Archive for December, 2021

Roast duck with mandarins and ginger

29 December 2021

After more than twenty years of celebrating Christmas at home — in Berlin, in New York, in London, once upon a time just the two of us, and now, more often than not, with our gathered families — we may finally have found a Christmas meal tradition!

I cannot remember ever making the same meal twice for Christmas day. We’ve had goose stuffed with apples and sage, ham, venison gulash, beef Wellington, even lamb shoulders. Nothing sticks.

And though we’ve experimented with all sorts, I especially like the idea of a bird. I love goose, but I am wary of the endless jugs of fat that ultimately need collecting and filtering and jarring and storing… Turkey is instantly disqualified as there was turkey for Thanksgiving, and that seems plenty ’til next year. And so duck. It seems an obvious choice, and if we’ve not had it before (or, at least, not repeatedly) it must be because it wasn’t the perfect recipe.

Finding that perfect meal for Christmas day, which comes at the tail end of a stream of feasting since October, has been tricky, when the temptation is strong to do little else but eat Stollen all day and leaf, play, and puzzle through the Christmas gifts. The day warrants something special — simple enough, but also outrageously delicious enough, to make us want to cook again. This is it!

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Roast duck with mandarins and ginger recipe, slightly adapted from David Tanis in the NY Times
Notes: This recipe has an overnight rest, but it is also possible to do everything in one go, as we did this year.
For two ducks we doubled all the ingredients except the glaze, of which we made just the amount suggested here. It was plenty.

For the duck:

One duck (approximately 2.5kg) without neck and giblets (reserve for another use)
3 Tbsps Maldon or coarse grey sea salt
1 Tbsp homemade 5-spice powder (see recipe below)
Zest from a couple of oranges or mandarins (see ingredients for the glaze)
2 whole mandarins
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp grated garlic

For the glaze

1 1/2 cups juiced oranges or mandarins (and their zest, see above)
1 Tbsps honey
3 Tbsps soy sauce
5-cm (2-inch) piece of ginger, thickly sliced
3 star anise

Pat the duck dry and remove any excess fat from the cavirty and trim a bit of the flappy neck skin. Prick the skin of the duck all over with a sharp knife tip, taking care not to poke into the flesh. (It’s not as hard as it sounds!)

Mix together the salt and 5-spice mix and use it to season the interior as well as the exterior of the duck by taking small handfulls and rubbing it all over, inside and out.

Combine the zest from the juiced oranges (or mandarins), with the grated ginger and garlic and rub this inside the duck cavity. Cut the 2 whole mandarins into quarters, and place the quarters into the duck cavity. Tie the legs together and skewer the neck flap into place (with a skewer or toothpick). Place the duck on a rack in a roasting tin breast side up and refrigerate overnight. Alternatively, continue immediately.

Preheat the oven to 220C (425F). Meanwhile make the glaze and take the duck out of the refrigerator (if applicable) to come to room temperature.

To make the glaze: Bring the orange (or mandarin) juice, honey, and soy sauce to a simmer. Add the sliced ginger and star anise and simmer gently until the mixture thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Roast the duck at 220C (425F) for 20 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 150C (300F), turn the duck over (breast side down), and roast for a further one and a half hours, turning and basting the duck every half hour. After one and a half hours, turn the duck breast side up again, paint it with the glaze and roast for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Remove the duck from the oven and let it rest, covered with aluminum foil, for about 20 minutes before carving and serving. Meanwhile pour and strain the juices from the roasting tray and reheat until piping hot to serve over the duck.

The duck goes particularly well with mashed celeriac with parsley, and a spoonful of cranberry sauce leftover from Thanksgiving.

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5-spice mix
(Yields about 3 tablespoons)

1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cloves
6 star anise
5-cm (2-inch) cinnamon stick
12 allspice berries
Grind all the spices in a spice grinder to a fine powder.
Store in a small glass jar.

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List | Tried and true gifts for the kitchen

8 December 2021

Every year I consider publishing some Christmas gift ideas — can’t resist a list! — but … I’m such a minimalist shopper that nearly all I own in the kitchen I’ve had for years, if not decades, so I’m the last person to ask about the newest gifty things and gadgets that have just come out.

Well precisely, perhaps. All of the things listed here have proven their usefulness and resistance over many many years. They are also, not incidentally, beautifully designed, and using them makes me happy every time — which is nearly every day.

Contrary to my list of coveted cookbooks, this guide features only things that I already own, that I’ve used for years and that I take pleasure in using, however mundane the task. So for a change it isn’t self serving (!), it’s intended purely as inspiration.

All of these I would give or have given or have received, I think each one makes an excellent gift (and I’d be happy to receive some of them again… Ha, self serving after all).

POTS AND PANS

LODGE cast iron skillets — I use only cast iron skillets, I don’t own any others anymore (except a specific crêpe pan) and I’ve never missed them. There are other beautiful brands but I love the simple ‘undesigned’ Lodge look. It’s a classic brand and very reasonably priced. Our little nestled collection of four is used daily and serves our every need — we have a 12 inch, 8 inch, 6.5 inch, and 5 inch skillet.

Le Creuset enamelled cast iron pots — It’s a little unfair to start by saying that I’ve secretly coveted a large Staub cocotte for years… BUT Le Creuset is an indispensable part of our kitchen. We have one basic 4.2l round casserole, a large 7.5l oval casserole great for slow braising lamb and pork shoulders, and a shallow 3.5l casserole that is super useful for vegetables.

KNIVES

An amazing Japanese knife that is only taken out a few times a year to cut steak tartare, smoked salmon, or raw fish for sushi or poke bowls is completely worth it and a stellar present. (With a specific mention for the excellent shop that is Kitchen Provisions.)

But so are these (much more everyday) Opinel knives. They fold up completely and can be used at home as well as for picnics. They are indispensable and ubiquitous in every French household, and everyone has a preferred size. I love the smaller blades (no.06) for everyday picnic use, but I am also pretty smug about my enormous fairy-tale ogre’s no12 knife. Most people like the more standard no8. The knives all come in a choice of stainless steel (easy maintenance) or carbon steel (sharper), and different types of wood.

TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES

The Classic Swiss vegetable peeler may look unremarkable and even a bit uncomfortable with its sharp-edged metal handle, but these are hands down my favourite peelers. The blades are sharp and have the right angle, the handle is easy to hold, they just work the best. And personally I think they look nicer than other more ergonomically designed ones.

Mason Cash original white pudding basins — These are mixing and serving bowls rolled into one. They may not be the most resistant and durable of available kitchen bowls (I have a few metal ones too), but they are so useful and versatile, and tactile. I use them to mix bread dough, cake batter, to serve salads, and as chips bowls for apéro!

TABLEWARE

Sturdy Duralex glasses used in school cantines (and many other places) all over France for decades have now become ubiquitous elsewhere. My favourite style is the Provence tumbler (160ml / pictured above). It is harder to find than other designs but I think it’s more elegant, and suits well for a glass of wine.

Falcon tumblers — All Falcon enamelware is lovely and classic and covetable, but I am especially partial to these tumblers which we’ve been using assiduously this past year as our favourite picnic (wine) glasses.

Shanagarry Egg cups — The children gave us these beautiful eggcups for Christmas last year and I’ve only just realised they are a classic design by Stephen Pearce from the Shanagarry Pottery in County Cork, Ireland. This ignorance didn’t preclude them from becoming the only egg cups we grab in the morning, and we really do use them every single day at breakfast. I love them very much.

Ok, I can’t resist, here is ONE thing I don’t own that I would love to have one day… because anyone who has come to our house can tell you that while we are decently adept in the coffee department, our tea selection/equipment/paraphernalia is deplorable. And we’ve lived in London for eight. years. already.

Happy gifting shopping!

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