Signature Duck Confit

Hudson Valley Duck Legs

200g Salt
25g sugar
10g allspice
8g thyme
5g fresh garlic
2g chili powder
2g star anise
1g rosemary
1g bay leaves
1g black peppercorns
1g coriander seeds
0.1 orange zest


Add some salt to a spice grinder along with the all spice, thyme star anise, rosemary, bay, peppercorns and coriander seeds and mix under powdered.

Coat duck legs all over with spice mixture making sure to get under the skin of the duck so the spice mix is in contact with the meat as well as skin.

Let cure for about 6 hours.

 

Rinse duck thoroughly and vacuum seal.

 

Cook sous vide at 140F \ 60C for 48 hours.

Take duck out of bag reserving the fat and pat dry.
Add 1 tsp duck fat to skillet and sear duck skin side down until nice and crisp. 2-3 minutes

This will be the best duck you've ever had! Zeeman approved!

 

Forbidden Caramel

Forbidden Caramel

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup Forbidden Secret cream liquor

pinch table salt

4 Tbs cold unsalted butter

1 Tbs instant espresso powder

3 Tbs Forbidden Secret

If you don’t own a candy or instant read thermometer follow the time approximations and watch the color of the sugar syrup; it should be a deep amber color before the cream is added.

1. Bring water and sugar to boil in a pot. Insert candy thermometer- boil until syrup is 300 degrees and looks thick and straw-colored about 15 minutes

2. Cook on medium heat until sugar is 350 degrees and looks deep amber and begins to smoke about 5 minutes longer

3. Bring cream, forbidden secret, and salt to simmer in small saucepan over high heat - (this should start to simmer about the same time the sugar reaches 350 – this will prevent clumping)

4. Remove syrup from heat and pour 1/4 of hot cream into sugar syrup - let bubbling subside

5. Add the remaining cream - let bubbling subside and whisk until smooth

6. Whisk in butter

7. Whisk instant espresso and forbidden secret into finished sauce.

Let cool until warm - serve.

Adult forbidden pudding

I was given some forbidden secret whiskey cream liqueur to test - this is my first recipie.
http://www.capital-brands.com/our-brands/forbidden-secret/

Forbidden Pudding
1 package powdered mousse or pudding
1\2 cup milk
1 1/4 cup forbidden liquor
Blend for 5 minutes and put into glasses - this can make 4-6 servings depending on how you want to portion it. 

Forbidden whipped cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1\4 cup forbidden liquor
Whip cream until soft peaks
Add liquor and wipe until medium peaks

After the mousse has set (about 30 minutes) top with the Forbidden whipped cream - garnish with shaved chocolate

Ultimate Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

Dough

• 3/4 cup whole milk, heated to 110 degrees
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened

Filling

• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Glaze

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Instructions

1. For the dough: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, shut off. Line 13- by 9-inch baking pan with foil, allowing excess foil to hang over pan edges. Grease foil and medium bowl.

2. Whisk milk and yeast in liquid measuring cup until yeast dissolves, then whisk in eggs. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt until combined. With mixer on low, add warm milk mixture in steady stream and mix until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and add butter, one piece at a time, until incorporated. Continue to mix until dough is smooth and comes away from sides of bowl, about 10 minutes. Turn dough out onto clean surface and knead to form a smooth, round ball. Transfer dough to prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in warm oven. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours

Note - If the dough is still wet and sticky, add up to ¼ cup flour (a tablespoon at a time) until the dough releases from the bowl.

3. For the filling: Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Following photos 1 and 2 in the related step-by-step, roll dough into 18-inch square, spread with butter, and sprinkle evenly with filling. Starting with the edge nearest you, roll dough into tight cylinder, pinch lightly to seal seam, and, following photo 3, cut into 8 pieces. Transfer pieces, cut-side up, to prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4. For the glaze and to bake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar in medium bowl until smooth. Discard plastic wrap and bake buns until deep golden brown and filling is melted, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and top buns with ½ cup glaze; cool 30 minutes. Using foil overhang, lift buns from pan and top with remaining glaze. Serve.

Make Ahead: After transferring pieces to prepared pan in step 3, buns can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 24 hours. When ready to bake, let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Remove plastic wrap and continue with step 4 as directed.

Assembling Cinnamon Buns

1. Roll the dough into an 18-inch square on a lightly floured work surface.

2. Leaving a ½-inch border around edges, spread the softened butter over the dough, sprinkle with the sugar mixture, and lightly press the sugar mixture into the dough.

3. Use a knife (or metal dough scraper) to cut the rolled log in half and then into 8 equal pieces.

Butter Roasted Oysters

This is a recipe Chef Michel Nischand did at the ICAP NY Culinary Experiance. The quality of this dish likst most others is determined by the quality of your ingredients so use fresh oysters and good wine, vinegar, and butter

1/3 cup drinking quality white wine

1/4 cup good quality white wine vinegar

1 shallot thinly sliced, plus 24 thin shallot slices for garnish (about 4 shallots)

1/4 tsp whole black peppercorn

1/2 bay leaf

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into pieces

salt and pepper

4 cups of rock salt

2 dozen raw oysters, shucked and left on the half shell

1 tbs chopped fresh thyme

Procedure

1. Position the broiler rack as close as possible to the source of the heat. Preheat the broiler.

2. Heat the wine, vinegar, sliced shallot, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a small sauce pan over medium - high heat to a full simmer. Reduce the head and cook for 8 - 10 minute or until most of the liquid has evaporated and what’s left is the consistency of maple syrup.

3. With the heat on low, whisk in the butter, a few pieces at a time until all is incorporated. Do not add another piece of butter until the previous one is incorporated. Do not raise the heat. The sauce could break if it gets to hot. Do this all very slowly as you are making an emulsion here, basically a beurre blanc sauce.

4. Strain the sauce though a fine-mesh sieve. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside, covered, to keep warm.

5. Spread the rock salt in a single layer in a shallow baking pan that can fit under the broiler, such as a baking sheet or jellyroll pan. the salt will help the oysters stay level when you broil them.

6. Arrange the oysters, still in their bottom shells, on the salt, make sure they remain as level as possible.

7. Set a shallot slice over the top of each oyster. spoon the butter sauce over each oyster.

Cauliflower Pizza

1 cup of riced cauliflower

1 cup cheese – cheddar parmesan mozzarella or any combo

1 large egg (or two egg whites)

Zeesonings (salt, pepper, fresh and\or powdered garlic, oregano, parsley, onion powder, red pepper flake, whatever YOU like!)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pizza Toppings

More good quality extra virgin olive oil

Make the Crust

Pre-Heat oven to 450

To rice the cauliflower you can use a cheese grater or food processor to turn the raw cauliflower into very small pieces. You can even user a ricer or if your feeling ambitious use a santoku or chefs knife. If using a food processor pulse until it looks like small rice grains or cous cous. DO NOT OVERPROCESS or you will be making cauliflower puree.

Measure out 1 cup and put in microwave safe bowl uncovered on high heat for 6 minutes.

Combine cooked cauliflower with cheese, egg, and zeesonings, a form a pizza crust on a silpat or foil lined baking sheet. Pour good quality extra virgin olive oil over the crust to help it turn golden brown and delicious (GBD)

Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until GBD

Make the pizza

Remove pizza crust from oven, top with your homemade pizza sauce – cheese any toppings you like. This particular pizza had artichoke, cheddar cheese, garlic scapes, and mozzarella cheese.

Bake in over for another 10 minutes – take out and enjoy!!!

pressure cooked lentals

No pix but I am writing this one down for my girlfriend who loved it so much she wanted me to make it for her to eat every week. There was no recipe I did not measure anything other then the lentils and water for the correct ratio. Why don’t I update my blog very much? Because if I did most of my posts would be like this 


1.5 cups lentils
4.5 cups water
2 onions
bulb of garlic
2 bay leaf
1 ghost chili
beef stock - about 2 tbs (this is my salt)
a big handful of mixed heirloom sweet cherry tomatoes
garlic scapes
1\8 cup porcini mushroom powder
morel mushrooms

throw everything in the pressure cooker for 12 minutes on high release using the natural method. season to taste (girlfriend likes more salt)

Pretzel Rolls

Sorry blog I have been neglecting you.. I have been so busy cooking and visiting the farmers markets and loving my girlfriend I haven't had time to type out everything I have made a lot of great stuff. Anyway These are Pretzel rolls.

637 grams bread flour (I used king arthur)

212 grams AP flour

555 grams filtered water

10 grams sea salt

9 grams instant aka rapid rise yeast

18 grams unsalted butter

25 grams sugar

75 grams food grade lye

2500 grams water

coarse salt

mix bread flour, flour, water, sea salt, yeast butter and sugar in a stand mixer on low speed for 3 minutes then high speed for 8 minutes, or until the dough is nice and smooth. Weigh the pieces into even pieces (i did 100 grams and it was not even). Shape into rolls and proof on a lightly floured board at 75 degrees under a sheet of plastic wrap for about 30 mins. Meanwhile mix the lye and water in a bowl and preheat the oven to 435. After the dough has proofed but in the freezer to firm up before a quick dip in the bath. Dip the rolls in the lye bath, put on parchment paper, salt and bake 18 minutes.. enjoy!

De Canard Au vin (Duck braised in red wine)

So after a fun day at the farmers market, I was inspired to do my take on the french co co vin where a chicken is braised in red wine. Here is my De Canard Au vin.

4 duck legs
olive oil, salt & pepper

finely diced pancetta

About 3 cups of shallots peeled, ends cut
A dozen baby carrots diced
6 birds eye green thai chillis stem end cut off
a few whole cloves of peeled garlic
a cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
3 whole cloves
Fresh sprigs thyme, rosemary, and oregano
1/8 cup pomegranate molasses
¼ cup dried cranberries
1/8 cup goji berries
couple pieces of lemongrass (just cuz I had it)
2 cups of dry red wine
1 ½ cups chicken stock

1 oz dark chocolate

dry and season the duck then coat in flour
heat olive oil in large dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering
brown duck pieces skin side down about 5 mins turn and cook other side for a minute or two
remove duck to a plate and reserve
add pancetta and cook until golden brown
add shallots, garlic, carrots, and birds eye chilli and cook about 4 minutes stirring it
add in zeesonings and wine
bring to boil (BTB) add duck and reduce to simmer (RTS) cook uncovered for 25 minutes
add stock - BTB RTS

cover and cook about 90 minutes tossing duck 1/2 way thru 

remove duck and put in a bowl
heat sauce over low heat and whisk in chocolate until melted, add duck, stir and server yummy!

Pasta Caprese with rosemary olive bread

Pasta Caprese

1/4 cup super good quality extra virgin olive oil
3 Tsp   fresh lemon juice
a couple garlic cloves pressed through a garlic press
1 small shallot , minced fine
very small amount of fresh rosemary minced fine
1.5 lbs fresh ripe tomatoes cored seeded and sliced
12ounces fresh buffalos milk mozzarella cheese cut into cubes
1 pound good quality pasta
1/4cup chopped fresh basil

Mix EVOO, lemon juice, garlic, shallot and rosemary together, then toss with the tomatoes and mozzarella. Let marinade for about 30 minutes. While marinating make the pasta, cook to al dente. Drain and toss with the tomato\cheese mixture. Finish with the fresh basil and enjoy!

Spicy marinated wild salmon over spinach basmati rice

Basmati Rice

1 cup basmati rice washed and rinsed well (I used brown)

2 Tbs olive oil (you can use ghee or butter)

1 tbs panch phoran

Couple coriander seeds

1 Spring onion finely shopped along with the top green part also finely chopped

Garlic scapes finely chopped

A couple thai chilies

2 cups of spinach washed drained dried and coarsely chopped

1.5 cups water or stock

Start by heating a saucepan with until shimmering, then add the spices and let toast and pop for about 45 seconds always stirring. Add the spring onion and sweat for a couple minutes, then half the garlic scapes and half the thai chilies and sauté. Add 1\3 of the spinach and cook down, add 1\3 more and cook, then add the rest of the spinach and cook until the whole mixture is soft and a nice honey brown. At this point add the rice and water, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover for about 30 minutes or until almost al dente, at this point add the rest of the chili and garlic scapes, stir and finish the rice. Taste for seasoning.

 Turmeric marinated salmon

1 Tbs ground turmeric

Awesome piece of new Zealand king salmon

1 tbs olive oil

Rub the turmeric over the salmon mainly the skinless side, cover and refrigerate anywhere from 45 minutes to overnight.

Heat olive oil in nonstick skillet until smoking. The second it starts to smoke put the salmon on skin side down and cook for a few minutes, flip over and cook on all sides until done the way you like. I like my salmon medium rare.

Topping for salmon

a bunch of thai chilies depending on how hot you want it

1\2 cup of basil finely chopped

Red and green chili

Honestly this was almost a month ago and I really don’t go by any real recipe so your guess is as good as mine what was in this.. There is defiantly the basil and thai chilies and red chilies and my special chili paste looks like garlic scapes and maybe other stuff.

To plate put the rice on the bottom, then the salmon and top it with the herb mixture and make devil horns.. Rock on

Veggy stir fry with tofu

1 brick extra firm tofu – marinated overnight in your favorite marinate

Sweet potato  peeled and chopped

Onion sliced

Spring garlic – separated into scapes and baby cloves

Mushrooms – washed at the last second

Head of broccoli separated into peeled stems and flowerets

 Start by heating the wok and seasoning it with veg oil…. Rub off all the oil and add some canola oil and throw in the sweet potatoes until edges start to color a bit. Add salt pepper and garlic scapes and toss a few more minutes. Now try to push all the stuff in the wok aside and put the tofu in the center of the wok and try to brown a bit.  Now add mushrooms season and stir a few more minutes, then the broccoli stems  and half the onions, the baby garlic cloves and stir fry a bit more. Finally add the rest of the onions the and the broccoli flowerets. Finish by tossing in some of the reserved marinade and season appropriately.. enjoy!

Farmers market dinner

Sauteed scapes with spring garlic, roasted Tomato, and pickled onion

Baby spinach salad with sunflower shoots and portabella mushrooms & pickled onions tossed with shredded feta cheese & balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Roasted chicken stuffed with sauteed scallions, parsley spring garlic.

(Not in picture but also enjoyed - rustic sourdough rolls and an assortment of homemade chocolates)

What a great day to kick off the outdoor farmers market season! There were so many goodies to be tasted and purchased and of course talking to the local farmers and vendors! At the market I picked up some fresh sunflower shoots from little seed gardens as well as some baby spinach. Another farmer had spring garlic, as well as these baby shallots and some yummy red onions. There was a Greek guy selling EVOO but I have so much olive oil already, his Greek oregano caught my nose and smelled so good I bought a baggie of that. On my way out by I found real fresh chickens slaughtered less than 24 hours ago, what a score I never got to cook with such fresh chicken before USDA says they must be frozen within 24 hours so almost all chicken has been previously frozen at least once.

Chicken
While the bread was rising I prepped the chicken, first by brining it for a few hours in a solution of hot sauce, sugar, and tons of salt. While the chicken was brining I sautéed in olive oil some of the local shallots, spring garlic, salt, cumin, quite a bit of that greek oregano, and some parsley. After it was cooked up I added more parsley some basil and set it aside to cool. After a few hours I took the chicken out of the brine and put it on a wire rack, loosened as much of the skin as I could, and stuffed it padded it dry I wanted the skin as dry as possible to get it nice and crispy, I also lightly seasoned the outside of the chicken. Once ready to cook put in a 425 degree oven for 20 mins, then turn breast side up and cook at 350 for about 2 hours until done (165ish) 90 minutes into baking I took the chicken out, basted it and poured some olive oil over the skin J

Baby Spinach salad

This local salad just had sunflower shoots, baby spinach, a sliced portabella mushroom with some shredded feta cheese. I made a dressing using Italian evoo and balsamic vinegar, some of the spring garlic, Cajun mustard, greek oregano, feta cheese (yes), salt and pepper. I wanted some color in the dish so I pickled a red onion in a simple pickling solution for a couple hours. Right before serving the whole thing gets tossed together and mmmmmmmmmm good!

Canadian Lake Wild Rice

So finally I can take a break from work to have some fun... cooking, It is so hard to make time to cook and take pictures and then write about it, forget a recipie. I had no food in the house really so I cooked up some rice, well technically its not a rice, but a wild grass. Anyway 1 part rice\grass to 3 parts water. I used some homemade chicken stock. Started by sautéing onions garlic then after rinsing the rice I added it to the saucepan, I actually deglazed with some leftover marsala wine, then added stock (sneak in porcini powder) . Bring to boil, reduce to simmer cover and cook for 30 mins. After 30 minutes I added some black garlic and parsley and more onions and cooked until al dente. Then a little more parsley and onions and done.

Fiddleheads

 
Surely spring is here when the fiddlehead season is coming to a close. These yummy veg are around only for a few weeks and unfurl to become ferns! Anyway a good quick sear is all they really need you want them al dente. Here I seasoned with olive oil salt pepper and some spices..

First hot chili sauce

Zeemans hot sauce... Take one

Okay so to test out a chili sauce instead of paste this time I used quite a bit more vinegar and added water and a little franks red hot sauce. I’d say 1 part apple cider .5 white .5 water. This was the liquid base in my small stock pot to which I added some peppers, dried aged cayenne, a couple hot Mexican piquin, and a single chipotle. Also some garlic powder Bring the whole thing to a boil and let sit covered for a while. A few hours in I put it in my food processor to break it up a bit and taste... needed something so I added a bit of franks red hot sauce for the saltyness and flavor and a couple Thai chilies... maybe a bit more water bring to simmmer turn off and let sit a while more. Tasted, added sea salt threw in my blender and let liquefy for a few minutes. Tasted again, its amazing. maybe a bit of black pepper not sure yet but wow very good..


Edit I did add very finely ground black pepper brought it back to a boil added a dash of this special sherry sauce. Blended a final time and bottled

King Salmon on Israeli cous cous salad with chermoula

Cous Cous Salad
1/2 cup Israeli Pearl Cous Cous
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbs EVOO
1 Shallot finley diced
1 garlic clove finley diced
2 Tbs Chopped Parsley
12 sprigs Cilantro
Zest, Segments and juice from one orange and one lemon
16 Toasted chopped Almonds
Salt & pepper

Chermoula
1/2 Tsp Coriander Seeds
12 Black Peppercorns
1/2 Tsp Red pepper flakes
a pinch of saffron threads crumbled
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp paprika
1 medium red onion finly diced
juice of 2 lemons
2 tbs evoo
2 tbs chopped cilantro
2 finely minced garlic cloves

Pound of Salmon skin on dried and seasoned cut into bit size chunks

Method
Saute garlic and shallot in evoo in a medium sacepan for a minute, then add cous cous to toast. finish cooking cous cous according to manufactures instructions.
Add herbs, citrus, and almonds and set aside.
Pan fry salmon skin side down

Plate the cous cous salad and rest the salmon on top of the salad. Dress the plate with the chermoula & serve..