This is a first for me -- publishing a blog post because I just found a great photo of George. But really, it is a helluva photo of our handsome boy. I took these photos on a late fall afternoon -- the viscous, golden light (perfect lighting for a yellow Lab) inspired me to grab my camera and capture a few shots from the Dougherty compound.
Cookery Maven Blog
Pheasant and Duck Rillettes with Pistachio and Cranberries
Rillettes is a fancy French name for a meat spread with a lot of fat......and I'm glad I've made its acquaintance. This was my first crack at pheasant rillettes and it turns out, it's super easy to put together. It's a mostly hands-off process with a little shredding, chopping, and mixing at the very end. And strangely enough, I think this will make a good BWCA lunch if I vacuum-seal it in plastic.....eating civilized food is key to my camping enjoyment.
This is a pretty rich snack and it benefits from the tempering influence of a good Dijon mustard and a cornichon. It's also a little salty when you first put everything together but once it sits and cools off in the refrigerator, its saltiness diminishes and its meaty richness comes shining through. It keeps for about 2 months in the refrigerator (with a decent amount of fat on the top to seal it) but I've heard you can freeze it for up to 6 months with success -- I'll let you know how it holds up.
Pheasant Rillettes
2 whole pheasants, backbones removed
4 duck breasts, skin-on
1/2 pound pancetta, finely chopped
2 cups sherry
1 cup butter, plus more if needed
1 cup pistachios, shelled and chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 red onion, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons orange zest
3 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced and divided
2 tablespoon kosher salt, divided
2 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper, divided
1 1/2 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced and divided
Preparation
Combine 3 tablespoons orange zest, 2 tablespoons rosemary, 1/2 tablespoons thyme, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon pepper in a small bowl and rub all over the pheasant, inside and out. Place on a sheet tray or bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for 4 - 6 hours.
Remove the fat from each duck breast, cut into small pieces, and place in a medium saucepan and add enough water to cover the duck fat pieces. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about another 30 - 45 minutes, or until the water has evaporated and the fat is rendered. If the fat need a little longer, just add a more water and continue to simmer. Once the water has evaporated, fry the skin over medium heat until it’s crispy. Remove the skin from the rendered fat and discard. Place the fat in a bowl and set aside.
In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed stockpot, melt the butter and then add the pancetta, onion, 1 teaspoon of thyme, rosemary, and garlic. Sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until onion has softened and the pancetta is golden brown. Add the sherry, pheasants, and duck breast to the stockpot and add more melted butter if the meat isn’t submerged (you want all the meat to be covered with liquid).
Simmer over medium-low heat (checking every now and then to make sure the meat is still submerged) for 4 hours. Uncover the pot for the last hour or so, to evaporate the liquid and leave you with primarily fat and meat in the pot.
Let cool and then shred all the meat and place in a bowl with the fat from the cooking pot (if there is still some non-fat liquid in the pot, you can add it if you want. Otherwise, toss it out) . Add the minced shallot, cranberries, pistachios, and remaining 1 tablespoon of rosemary, salt and pepper. Mix to thoroughly combine. Pack into jars, it'll keep in the refrigerator, covered, for 2 months.
Roasted Onions
Sometimes simple is best. These onions are incredibly easy to throw together and are the perfect accompaniment to the Porchetta Pork Chops recipe I posted a few days ago. They are surprisingly rich-tasting, given the abbreviated ingredient list, and are good at room temperature as well.
These onions are going into heavy rotation in my kitchen this holiday season. They are just hedonistic enough to hold their own but confident enough to play second fiddle to porchetta, roasted chicken, or a beef tenderloin. You could substitute shallots, if you want to get fancy!
Roasted Red Onion with Butter, Honey, and Balsamic Vinegar
4 red onions, halved
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (don’t use your expensive vinegar, grocery-store balsamic is just fine)
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
Kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine the butter, vinegar, honey, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes, until it’s reduced slightly.
Place the onions, cut-side up, on the sheet tray and brush half of the butter mixture over them. Roast for about 20 minutes and then brush the remaining butter mixture on and back for another 25 minutes, or until they are soft and caramelized.
Porchetta Pork Chops
I've just realized this is my third blog post in as many days and I bet you're wondering what on earth is going on?? My bloggery has been spotty, at best, for the last year or so but I've been stockpiling recipes and photos...and I've decided to clear the queue to make way for all the food and essays I have planned for 2018!
So today, I give you porchetta pork chops. The first meal I made for our Italian exchange student, Joele, who lived with us last year -- I figured it was a good way to welcome an Italian boy into the Dougherty clan. I love the porchetta roast from Fraboni's in Madison -- it's made the proper way with a pork belly rolled up with spices and fresh herbs. But since I didn't have a spare pork belly in the freezer, I settled on a close second -- thick-cut, bone-in chops from a butcher near Hudson, WI (thanks to our pork connection -- Eric).
Porchetta Pork Chops
8 pork chops, bone-in
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons fennel seeds
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation
In a small sauce pan over medium heat, toast the crushed red pepper and fennel seeds until fragrant (about 2 minutes) and then grind in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (except the pork chops and olive oil) and add the ground fennel and red pepper.
Cut a 1 1/2 inch slit into each pork chop about 1 teaspoon of the spice mix into each pork chop. Put the remaining spice mix on the outside of each pork chop and place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 4 - 6 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a cast iron skillet over medium-high and (in three batches) cook the pork chops about 3 minutes per side, or until browned but not cooked through. Place each completed batch of pork chops on an unlined sheet tray or large roasting pan and when you have all the chops browned, place in the oven for 7 - 10 minutes, or until the reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Let rest, uncovered, for about 5 minutes and then serve.
Clementine Olive Oil Cake
I can't believe I spent a good portion of my 48 years on this planet cardamom-free but now that we've become acquainted, it's been absolutely lovely. Between the Swedish meatballs, gingersnaps, and this clementine cake, I'm a convert this pungent and warm spice. While I'll never forget my stalwart spice companions like cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger -- I suspect cardamom will find its way into all sorts of dishes in my kitchen!
Citrus season is such a welcome part of winter. I love the abbreviated, cold, and snowy days of winter but the grocery store aisles full of oranges, lemons, clementines, and grapefruit are a bright counterpoint to our white-washed landscape. This cake has a good balance of citrusy and warm, herbaceous flavors (from the cardamom, olive oil, and rosemary) that's nice after a hearty meal like stew or an Indian curry. It keeps very well and is the perfect tea-time treat as well.
Clementine Olive Oil Cake
(inspired by Food 52's Clementine Pound Cake)
12 tablespoons butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (1 teaspoon if you're using freshly ground cardamom)
1 tablespoon clementine zest
1/3 cup fresh clementine juice
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
Glaze
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup fresh clementine juice
Preparation
Heat the oven to 350F. Butter and line a 8 inch x 3 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, olive oil and sugars together on medium speed until light and smooth, about 3 - 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium, mix in the eggs, one at a time, until completely blended.
Stir in 1 cup of the flour, followed by the salt, baking powder, vanilla, cardamom, rosemary, clementine zest and juice and combine thoroughly. Add the sour cream and the rest of the flour. Beat until the batter is smooth and consistent, but do not over-beat!
Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the edges are browned and just pulling away from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. While the cakes cooling, mix the confectioner's sugar and clementine juice together until smooth. After 10 minutes, poke holes the cake and pour the glaze over the cake and let sit for another 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan, and place on the wire rack to cool completely.
A Really Good Vegan Tomato Soup
I really like to have soup in the freezer. It's kind of like an insurance policy -- it gives me peace of mind when I'm either fresh out of ideas for lunch/dinner or I'm too lazy to get crackin' in the kitchen. And since our family includes vegetarians and dairy-free types, I figured -- why not shake it up a little and go vegan??
In this case, we had a bunch of canned tomatoes from 2016 that needed a purpose and I was hungry for a tomato soup on the lighter side.....which was the perfect starting place for a vegan soup. I've found that Indian and Thai are my go-to starting points when I'm looking for dairy-free and vegetarian meal ideas. I have a fantastic vegetarian cookbook called Heart of the Plate by Mollie Katzen and I figured she'd have a good recipe. And I was right -- seriously good tomato soup, vegan-style!
A Really Good Vegan Tomato Soup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 medium yellow or red onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 28-ounce tomatoes, crushed or diced
2 cans coconut milk
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons samba oelek (red chile paste)
2 tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
Preparation
Over medium heat, heat the coconut oil in a stock-pot and add the onions and cumin seeds. Cook until the onions are soft, about 8 - 10 minutes. Stir in the spices, ginger, garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until the spices are fragrant, and then add the water. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, sambal oelek, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine, cover the stockpot and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Very carefully add the soup in batches to a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Add the pureed soup to stockpot and add lime juice. Taste for seasoning and serve (I served it with cilantro and crumbled queso frsco but it's equally as good without cheese).
