Making dinner for the favorite people in your life is the best way to say, “I love you!” Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, here’s a menu that I’d
love
to share with you. You, in turn, can make it for those near and dear to you.
Too often, ideas for Valentine’s Day revolve around the tyranny of chocolate. For this year’s menu, I have opted to focus on the earlier courses, and will leave the decadent dessert up to you.
Recently, while I was traveling in Costa Rica, I was treated to a meal at La Oveja Negra, where they serve
bocas y tragos
—little plates of delicious food that many diners know as Spanish tapas. The local fish seviche was my favorite, and this week’s recipe for shrimp seviche is as close to what I tasted as possible.
One of my favorite entrées is duck à l’orange, from a classic recipe from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Be sure to start ahead of time so you aren’t too exhausted on the day of the dinner. Bon appetit!
(Serves 4)1 pound medium shrimp1/3 cup sea salt2 teaspoons pickling spices, tied in a cheesecloth or tea basket with a lid1 small red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and seeded1 jalapeño pepper, roasted, peeled and seededJuice of 1 to 2 limes, freshly squeezedJuice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezedPinch of sugarPinch sea salt, or more to tasteFreshly ground black pepper to tasteAbout 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oilSplash of Tabasco sauce, to taste1/2 small red onion, diced6 scallions trimmed, seeded and diced1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, or more to taste1 large tomato, cored, seeded and dicedBibb lettuce leaves for servingCorn or flour tortillas cut into triangles and baked or fried until crispTo prepare:
Add pickling spices to a large pot filled with water over high heat, and bring to a boil.
Add the shrimp and cook only until they turn pink and begin to curl, about 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and plunge the shrimp into cold running water to stop the cooking process.
Drain well and, when cool enough to handle, peel and devein. Cut the shrimp into small quarter- to half-inch pieces. Transfer to a glass bowl and set aside.
Meanwhile, roast the bell and jalapeño peppers over an open flame until charred, about 7 minutes. Place the peppers in a plastic or brown paper bag and let steam about 10 minutes. With rubber gloves, remove the stems, seeds and ribs, and then dice.
Whisk the lime and lemon juice together with sugar, salt, pepper, olive oil, and Tabasco sauce. Pour the liquid over the shrimp, add diced bell and jalapeño peppers and onion and toss well. Taste and correct the seasonings. Cover and marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Just before serving, add scallions, tomato, and cilantro. Taste and correct the seasonings.
To serve, arrange bib lettuce cups on a plate, spoon seviche with some of the marinade into the cups and serve with toasted or fried tortilla triangles.
(Serves 4)
4 navel oranges, zest peeled and cut into julienne
For brown duck sauce:
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups brown duck stock**
4½- to 5½-pound duckling (Long Island)
1 lemon cut in half
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 stalk celery, with leaves, chopped
1 onion, chopped—for the pan
2 carrots, chopped—for the pan
For the l’orange sauce:
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups duck stock (see above—make ahead of time)
2 tablespoons arrowroot
3 tablespoons port plus 1/2 cup for deglazing the pan
3 to 4 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Triple sec
Fresh lemon juice or Orange bitters—if necessary
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft
**Make brown duck stock from duck giblets one day ahead. You will need:
Oil for browning neck, gizzard, heart and duck scraps1 onion, chopped1 carrot, chopped2 cups chicken stockParsley stems1/2 bay leafpinch of thymeTo make brown duck stock:
Remove the neck, gizzard, and heart of the duck and any excess skin and fat and pat dry. Coat with oil the bottom of a saucepan over high heat.
Add excess fat and skin and render out the fat, add giblets and vegetables and brown them in the oil, about 5 to 6 minutes. Pour out the fat; add chicken stock, herbs and enough water to cover the mixture by 1 inch. Cover and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer about 60 to 90 minutes, skimming the top as necessary. Remove from the heat, strain off duck and vegetables into a gravy strainer and de-grease the sauce. Can be done a day ahead, refrigerate until ready to make the final sauce.
To prepare:
Early in the morning, peel, section and blanch orange zest; make the sauce base; and season and truss the duck.
To prepare oranges: Peel zest into strips with a vegetable peeler. Cut the strips into very thin, matchstick-like julienne.
Simmer orange peel in hot water for 15 minutes, drain well, and pat dry with paper towels.
Use a serrated knife to remove the orange sections from the membrane; place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap. and set aside.
To roast the duck:
Preheat the oven to 425. Prepare a shallow roasting pan with sliced carrot and onion and place a roasting rack over the vegetables.
Pat the duck dry with paper towels, with the cut side of a lemon rub the inside cavity, place the lemon in the neck cavity and secure the skin with a toothpick. Season the inside with salt and pepper. Scatter the sliced onion, about one third of the blanched orange peel, and chopped celery in the cavity.
Truss the duck with cotton kitchen twine, securing the legs, folding the wings back. Prick the skin around the thighs, back and lower breast. Dry the duck thoroughly with paper towels once again.
Place the duck breast side up in the pan and roast until it is light brown, for 15 minutes at 425. Reduce the heat to 350, turn the duck on its side and roast for 30 minutes. Check that the vegetables are not burning, but the duck is roasting and every now and then remove the accumulated duck fat from the bottom of the pan with a bulb baster. (Save the duck fat.)
Turn the duck on the other side and roast for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn the duck breast side up, sprinkle with sea salt and roast for 15 minutes more, or according to desired doneness. Duck tastes best when medium rare, when the juices in the thigh run faintly rosy when pricked with a two-pronged fork. Or lift the duck and see if the juices are pale rose; well-done is pale yellow juices. Count about 100 minutes for a 5½-pound duck, give or take a few minutes.
While the duck is roasting, caramelize (boil) the sugar and vinegar in a non-reactive heavy saucepan over high heat until it becomes mahogany brown syrup. Watch carefully, immediately remove the pan from the heat and add half a cup of the brown duck sauce and quickly whisk. Set back on the stove add 1½ cups brown duck sauce to the pan and bring to a simmer.
Whisk together arrowroot with three tablespoons port until the mixture is a slurry and whisk it into the simmering sauce. Cook until the sauce is lightly thickened and clear. Stir in the orange peel. Taste and correct the seasonings. Remove from heat and set aside.
When the duck is done, remove the strings and set the duck on a platter and place it back in the turned off oven with door ajar for up to 20 minutes if necessary.
Meanwhile, remove all the fat on the bottom of the pan, add port and reduce the liquid to two or three tablespoons, scraping up the bits in the bottom of the pan. Pour through a strainer over the l’orange sauce, discard the vegetables and bring the sauce to a boil.
Gradually whisk in Grand Marnier or Triple Sec, adding only enough to give it a clean orange flavor. Add lemon juice or bitters only if necessary. Swirl in the butter just before serving to finish the sauce.
Arrange fresh orange sections down the breast of the duck and place the remaining sections in a scooped out orange half as a “cup.” Drizzle a little sauce with the orange peel over the skin and serve at once.
Carve the duck at the table and pass remaining sauce on the side.
*Adapted from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I,” by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, Knopf 1966.
27east on Feb 9, 2010