It is fun having moved back home if for nothing other than thanksgiving.
We come from a big Irish family (both sides,) with "big" meaning (4-6 kids per family) lots of uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, in-laws, and the whole adjoining coterie spreading 3 generations.
Usually there are 30+ folks involved in a thanksgiving dinner, depending upon who can make it to town, and each person is assigned a dish or item from the matriarch, my grandma Sarah.
Obviously I, being the chef with the big fat and tenured resume, am expected to deliver in spades, which I do admittedly enjoy doing, even though every year everyone insists that I do the same dishes.
It has become a bit of a legacy over the years that I do the pre-meal courses for when people arrive. And naturally that is why a lot of people show up in the first place because my meet and greet prelims always outshine the actual dinner ...
Even though it is a pain in the ass, I do "duck four ways" because family would have it no other way.
My philosophy with food is that everything has flavor and there is never a need to waste anything. All must be used and if you are throwing anything away, you just aren't being creative or resourceful enough.
So what I do is butcher six ducks. (Good thing Duck season is the week before Thanksgiving right??)
I skin them fully and break them into parts. I save the skin and use it to make the first step in a progression of dishes.
The skin is scored and rendered in a deep pan in the oven for four hours, with ducks being so fatty produces nearly a half gallon of oil, but also produces light, crisp "cracklins" that effectively fry in it as they are baked. The cracklins are saved to be done in a corn pudding ... an extremely airy cornbread where duck fat is used in place of butter. And man with that explosion of flavor and contrast of crunch and airiness, let me tell you - THAT is some serious "south in your mouth!!!"
The other half gallon of rendered fat is used as a base for a confit from the butchered legs and wings, which will then later be used to make rillettes. The meat is poached in its own fat with tons of salt, garlic, shallots, and thyme until it flakes and feathers away from the bone, and once drained from the fat is chilled until it forms a sort of sausage/spread. The non-fat liquid that seperates from the fat, in the bottom of the confit is then used to make an ethereal aspic.
All of the organ meats are marinated in Grand Marnier and a tiny bit of allspice and clove, then poached in the liquid and pureed to form a smooth pate. The aspic from above is refrigerated in the molds and the duck pate is spooned in over it and allowed to set with a duck fat layer.
The bones, bills, feet, and head from the butchering and picked confit bones are smoked on the BBQ grill so that a stock can be made from them. The prized breast meat is also grilled and smoked.
I also have family in Oregon who never fail to secure for me the early fall prize of wild golden chanterelles ... just in time for Thanksgiving file gumbo.
The smoked duck breast, golden chantrelles, and file powder are used in a gumbo made from the smoked duck stock.
These are the things people snack on as they arrive and relax.
1.) Duck pate
2.) Duck rillettes
3.) File Duck and Chanterelles gumbo
4.) Duck cracklin corn pudding
Not a single thing is wasted. Each item is to die for.
.... and the responsibility to deliver this buffet of hors d'oevres is what makes me enjoy Thanksgiving, even if it is a pain in the ass to do.
Thanksgiving is hands down my favorite holiday. Maybe one day I'll convince my grandma to "let me handle" the entree course ....
We come from a big Irish family (both sides,) with "big" meaning (4-6 kids per family) lots of uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, in-laws, and the whole adjoining coterie spreading 3 generations.
Usually there are 30+ folks involved in a thanksgiving dinner, depending upon who can make it to town, and each person is assigned a dish or item from the matriarch, my grandma Sarah.
Obviously I, being the chef with the big fat and tenured resume, am expected to deliver in spades, which I do admittedly enjoy doing, even though every year everyone insists that I do the same dishes.
It has become a bit of a legacy over the years that I do the pre-meal courses for when people arrive. And naturally that is why a lot of people show up in the first place because my meet and greet prelims always outshine the actual dinner ...
Even though it is a pain in the ass, I do "duck four ways" because family would have it no other way.
My philosophy with food is that everything has flavor and there is never a need to waste anything. All must be used and if you are throwing anything away, you just aren't being creative or resourceful enough.
So what I do is butcher six ducks. (Good thing Duck season is the week before Thanksgiving right??)
I skin them fully and break them into parts. I save the skin and use it to make the first step in a progression of dishes.
The skin is scored and rendered in a deep pan in the oven for four hours, with ducks being so fatty produces nearly a half gallon of oil, but also produces light, crisp "cracklins" that effectively fry in it as they are baked. The cracklins are saved to be done in a corn pudding ... an extremely airy cornbread where duck fat is used in place of butter. And man with that explosion of flavor and contrast of crunch and airiness, let me tell you - THAT is some serious "south in your mouth!!!"
The other half gallon of rendered fat is used as a base for a confit from the butchered legs and wings, which will then later be used to make rillettes. The meat is poached in its own fat with tons of salt, garlic, shallots, and thyme until it flakes and feathers away from the bone, and once drained from the fat is chilled until it forms a sort of sausage/spread. The non-fat liquid that seperates from the fat, in the bottom of the confit is then used to make an ethereal aspic.
All of the organ meats are marinated in Grand Marnier and a tiny bit of allspice and clove, then poached in the liquid and pureed to form a smooth pate. The aspic from above is refrigerated in the molds and the duck pate is spooned in over it and allowed to set with a duck fat layer.
The bones, bills, feet, and head from the butchering and picked confit bones are smoked on the BBQ grill so that a stock can be made from them. The prized breast meat is also grilled and smoked.
I also have family in Oregon who never fail to secure for me the early fall prize of wild golden chanterelles ... just in time for Thanksgiving file gumbo.
The smoked duck breast, golden chantrelles, and file powder are used in a gumbo made from the smoked duck stock.
These are the things people snack on as they arrive and relax.
1.) Duck pate
2.) Duck rillettes
3.) File Duck and Chanterelles gumbo
4.) Duck cracklin corn pudding
Not a single thing is wasted. Each item is to die for.
.... and the responsibility to deliver this buffet of hors d'oevres is what makes me enjoy Thanksgiving, even if it is a pain in the ass to do.
Thanksgiving is hands down my favorite holiday. Maybe one day I'll convince my grandma to "let me handle" the entree course ....