Duck, Duck...

Goose!  Ron and I got our hands on 4 goose breasts from one of my mom's coworkers who shot them himself (thanks Rudy!).  They've been sitting in the freezer for a little while now because I had no idea what to do with them.  They're skinless so I worried they would dry out - especially after I asked one of the chefs that I work what'd he do with them and he replied "throw them in the trash".  Well you know what?  He was wrong...oh so wrong. 

I started by splitting one breast and rubbing both halves with olive oil and seasoning them with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme.

Next I started a side of lentils with mushrooms and turnip greens (inspired by this recipe over at Cooking Books - luckily there are leftovers that I can top with a poached egg!).  I put some french lentils in boiling water with a bay leaf, salt, pepper and a couple of crushed garlic cloves.  They took about a half an hour.  While they were boiling I sauteed some garlic and mushrooms, after a few minutes I added a quarter cup or so of red wine.  Once the wine boiled out I added some turnip greens, balsamic vinegar and seasoned to taste.  While the greens wilted I started the duck. 

I cooked the goose 4 minutes per side.  When it had just about 30 seconds left in the pan I added about a quarter cup balsamic.  The vinegar quickly got syrupy and sweet, I coated the goose in it and then took it out to rest before slicing it on a bias.  

 

I tossed the cooked lentils into the pan with the greens and mushrooms and served up this:

Oh it was good.  The goose was perfectly cooked and the lentils were really good.  I'm looking forward to using the other three breasts in my freezer!  Goose prosciutto perhaps?

Orange Madeleines

I'm searching for recipes with orange in them. My sister sent Ron really great florida oranges for Christmas and we've eaten a bunch but still have a few hanging out in the fridge and they're not going to last much longer. I'd hate to waste them! This madeleine recipe uses the orange zest in the batter and the juice in the glaze. I found this recipe over at the Technicolor Kitchen - it calls for poppy seeds which I didn't have but I'm sure would be delicious.

You start by making the super simple batter, letting it sit for 30 minutes in the fridge then pouring a heaping tablespoon into each mold of your madeleine pan. My pan is from Fante's in the Italian Market, a really fabulous kitchen supply store. It's so packed with great stuff, I could wander around there for hours. You can order off their website too so check it out.



After you pour the batter, put the pan in a preheated 400° oven for 8-10 minutes. When madeleines are golden and poofed up take them out and let the them cool on a wire rack. They should look like this:



Make the glaze using confectioners sugar, fresh orange juice and a bit of the zest. Dip the cooled madeleines in the glaze and let them cool before storing or...eat them immediately! These little cakes are going to be really good with coffee in the morning.



Check out my new red apron! Well, it's new to me but definitely far from brand new. My mother found four of them in my Babcia's house (that's grandma for all you non-polish people out there) in four different colors and gave them to my sister and I for christmas (my mom and aunt got the other two). They're homemade and very vintagey cool - the only problem is that I'm afraid to wear it because I don't want to get it dirty! Sort of defeats the purpose of an apron, huh?

Butternut Squash, Red Wine and Onion Panade

I've been meaning to blog about this recipe for forever.  I made it when my mother was visiting from Long Island.  I'd had all of the ingredients and needed something to do while I was waiting for her to get in!  My mom and I couldn't stop picking at it and I brought it for lunch all week long, every time I finished a serving it made me a little bit sad.  That means it's really good!  Butternut squash isn't quite as easy to find in the store as it was a few months ago - but if you find one, make this immediately.  

The only true definition of "panade" that I can find is this:

panada; panade

1. A thick paste made by mixing bread crumbs, flour, rice, etc. with water, milk, stock, butter or sometimes egg yolks. It's used to bind meatballs, fish cakes, forcemeats and quenelles. 2. A sweet or savory soup made with bread crumbs and various other ingredients. It may be strained before serving.

BUT all the recipes I found involve day old bread, broth, cheese and vegetables.  Now doesn't that sounds better than something that binds forcemeat (eww)?  Molly from Orangette (read her blog - it's seriously awesome) calls her Chard, Onion and Gruyere Panade (next on my panades to make list) a "velvety, voluptuous casserole with a base of soggy bread and stewed onions".  I much prefer this definition because that is exactly what this is:

Another recipe that I don't really understand.  Why is this soggy bread good?  What doesn't it make me gag like a soggy sandwich would?  Oh it doesn't, it doesn't at all.  

I got this recipe from another inspiring food blog The Wednesday Chef.  Tons of stewed onions, red wine, really good day old bread, chicken stock, thyme, parm and gruyere - how could that be bad?  Cheesy, winy, carby goodness.