Magret de Canard au Porto (Seared Magret of Duck in a Sweet Port Sauce)

Paris in a Basket Markets - The Food and the People by Nicolle Aimee Meyer & Amanda Pilar Smith
Cookbook 41, Recipe 1 (total 84)

There is a farmer at the Farmers Market who will butcher a duck for you with a day's notice. The Saturday before last I stopped by their stall and ordered one for the next week. When I went to pick it up this past Saturday and told the son (about 11 years old) I was there to pick up my duck - he responded with "quack quack quack I like to make duck noises". There's a reason I like ordering duck from them.

A recipe for next week requires a 5 day brining of duck legs, I started that brine today and had the rest of the duck left to work with. This recipe uses up the breasts so I'm now left with skin to render the fat from and bones to make a stock with. Wee Hoo!

Did I like it? Absolutely Delicious! Tender and Crispy! One of the best duck breast entrees I've ever eaten and it's soo easy! I'll try to tone down the !'s now.

Recipe: Simmer 1/4 cup port with 1/4 cup golden raisins for 10 minutes. Heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan over high heat. Add two duck breasts (with the skin scored) skin side down and don't move them for 8 minutes. Baste with rendered fat from time to time and spoon off the excess into a bowl as they cook. Flip and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Remove to foil and season with salt and pepper. Add 8 thin apple slices to the pan and cook for 30 seconds on each side - remove to two plates. Deglaze the pan with 3/4 cup port and bring to a boil. Add the reserved port/raisin mixture and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the duck from the foil and cut into slices and place on the sliced apples. Spoon some port sauce on top and serve with mashed potatoes. YUM!

Squash and Spinach Roll

The Squash Celebrated In Recipes From Ancient Times To The Present by Arneo Nizzoli
Cookbook 40, Recipe 2 (Total 83)

I love butternut squash ravioli if it isn't made with brown sugar. Squash is usually sweet enough on it's own and it's so disappointing to order a squash dish in a restaurant only to find it tastes of brown sugar with a hint of squash. I'm always on the look out for pasta squash dishes without brown sugar or amaretto cookies.

Did I like it? The lemon zest made this dish bright and happy. The fact that it happened to taste good with my wine made it all the better. I would like to try two variations on this dish: combine both fillings and serve as a ravioli; try it with a different pasta dough and see how it affects the delicacy of the roll. Happy lesson today: Squash + lemon zest = delicious.

Recipe: Dough: Place 1.5 cups of flour on the counter, sprinkle some salt over it, make a well and add 1 egg and 1.5 T milk - mix with a fork and form into a dough. Refrigerate until ready to roll out.
Squash filling: Combine 250g of the cooked squash, zest of one lemon, 2 T grated Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
Spinach filling: Melt 1.5 T butter in a pan and add 5oz chopped spinach - cook until wilted. Place in a bowl and add 150g ricotta cheese, 2 T grated Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble: Run a kitchen towel under cold water and ring out. Roll the dough out into a length that will fit into your largest pot of boiling water (my roll just squeaked by so I made a note to pay attention to that). Top with squash and then top with spinach - avoiding the edges. Roll up the pasta and roll the pasta roll in the damp kitchen towel. Secure the ends with (unflavored) floss and boil in salted water for 18 minutes. Refrigerate. Cut into 1/2 slices, brush with browned sage butter, top with grated Parmesan cheese and broil until bubbling and just slightly browned.

Squash Molds with Star Aniseed Custard

The Squash Celebrated In Recipes From Ancient Times To The Present by Arneo Nizzoli
Cookbook 40, Recipe 1 (Total 82)

I have been wanting to cook out of this cookbook since Ma purchased it for me about a year ago from Half Price.

Did I like it? I'm sad to report a complete and abject failure! It seems I can not make custard. If you've been following this blog you will know that my only other complete failure was the Norwegian Lemon Custard. When it comes to cream puff and custard - I just don't have the skills.

Original Recipe: Do not try this - It completely failed.

What do you do with a bunch of runny "Squash Molds" (which are really baked custard) and more runny "Star Aniseed Custard". Make a cocktail and call it a day! After tossing out three attempts with rum, I switched to gin and found a winning match.

Recipe: 1 Part Aviator Gin, 2 Parts runny Star Aniseed Custard and 5 parts runny squash mold. Shake with ice and serve.

Plum Cake "Tatin"

Barefoot in Paris Easy French Food You Can Make at Home by Ina Garten
Cookbook 39, Recipe 2 (Total 81)

Again, the farmers market dictates what I cook. Bob Bluebird Orchard is my favorite apple vendor at the market. They also dabble in plums and pears. I picked up some small deep blue plums that were absolutely the best plums I've ever eaten (I'm not generally a plum fan).

Thanks Ma for this cookbook~

Did I like it? One of the best desserts I've eaten in a while! Delicious! I was planning on making another this afternoon after visiting the market - unfortunately the season is over.

Recipe: Butter a pie pan and arrange 12 halved plums on the bottom cut side down. Combine 1 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup water in a pan and boil until it turns golden or reaches 360 degrees (do not stir after it reaches a boil). Pour over the plums. Beat 6T butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs at room temperature, one at a time. Gently mix in 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/2 tsp lemon zest and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Sift 1 cup+2T flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt together and mix into the butter mixture. Spread over the plums and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Provencal Vegetable Soup (Soupe Au Pistou)

Barefoot in Paris Easy French Food You Can Make at Home by Ina Garten
Cookbook 39, Recipe 1 (Total 80)

This past weeks posting are delayed due to a busy week. Hopefully it won't become a habit - I try to post the same day I cook.

After bringing our farmers market haul home last Saturday I looked through the remaining cookbooks to find one that would use more than one vegetable. This recipe used up five! I ate this for dinner on Sunday, lunch on Monday, dinner on Monday, lunch on Tuesday and then tossed the remaining out - I recommend making half or a fourth of the recipe.

Did I like it? If consumed within the first two hours it's great. The noodles got bloated after that and it's not as pleasant. Homemade chicken stock will make or break this recipe.

Recipe: Heat 2T of oil in a large pot and add 2 cups chopped onion and cook over low heat until translucent. Turn the heat up to medium and add 2 cups chopped leeks, 3 cups chopped potatoes, 3 cups chopped carrots, 1.5 T kosher salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes and then add 3 quarts chicken stock. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add 1/2 lb chopped green beans and 4 oz spaghetti broken into 2 inch lengths. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve and add pistou to taste. (The recipe also called for 1 tsp saffron threads - I really dislike saffron in soup so I left it out - add it with the green beans if you would like).

Pistou: Puree 4 garlic cloves, 1/4 cup tomato paste, 24 large basil leaves, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup olive oil.

Mint-Flavored Fusilli Salad

Twelve Months of Monastery Salads 200 Divine Recipes for all Seasons by Brother Victor-Antoine D'Avila-Latourrette
Cookbook 38, Recipe 2 (Total 79)

The tomato salad was for lunch and for dinner I debated between a pasta or lentil salad.

Did I like it? I wish I had chosen the lentil salad. If I were to make this salad again, I would decrease the pasta to 1/4 lb, increase the fennel to 1 full bulb and add the entire cucumber.

Recipe: Cook 1/2lb of fusilli pasta and place into a large bowl. Add: 1 chopped heirloom tomato, 1/2 peeled, seeded cucumber, 1/2 thinly sliced onion, 1/2 thinly sliced fennel bulb and 1/3 cup chopped mint. Whisk together: 3T olive oil, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp dry mustard and add salt and pepper to taste. Dress the salad and serve.

Tomato and Olive Salad from the Lazio (Insalta di Pomodori e Olive Nere)

Twelve Months of Monastery Salads 200 Divine Recipes for all Seasons by Brother Victor-Antoine D'Avila-Latourrette
Cookbook 38, Recipe 1 (Total 78)

Eppie and Matt's cake and wedding took over the last Wednesday - Monday. WeeHoo - Congratulations Eppie & Matt!

I've been saving this cookbook for late summer salads. I purchased a bunch of veggies today and came home to see what I could put together with this cookbook.

Did I like it? It tasted like a classic tomato salad. I'm beginning to appreciate the taste of olives - for the moment I would only include two - five was a little too many for me.

Recipe: Place slices of a heirloom tomato on a plate. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella and thin slices of red onion. Top with 2-5 olives and garnish with finely chopped basil. In a bowl combine 2 T olive oil and 1 T red wine vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle on the salad to taste.

Milk with Cinnamon

My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen Traditional Dishes Sweet and Savory, By Magda Mehdawy
Cookbook 37, Recipe 2 (Total 77)

Tonight I sifted 12 cups of cake flour, made 4 cups of peach schnapps syrup, cut parchment rounds for six cake pans and finalized my plans for the decoration of Eppie's wedding cake. So - I went looking for an easy recipe - I found it!

Did I like it? The first half was delicious. Stop there! Don't venture into the second half of the cup.

Recipe: To 1 cup of milk add 1T cinnamon (yes 1 Tablespoon) and 1 T sugar. Bring to a boil. Serve.