Newsletter October 2004
Modern Country Living - Domestic Bliss
Game On:
There are some really good cook books in the shops
this autumn, I adored The Game Cookbook (Kyle Cathie ltd) by Clarissa
Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott, it is packed with all the information
on game one could ever need and is the perfect gift to give when
staying with friends. Another gem is Lucy Young’s Secrets from
a Country Kitchen (Ebury Press). The “secrets” on every page are
extremely useful and the recipes delicious. Oh and as it is October,
my new book Amy Willcock’s Aga Seasons (Ebury Press) is out too!!!
Roast Breast of Duck with Pumpkin and Sage
Serves 4
4 duck breasts
1 kilo pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into cubes
8 sage leaves, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled
Salt and pepper
Unsalted butter
1organic orange – juice and zest
Olive oil
Splash of brandy
200ml good game stock of chicken stock
Bring a saucepan of water up to the boil and drop
in the pumpkin cubes and cook for 2-5 minutes so that it is just
soft. Drain well on kitchen paper and set a side.
To cook the duck:
Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and the knob of butter in
a frying pan so that it is very hot and fry the duck breasts fat
side down until it starts to crisp up – about 5 minutes. Turn
the breasts over and continue to cook them in a pre heated oven
190c for 10-15 minutes or until done to your liking. When the
duck has finished cooking, remove it from the oven and allow to
rest for 5-10 minutes. Keep warm.
Drain off all the fat and reserve. Deglaze the pan by adding a
splash of brandy to it and scraping up all the crusty bits. Squeeze
in the orange juice from the orange and add the zest and the stock
and season with salt and pepper. Bring everything up to a boil
then turn down the heat and reduce. Taste and adjust seasoning.
To sauté the pumpkin:
While the breasts are resting, heat up some of the duck fat from
the pan the breasts were in and a little more butter until it
is foaming. Add the pumpkin cubes, garlic clove and chopped sage.
Sauté the pumpkin turning it to colour all side until it
is crispy about 8minutes. Remove the garlic clove when it turns
golden in colour. Drain on to kitchen paper and sprinkle with
salt.
Serve one breast per person and spoon over some
sauce and the pumpkin cubes. Serve with a watercress salad.
Tip: I saw the most wonderful thing
in a friends boot room - they have just had it re-done and cleverly
put in a very large butlers sink with a mixer spray telephone
tap only about 2 foot off the ground for hosing down the dogs
– I thought it was brilliant and wondered why I hadn’t thought
of it!
This article by Amy Willcock appears
in The Shooting Gazette October 2004, and is reproduced here with
permission.
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