Smoked Duck, Smoked Salmon and more....

 

  

Friday night was a fun evening of recipe development and tasting at Kris and Mark’s ----an excellent excuse for a party!   Kris had everything looking so beautiful and inviting in her newly renovated dining room, with candles lit, a fire crackling, and Ben’s art on the walls. 

Don't be put off by the length of the recipes:   we try to make use of the smoker while it is all set up.   The techniques are all very simple, and we just adorn them with a variety of rubs and sauces.  We love the Broil King Keg because it cooks so consistently.  The temperature controls are very concise and the smoker does not need a lot of tending because it is very well insulated. 

Menu

Smoked Almonds and Pecans

Smoked Salmon

Smoked Duck Legs with Sour Cherry Sauce

Grilled Fennel with Asiago

Toasted Barley/Wheat Berry Risotto with Wild Mushrooms

Caramelized Pear Upside Down Cake

Smoked Duck Legs

10 duck legs( Hill Top Acres Poultry at the St. Jacobs Farmers Market)

½ cup sherry

½ cup yellow mustard

Cherry wood chips, soaked

Rub:

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup chili powder

1/3  cup paprika

¼ cup celery salt

¼ cup garlic powder

¼ cup onion salt

¼ cup black pepper

¼ cup white pepper

1 tbsp dry mustard

1 tbsp 5-spice powder

1 tbsp dry ginger

Mop:

1 cup fruit juice. We love OASIS Berry and Pomegranate Juice

The duck legs should be prepared the night before. Then, plan on smoking the duck legs for 6-7 hours at 200⁰F.

Prepare the duck legs the night before smoking by CAREFULLY piercing the skin in several areas with a fork or sharp paring knife. This will help the fat to slowly drip away while smoking. By the end of the smoking time, the fat will have dripped away into the water pan, leaving moist succulent meat, with a crispy skin.  DO NOT PIERCE THE FLESH, as you do not want the juices to escape during cooking.

Rub the duck legs with sherry and let sit, uncovered, in a flat bottomed glass dish overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, coat the duck legs in a thin layer of yellow mustard. This will allow the rub to adhere to the duck and will help develop a zingy tasting, crispy skin. Sprinkle the rub over the mustard and let rest for ½ hour. Meanwhile prepare the smoker as outlined in PREPARING THE SMOKER.

Place duck legs skin side up on the lower rack of The Broil King Keg, over a filled water pan. Set temperature to 200⁰F, by opening upper and lower vents to 2. Adjust temperature as required. Add a handful of soaked cherry wood chips every hour for the first 4 hours of smoking. Have the fruit juice mop ready in a spray bottle. Spray duck legs liberally with the juice every hour.  Continue cooking until the internal temperature of the duck legs is  165-170⁰F.  Serve with Sour Cherry Sauce on the side.

Sour Cherry Sauce for Smoked Duck

1 ½ cups red wine

1 cup port

2 tablespoons brown sugar

 ¼” piece peeled gingerroot

3 inch-long strips of orange zest

2 teaspoons corn starch

1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar

19 ounce jar sour cherries, drained

In a medium saucepan, combine wine, port, sugar, gingerroot and orange zest, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce temperature to a lively simmer and reduce by half, about 10-15 minutes.  Scoop out the ginger and orange zest.  In a small bowl, stir together the corn starch and vinegar.  Whisk this mixture into the wine reduction and stir until slightly thickened.  Add the drained cherries and heat through.

Since we had some rub leftover, we decided to try smoking some nuts, coated with our rub.

Here is what we did:

Smoked Almonds and Pecans

Place 3 cups of raw nuts in a Ziploc bag. Add 1 tsp olive oil and shake to coat nuts. Add 1 tbsp rub and ½ tsp hot sauce. Shake. Spread on a rimmed cookie sheet and place on top rack of smoker and cook for 2 hours at 200⁰F.

Smoked Salmon

Allow 2-3 hours for drying and 2-4 hours for smoking a piece of salmon this size.

 

2 lb salmon fillet (1” thick)

Dry Brine:

1 cups brown sugar

3 tbsp coarse kosher salt

Coat salmon with a generous amount of the brine mixture and allow to rest,  skin side down in a plastic or glass container(large Ziploc bag works well) for at least 12 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Drying:

Drying is an important step in preparing the salmon for smoking. Remove salmon from brine, run under cool water to rinse off residual brine mixture and pat dry. Place skin side down on wire racks and set out in an open space(out of direct sunlight) to dry.  Circulating air really helps here, as the objective is to allow a thin whitish layer,  “the pellicle” to form.  This will take 2-3 hours.

 

Meanwhile, ensure that the smoker has been prepared as previously described with 3-4 inches of charcoal, a water pan, and have handy 3-4 handfuls of soaked cherry wood chips.

We maintained a constant temperature of 200⁰F in the smoker and smoked the salmon for 2 ½  hours. The result was moist and delicious. We served it on thin pumpernickel rounds topped with cream cheese, a slice of cucumber, chopped red onion, fresh dill and sprinkled with lemon juice. So simple and so good!!!  The salmon can be package in air tight Ziploc bags and popped into the freezer.

Toasted Barley / Wheat Berry Risotto with Wild Mushrooms

This is a Mark McEwan recipe from about 15 years ago that we have adapted to use the wild mushrooms that we gather each fall …

½ cup wheat berries, soak over night in cold water

½ cup pearl barley, toasted in a cast iron frying pan

Vegetables:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup wild mushrooms, chopped

1 small zucchini, chopped

Sprig each of fresh thyme and rosemary

Risotto:

5 cups chicken or vegetable stock, heated in a medium saucepan

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

½ Arborio

½ cup dry white wine

A few saffron threads

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

½ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Lemon zest, to garnish

Prepare grains:

Drain wheat berries and place in a large saucepan, with enough cold water to cover by 2 inches.  Bring to a boil , reduce heat and simmer over very low heat, uncovered for 1-1 ½ hours, until tender, but do not allow to split. Rinse and drain.

Meanwhile, carefully toast barley over medium heat for 8-10 minutes.

Prepare vegetables:

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil in a large sauté pan for 2 minutes. Add zucchini, mushrooms, rosemary and thyme and sauté for 4-6 minutes. Add salt and pepper and set aside.

Prepare risotto:

Heat chicken stock in a medium saucepan and simmer on medium-low on back burner.

Heat oil and butter in a large, heavy gauge saucepan. Add garlic and onion and sauté over medium heat for 2-4  minutes. Add Arborio rice and stir until coated with oil. Add toasted barley and wheat berries and stir. Pour in white wine and cook until evaporated. Increase heat to high and add one ladle full of hot chicken stock and stir continually until absorbed. Continue adding stock and stirring, one ladleful at a time, until each grain in risotto is tender, but firm to the bite. After 15 minutes, add vegetables into the risotto. In total, the risotto  should take 20 minutes.  Add parmesan cheese and garnish with lemon zest.

Grilled Fennel with Asiago

3 bulbs fennel

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup grated American Asiago cheese

Trim the fennel, and cut it into quarters.  Cut each quarter into ¼” thin slices.  Toss with olive oil, herbs and spices.

Heat a flat wok topper on the upper rack of the barbecue.  Spread the fennel slices over the hot wok topper.  Cook until browned and softened, turning occasionally, about 12 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese and heat until just melted.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Caramelized Pear Upside-Down Cake

butter all-purpose flour baking powder table salt whole milk pure vanilla extract brown sugar eggs

Shortening for greasing the pan

For the topping
2 medium firm-ripe Bosc pears
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. fresh lemon juice

¼ cup cold water

4 tablespoons coconut oilBottom of Form

For the cake
I confess.  Despite my good intentions to make a sponge cake from scratch, I cheated and tried the new Betty Crocker gluten free golden cake, and it was delicious! 

1box Betty Crocker gluten free golden cake

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x2-inch round cake pan Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment and grease the top of the paper.

Make the topping

Peel, core, and cut the pears lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the pear slices on the bottom of the pan in a circle around the edge, overlapping them slightly, with the pointed ends towards the center.

In a heavy-duty 2-quart saucepan, stir the sugar, lemon juice, and water. Brush down the sides of the pan with water to wash away any sugar crystals.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan, until the mixture starts to color around the edges, 5 to 8 minutes.

Gently swirl the pan once to even out the color and prevent the sugar from burning in isolated spots. Continue to cook until the sugar turns medium amber, about 30 seconds more.  Do not let the mixture get too dark as it will quickly become bitter tasting.

Immediately remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the 4 Tbs. of coconut oil in 4 additions, until they are completely melted. Carefully pour the hot caramel evenly over the pears (it should spread over the pears and onto the bottom of the pan).

Make the cake batter

Mix the cake according to the directions, substituting dairy free margarine for the butter.

Bake the cake

Spoon the batter in large dollops over the pears and smooth it into an even layer with an offset spatula. Bake the cake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Turn a cake plate upside down on top of the cake pan and, using pot holders, carefully invert the cake pan onto the plate.

Check in next week for our creative uses for these leftovers!