Duck casserole with red wine, cinnamon and olives

One of my favourite recipes from my recently reissued book The Wine Lover’s Kitchen which is full of recipes for cooking with wine.

Red wine and cinnamon are natural partners and work together brilliantly in this exotically spiced, Moorish-style casserole. I suggest you use a strong, fruity wine such as a Merlot, Carmenère or Zinfandel. 

Duck casserole with red wine, cinnamon and olives

Serves 4

2 duck breasts

4 duck legs

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 celery stalk, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

350 ml/1 ½ cups full-bodied fruity red wine (see recipe introduction), plus 2 tablespoons extra

250 ml/1 cup passata/strained tomatoes

2 small strips of unwaxed orange zest

1 cinnamon stick

100 g/1 cup pitted mixed olives marinated with herbs

½ teaspoon herbes de Provence or dried oregano

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

couscous or pilaf and leafy green vegetables, to serve

an ovenproof dish

Preheat the oven to 200 °/180°fan/400 ° F/Gas 6.

Trim any excess fat from all the duck pieces and prick the skin with a fork. Cut the breasts in half lengthways and season all the pieces lightly with salt and pepper. Put 1 tablespoon oil in an oven proof dish and add the duck pieces, skin-side upwards. Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and pour off the fat (keep it for roasting potatoes). Reduce the oven temperature to 150 °C/130°fan/300 ° F/Gas 2.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a flameproof casserole, add the onion and celery and fry over a low heat for 5-6 minutes or until soft.

Stir in the garlic, increase the heat and pour in the red wine. Simmer for 1-2 minutes, then add the passata/strained tomatoes, orange zest, cinnamon, olives and herbs. Transfer the duck pieces to the casserole and spoon the sauce over them. Bring the sauce to a simmer, cover and transfer the casserole to the preheated oven for about 1¼ hours until the duck is tender. Spoon the sauce over the duck halfway through cooking and add a little water if the sauce seems too dry.

Take the casserole out of the oven, remove and discard the cinnamon stick and orange zest and spoon off any fat that has accumulated on the surface. Stir in 2 tablespoons red wine and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with couscous or a lightly spiced pilaf along with some cavolo nero or other dark leafy greens.

Note: You can also make this casserole a day ahead. To do so, cook it in the oven for just 1 hour, then let it cool, cover and refrigerate overnight. The following day, skim off any fat, then reheat it gently, adding a final dash of wine just before serving.

What to drink
Any robust southern French, Spanish, Portuguese or southern Italian red would go well with this recipe. As would a good, gutsy Zinfandel.

For other pairings see 9 great wine pairings for duck

From The Wine Lover’s Kitchen by Fiona Beckett, published by Ryland Peters & Small (£22) Photography by Mowie Kay © Ryland Peters & Small.

 

 

Chicken with pineapple and nduja

One of the most exciting cookbooks of recent years is Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage who worked with Yotam Ottolenghi for several years and shares his love of bold flavours. This is actually quite an easy recipe though nobody you cook it for will think that!

Ixta writes: I love the combination of sweet and savoury (as you’ll probably have deduced if you’ve flicked through this book a few times), and there is no greater union than that of pork and pineapple. The pork here comes in the form of ’nduja, a spreadable chilli-spiked sausage from Calabria. Add chicken, pineapple, chipotle and tangerine to the mix and you’ve got yourself a party.

Serves 4

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, at room temperature

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a knife

1 medium onion, halved and very thinly sliced on a mandolin

1/2 large, extra-ripe pineapple (300g peeled weight)

4 sweet tangerines (or 2 oranges), squeezed to get 100g juice (see notes)

100g chicken bone broth, stock or water

2 tablespoons double cream

5g fresh coriander

1 lime, cut into wedges

’Nduja and chipotle paste

50g ’nduja paste/spread

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons tomato purée/paste

1/2 teaspoon chipotle flakes

1/2 teaspoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon fine salt

about 20 twists of freshly ground black pepper

Get ahead

Marinate the chicken in the ’nduja and chipotle paste up to 2 days ahead, but don’t mix in the onion and garlic until you’re ready to bake.

On the day

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C.

Put all the ingredients for the paste into a large bowl and mix together. Add the chicken, garlic and three-quarters of the sliced onion and mix well so everything is coated evenly. Tip the onions and garlic into a 28cm ovenproof cast-iron skillet or similar-sized baking dish and spread out. Place the chicken thighs on top, skin side up and spaced apart.

Cut the pineapple into 4 rounds, then cut each round into quarters, removing the hard core (you should have about 300g). Add the pineapple to the bowl with the remnants of the paste, mix to coat with whatever’s left there, then arrange the pineapple around the chicken.

Pour the tangerine juice around the chicken (don’t get the skin wet), then bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour the stock or water into the pan around the chicken (again, don’t get the skin wet). Return to the oven for another 20–25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is browned and crispy. If you have a blowtorch, use it to char the pineapple a little.

Drizzle the cream into the sauce. Toss the coriander and the remaining sliced onions together with a tiny bit of oil and salt and arrange on top. Serve from the pan, with the lime wedges alongside. It also goes really well with the brown butter cornbread below

Note

Ixta recommends tangerines over oranges as she says they have a more complex, floral flavour, but feel free to use oranges if that’s easier (use fresh fruit, though, not juice from a bottle or carton). If your tangerines/oranges aren’t particularly sweet, you may want to add some maple syrup or honey – do this when you add the stock or water.

Brown butter curried cornbread

Cornbread is usually a supporting act, but this version is good enough to take centre stage at the dinner table and will probably end up being the dish around which you plan the meal. The corn that bejewels the surface is best just out of the oven when it’s a little crispy from the butter, and a little sticky from the maple syrup. That’s not to say you need to eat it all in one go; it will still be delicious the next day, heated up. To heat, either pan-fry, or place the slices on a tray in a cold oven, turn the temperature up to 150°C fan/170°C and warm for about 10 minutes. Serve with plenty of butter on the side.

Serves 6

140g unsalted butter, plus extra to serve 500g frozen corn kernels, defrosted and patted dry

150g Greek-style yoghurt

2 large eggs

1 Scotch bonnet chilli, finely chopped (optional, see notes)

1 spring onion, finely chopped

5g fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

1½ teaspoons medium curry powder

1½ teaspoons finely grated lime zest

100g quick-cook polenta

80g plain flour

½ teaspoon fine salt

6 tablespoons maple syrup, plus extra to serve

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

flaked salt, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat for 5–6 minutes, stirring often until the butter foams and then turns a deep golden-brown. Add the corn and bubble away for 4 minutes, stirring every so often. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

While the corn and butter mixture is cooling, put the yoghurt, eggs, Scotch bonnet, spring onion, ginger, curry powder, lime zest, polenta, flour, salt and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup into a food processor, but don’t blitz yet.

Once cool, set aside 140g of the corn and butter mixture in a small bowl to use later. Add the remaining corn and butter to the food processor, then add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Pulse about 3–5 times, just until the mixture comes together. Don’t overmix, you want a textured batter with small chunks of corn, not a smooth batter.

Transfer the batter into the prepared tin, then spoon the reserved corn and butter evenly over the surface.

Bake for 20 minutes, then evenly drizzle over the remaining 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and bake for another 15–20 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown on top.

Leave to cool for 15 minutes. If you have a blowtorch, use it to char the corn in places. Drizzle over some more maple syrup (I like a lot!), sprinkle with flaked salt and serve with a slab of butter alongside.

Notes

Ixta uses a whole Scotch bonnet, and its flavour and heat is quite dominant. I love that, but you can of course add less, removing the pith and seeds, or just add a pinch of regular chilli flakes for milder heat.

Recipes extracted from Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage published by Ebury Press at £26. Photography by Yuki Sugiura

Uyen Luu's Vietnamese Chicken salad

I don't know how often you turn to Asian-inspired salads at this time of year but I find myself making them more and more. Here's a classic Vietnamese salad from Uyen Luu's Vietnamese to inspire you.

Uyen writes: "This is a version of a classic salad that is seen at all celebrations, even if it is a weekend gathering.

Don’t let that stop you from enjoying a burst of flavour on a weeknight. You can use up a leftover roast chicken or buy a cooked rotisserie chicken. You don’t have to poach the chicken from scratch if you have leftovers.

Prep the vegetables beforehand and assemble when you are ready to serve.

CHICKEN SALAD WITH SUGAR SNAP PEAS, VIETNAMESE CORIANDER & SHALLOTS

GỎI GÀ HÀNH TÍM ĐẬU HÀ LAN

Serves 6–8

For the salad

1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz) whole corn-fed, free-range, organic chicken

400 g (14 oz) sugar snap peas, thinly sliced lengthways

10 radishes, thinly sliced

10 Vietnamese coriander (cilantro) sprigs, leaves picked (or Thai basil, mint or coriander), roughly snipped

small handful of coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped

handful of roughly chopped pistachios

seeds of ½ pomegranate (optional)

For the shallot pickle

4 round shallots, sliced as thinly as possible

3 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar

pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

5 tbsp crushed pistachios

3 bird’s eye chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

3 tbsp maple syrup

5 tbsp lime juice (from about 2–3 limes)

5 tbsp fish sauce

To serve

prawn crackers

Fill a very large saucepan with 3 litres (100 fl oz/ 12½ cups) of boiling water, season with salt and add the chicken. Reduce to a simmer, cover and poach for 60–80 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken) until the juices run clear when you pierce the thickest part of the thigh and the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Meanwhile, reserve some pistachios to garnish, then mix together all the remaining dressing ingredients in a screw-topped jar and shake well.

Taste for the balance of sweet, sour, salty and heat and adjust as necessary.

To make the shallot pickle, mix the shallots with the vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside for about 20 minutes.

Mix the radishes, sugar snap peas and any other vegetables you’re using in a large salad bowl.

Add the Vietnamese coriander.

When the chicken is cooked, leave to cool. Tear off the meat along the grain and season with pepper. Add this to the salad bowl along with the pickled shallots and its juices.

When ready to serve, toss the salad together with the dressing. Garnish with the coriander, pistachios and pomegranate seeds. Serve the salad with the prawn crackers.

Note

—† Try swapping out the sugar snap peas for carrot, papaya, kohlrabi, daikon, courgettes (zucchini), mangetout (snow peas) or a combination of your favourites.

—† You can use the chicken stock to make a delicious chicken rice.

What to drink: My favourite wine choice with Vietnamese food is an Austrian grüner veltliner but an off-dry riesling would also work well.

Extracted from Vietnamese by Uyen Luu (Hardie Grant, £22) Photography: Uyen Luu

Chicken with Morels & Vin Jaune

This is the kind of cooking that reminds me how wonderful French food still is. It comes from Alex Jackson's lovely book Frontières which has recipes from all the regions of France that border other countries or, in the case of the south, North Africa.

Although it includes hard-to-find vin jaune it does make the dish. I suspect you could use fino sherry but it wouldn't taste the same.

If you can't face making it yourself it's often on the menu at Noble Rot, Soho where Alex is head chef.

Alex writes: "A classic dish from the Jura, where the chicken would traditionally have been the most expensive part of the meal – the morels foraged for free in spring and the vin jaune (yellow wine) an affordable local wine.

Nowadays the opposite is true, unless you happen to have a patch of morels in your garden. Vin jaune is a rather special thing; a slightly oxidized wine made from the Savagnin grape, with a flavour not unlike dry sherry – well worth tracking down if you have a pretty penny to spare.

When this is served in the Jura the chicken comes swimming in a vat of cream sauce: c’est correct, as the French say. This will feel luxurious, although it is really a very simple dish: use the best ingredients you can get your hands on and it’s sure to be a winner.

A little trick to boost the vin jaune flavour in the sauce is to splash in a little extra wine at the end, along with some butter and perhaps a squeeze of lemon.

This is traditionally, and best, served with a simple rice pilaf. At the restaurant where I work we add a few crispy curry leaves to the top of the rice – most untraditional, of course, but something that pairs nicely with your glass of vin jaune on the side."

Chicken with Morels and Vin Jaune

Serves 4

For the stock:

500g/ 1lb 2oz chicken wings

An uncooked chicken carcass

½ shallot

½ celery stick

1 bay leaf

1 sprig of thyme

A few black peppercorns

1.5kg/ 3lb 5oz chicken, jointed (you can ask a butcher to do this for you)

Oil and a knob of unsalted butter, for frying

30g/1oz/ 2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus 15g/1oz/1 tbsp (cold, cubed) to finish the sauce

1/2 shallot, finely diced

At least 20 morels – fresh when in season, or dried ones soaked in cold water until soft

A small glass of vin jaune, plus an extra splash at the end to finish the sauce

1 litre/ 1¾ pints/ 4 cups good chicken stock (preferably homemade)

150ml/ 5fl oz/ ¾ cup double cream

Lemon juice (optional)

Salt

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.

First, make the stock. Put the chicken wings and the carcass in a large roasting tin. Put in the hot oven and roast until a light golden brown. Transfer the wings and carcass to a large stockpot (leave the chicken fat in the tin) with the remaining ingredients and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, skim well, then reduce to a simmer for 1½ hours, skimming periodically.

Strain through a sieve, then reduce the liquid by half – you want 1 litre/1¾ pints/4 cups. Set aside while you prepare the chicken.

Season the chicken pieces with salt. Heat a little oil in a large saucepan and brown the pieces on both sides, adding a knob of butter towards the end. When the pieces are golden all over, remove to a plate and pour off the excess fat in the pan.

Melt 30g/1oz/2 tablespoons of butter, then add the diced shallot and a pinch of salt. Cook slowly until the shallot is very soft.

Halve the morels if they are large but leave any small or medium ones whole. Add the mushrooms to the pan and fry gently until they have softened and absorbed some of the butter – season them lightly with salt. Add the vin jaune and simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency.

Reintroduce the chicken pieces, skin side up, and add the chicken stock – you might not need it all – to almost cover the chicken but leave the golden skin sitting above the liquid.

Half-cover with a lid and cook for 30 minutes at a simmer. The sauce should reduce until it tastes powerful and delicious but bear in mind that the aim is to have a lot of it, so don’t reduce too far (add a little more stock if you think it needs it). Now, pour in the cream and swirl the pot. Simmer slowly for a further 15 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked and the sauce has thickened slightly.

Remove the chicken to a serving dish that will also hold the sauce. Taste the sauce for salt and finish by whisking in a good splash of vin jaune, the cold cubed butter and maybe a little squeeze of lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve, with a rice pilaf on the side.

What to drink: Alex suggests drinking vin jaune with the dish which would be the perfect match but an expensive option. (Majestic has one at the time of writing for £54.99 as part of a mix six deal which is about par for the course.) If. you need more than one bottle I'd supplement it with another savagnin or savagnin/chardonnay blend from the Jura region or an aged white burgundy.

Extracted from ‘Frontières: The Food of France’s Borderlands’ by Alex Jackson (Pavilion Books). Image credit Charlotte Bland. I've suggested using an extra chicken carcass for the stock rather than the carcass from the jointed chicken Alex suggests as it doesn't look as if the chicken pieces are taken off the bone.