This recipe actually started as sage and garlic pressed into the rack and I just experimented from there. This isn't a top gourmet recipe but it is easy to do and tastes great. You will notice I've mentioned Panko flakes. I use these a lot, they are not as dense as regular breadcrumbs and make the crust far more crispy which tastes better. They are usually quite easy to find in most Asian grocery stores but if you can't get a hold of them you can just use regular breadcrumbs. I served this with parsnip mash, you can find the recipe on an earlier post under alternative mash recipes 22nd September. You can also serve a vegetable such as asparagus, I do leeks, carrots and broccoli cooked in a garlic butter which is very tasty. To finish the dish I make a red wine gravy there is a lot of flavour in the herb crust itself so you don't need a huge amount.


Lamb Rack

4 racks of lamb (4 cutlets each)
4 Teaspoons of Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons of parsley, chopped fine
1 Tablespoon Mint, chopped fine
1 Tablespoon sage, chopped fine
1 Tablespoon Thyme
11/2 Teaspoon rosemary, chopped fine
11/2 Teaspoon Tarragon, chopped fine
1/4 Cup breadcrumbs
1/3 Cup Panko Flakes (Japanese breadcrumbs)


1. Trim any excess fat off of the Lamb and set to one side.

2. Combine all the chopped herbs in a bowl with both of the bread crumbs, Take each lamb rack and spread about 1 teaspoon of mustard on each. This may be a little more or less depending on how big the individual racks are. You want enough to completely coat. Then press the herb mixture onto mustard, again coat completely.

3.Pre-heat oven to 200c. Place lamb in baking dish on a wire rack drizzle a little olive oil over racks and cook for 25-30mins. Remove lamb from oven and allow to rest for 5 mins.

The lamb will be pink inside if you prefer your lamb a little more well done just cook for longer.I like my lamb meat pink, so if the crust is not golden or crisp enough, I just turn on the grill to brown the crust off rather than cook for longer and end up with over cooked meat.

Photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated

Quick and easy Chicken Marsala with a soft creamy Polenta

Ever have one of those days where you've finished work late or your just plain tired and your thinking what on earth am I going to do for dinner. I have many recipes which I consider my last minute meal recipes, recipes that do not need much forethought or preparation, but are scrummy. Here is just one of them that is so quick and simple but the results are delicious.



Chicken Marsala

4 Chicken Breasts
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Brown onion, chopped finely
250-300g Button or brown mushrooms, sliced finely (depends on how much you like mushrooms and how much mushroom Marsala sauce you want on your chicken)
1/2 Cup Marsala
1 Cup of water
11/2 Teaspoons of chicken stock
1/4 Teaspoon of beef stock
11/2 Teaspoons of cornflour
11/2 Tablespoons of fresh chives chopped


Heat oil in a large frying pan add onion to pan and stir until soft, add the mushrooms and stir for a few minutes. At the same time in another frying pan be cooking the chicken this just has to be turned a couple of times during the cooking process and cooked until done.

2.Add Marsala wine, water and stock powder to mushrooms and bring to the boil then turn down the heat to medium. Stir a little water into the cornflour and to mixture to thicken slightly.

3 Serve chicken over soft polenta pour some sauce over the chicken and top with chives.


Soft Creamy Polenta

375g of quick cooking polenta (I buy one that is 2min cook time)
750ml of water
11/2 chicken stock powder
120g grated Parmesan cheese
120g mascarpone
60g butter
2 Tablespoons of cream

1. Bring the water and the stock to the boil in a pan. Add the polenta slowly whisking all the time while adding. When all the polenta has been added turn down the heat and stir continuously with wooden spoon until mixture is thick.

2. Add the mascarpone, Parmesan and butter stir until cheese has melted. Add the cream and salt and pepper to taste serve immediately with chicken.

Photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated

Reviews......

If nothing else, this gets 5 stars for the ease of putting together a good meal with a great presentation. But it is flavorful too! The mushroom sauce melds perfectly with the cheesy, creamy polenta and the chicken. The only change I made was to substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs because that is what I had on hand. Thank you Flying Chef for a quick meal that I would gladly serve to guests. Recipezarr member review

Steak Diane and Lobster Thermidor

These are really two main meal recipes but I was feeling totally self indulgent last night and made them both for our dinner. Usually if you were going to do a surf and turf night you would either make a sauce for the steak and then just do the lobster with drawn butter or vice versa make a sauce for the lobster and then have the steak plain or with something simple. It is a little rich having such big flavours all on the same plate although I have to say no complaints from the hubby and although I felt stuffed like a pig after, it was totally delicious. I made this just for two and as I was serving them together size portions for each weren't huge. If you make them as separate main meals as they should be, up the weight of each steak to approx 200-300g each fillet depending on guests appetites. Make sure lobster tails are of generous size or if using whole lobster one for each person. If making for more people it is quite easy, all you need to do is a steak or lobster tail per person and if for four double other ingredients below.

Steak Diane

2 Beef fillet medallions 150g each

50g Butter

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon finely chopped shallots

2 cloves garlic, crushed (I love garlic you can you less)

150g Mushrooms sliced, button or brown are fine (to make it tastier I like using some wild mushrooms chopped fine along with the sliced brown this is more expensive.)

2 Teaspoons of Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon of lemon juice

1/2 Teaspoon of beef stock

2 Tablespoons double cream

2 Tablespoons half fat cream

2 Tablespoons of Brandy

1 1/2 Teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves

1 Tablespoon each of chopped parsley and chives.

Pepper to season

1. Melt butter in a pan and saute the shallots and garlic until soft add Worcestershire and mushrooms continue to cook over medium heat until mushrooms start to soften.

2. Add the lemon juice, beef stock and brandy cook for 2-3 minutes add both the creams and thyme. You want to cook until sauce reduces slightly and thickens. if the sauce becomes to thick just add a little more of the half fat cream.

3 Finally add chopped parsley and chives.

Now you can either be cooking the steaks at the same time as making the sauce or it is fine to leave on a low heat while you cook the steaks just stir occasionally.

For the Steaks

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan until the pan is quite hot. Season steaks on both sides with salt and pepper. Place in pan sear 2-3 minutes each side. The steaks I had were approx 3/4 inch thick, for medium rare cook for a further 2-3 mins on each side.

Of course longer cooking times apply for more well done meat and it does depend on how thick the meat is.

Lobster Thermidor

2 Small lobster tails

1 lemon chopped into quarters

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 Bay leaves

A few sprigs of thyme

Sauce ingredients

30g Butter

11/2 Tablespoons of finely chopped shallots

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 cup of sherry

1/4 Teaspoon of fish stock

1/4 Cup milk

1/2 Teaspoon chicken stock

4 Tablespoons double cream

2 Tablespoons Half fat cream

2 Teaspoons of Dijon mustard

11/2 Teaspoons cornflour

1/2 Cup Gruyere cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan

1 Tablespoon each of finely chopped tarragon and parsley

1/4 Teaspoon cayenne

Breadcrumbs

To cook the lobster

Fill a pot with water. Because of using small tails I didn't need much, if making as a main meal using whole lobsters make sure there is enough water to cover them. Add lemon, white wine, bay leaves and thyme. Bring water to boil then add lobster cook for 5 mins. If using large lobster tails this will be more like 8-10 mins. Strain and place lobsters in cold iced water to stop cooking. When you cut shell you will find the meat is not cooked all the way through this is fine as it cooks off in the oven, this way the meat does not over cook and go rubbery.

When tails are cold, cut out the under shell and reserve main shell to fill with lobster meat.

If using whole lobster remove claws from lobster and cut the lobster in half lengthwise. Then remove tail meat and meat from claws, again save body shell for filling later.

To make the sauce

1. Melt butter in a pan and saute shallots and garlic until soft, add sherry cook for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile combine a small amount of water with cornflour to form a paste add and stir until sauce thickens slightly.

2. Add both chicken and fish stock, then slowly whisk in milk and both creams turn up the heat slightly so the mixture will come to a boil. Then you will want to turn it down to medium.

3. Add Dijon mustard, cayenne and cheeses reserving enough cheese to cover lobster when you put it back in the shell. Stir until all the cheese has melted then add the Parsley stir to combine and finally add the Tarragon again stir to combine.

4. Mix lobster meat with sauce, then return meat to shells making sure you stuff them full of meat pour a little sauce over top to cover then top with remaining cheese and sprinkle breadcrumbs over top.

5. Place in a pre-heated oven 180c and bake until cheese has melted and top has gone golden brown

I served this with just a green salad as there were so many flavours going on between the steak and lobster.

If making the steak as a main course by itself you can accompany it with mash and asparagus. Salad works well with the lobster if serving as a main but feel free to serve with veg and potato.

Photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated

Reviews...

Delicious and oh so easy! I cooked the steaks on the grill, but otherwise followed the recipe exact. A very flavorful sauce. We will be making this one again and again. Thanks for another keeper Flying Chef! recipezarr member review

lamb shank recipe

My husband and son love this dish as it is so tender there is almost no chewing required. One of my son's hates, especially with steak is if you have to chew the meat a thousand times before swallowing. Yes getting tender meat is in the cooking, but a lot has to do with the quality of the meat. I will always spend that little extra for the quality, as you can almost guarantee that it will cook to perfection and you will savour every bite, so for me it is worth it.

Slow roasted lamb shanks with caramelised red onion

Olive oil
4 lamb shanks 400-500g a piece
2tbls sugar
2cups (500ml) dry red wine
2cups (500ml) beef stock
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
30g butter
1 brown onion chopped finely
3 celery sticks chopped finely
2 large carrots chopped
2 tbls tomato paste
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbls cornflour
Bisto beef gravy granules

Heat oil in a pan and add lamb cook until browned all over. In a large baking dish pour a little oil and heat over medium heat add crushed garlic cook for about a min stirring constantly so garlic doesn't burn. Stir wine, sugar and stock bring to boil place lamb shanks bake in dish. for the cooking you can either heat the oven to slow 130-150 and cook for 4-41/2 hours turning meat twice during cooking, or you can cook over slow heat on the stove for the same time also turning during cooking.

Approx 1hr into cooking add rosemary,thyme and tomato paste.

Melt butter in a pan and cook onion and celery until soft. Boil or microwave chopped carrots until tender. set both of these aside to add at the end.

Once lamb is cooked remove and wrap in foil to keep warm, strain liquid to discard herbs,fat and any bits that have come off lamb. Return to pan and heat over stove. Mix cornflour with water to form a paste and add to liquid stir constantly until mixture starts to thicken and to finish it off just add a few gravy granules for extra flavour and to also thicken some more. Place lamb shanks in serving dish with carrot and celery,onion mix and pour sauce over the top.

Serves 4

Caramelised red onion

50g butter
3 medium red onions, sliced thinly
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar

Melt butter in pan and add onion stirring until onion is soft about 10-15 mins. Add sugar and vinegar and stir until mixture has caramelised about another 10-15 min. Place in serving bowl and put on table to be spooned over lamb shank.

Can serve lamb with creamy soft polenta or mash potato.

Bon Appètit

alternative mash recipes

My husband was the one who told me I should think about starting a blog. I love cooking and experimenting with food and I thought I could share some of these recipes. I have only just started, so keep checking in for new posts and I will also start uploading pictures for the recipes, as I make them. I started trying different veg as mash to lower the carbs in our meals as opposed to potato. The carbs vary and some are higher than others. It also creates great alternatives to always having boring mash all the time. One of my son's favourites is celeriac mash (celery root). Here are some I've tried.

Broccoli Mash

1kg Broccoli
4 cups chicken stock
2 cloves crushed garlic (I love garlic so I add more cloves)
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1/2 cup cream
knob of butter

1. Cut 12 flowerettes from Broccoli and save. chop the remaining broccoli with stems add to pan with stock and garlic, simmer covered, stirring occasionally, until broccoli is tender. Drain reserving a few tablespoons of liquid.
2. Blend or process chopped broccoli with reserved liquid and stock powder until smooth. Meanwhile boil or steam the remaining flowerettes until just tender. Return puree to pan add cream and butter and stir until heated through.
3. Serve topped with flowerettes.

Serves 4


Parsnip mash

6-7 good sized parsnips
20g butter
1/4 cup cream
3 tsp mild dijon mustard
milk for cooking

1. Peel and chop parsnips into small chunks. I tend to take a little of the core off as this is a little more bitter than the rest of the veg but it is not necessary. Put chopped parsnip in pan and cover with milk cook simmering until tender then drain.
2. Blend or process parsnip adding butter, mustard and cream until smooth. I have listed 1/4 cup of cream this can vary depending on size of parsnip used, so add more or less as needed. Also depending on what brand of mustard you use will depened on the quantaty you use. I buy a really good brand from france and it has a good flavour without being overpoweriing. Some dijons can be quite strong so if the brand you buy is strong I would recommend using less as this will overpower the yummy natural flavour of the parsnip.

Serves 4 large servings or 6 medium servings