Italian Christmas recipe for New Year's table, Why Not?  Christmas Roast Capon with Chestnuts, Marsala, and Bra Sausage from Old World Italian 'Recipes and Secrets from Our Travels in Italy' (Clarkson Potter, September 2020) by Mimi Thorisson.

Cappone Di Natale Ripieno Con Salsiccia Di Bra

Christmas Roast Capon with Chestnuts, Marsala, and Bra Sausage

Italians like to eat fish during the holidays, but like in many other countries, Italian Christmas traditions often involve stuffed birds. This is the recipe I cooked last Christmas, with a Piemontese touch. A fatty bird stuffed with goodness, including chestnuts (one of my favorite foods), Marsala from Sicily that adds sweetness, and Bra sausages, famous for their flavor and quality and made from lean veal and a little bacon.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Stuffed capon

1 whole capon

(4½ pounds / 2 kg), entirely deboned (ask your butcher to prepare)

2¼ pounds / 1 kg chestnuts, cooked and peeled

1 slice stale bread, crust removed, torn into pieces

⅓ cup / 80 ml whole milk

10 ounces / 300 g ground pork

½ pound / 230 g bra (veal) sausage, casings removed

2 large eggs

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons / 100 g grated parmesan cheese

⅓ cup / 80 ml dry marsala wine

12 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces / 140 g pancetta, sliced (about 20 pieces), or thinly sliced bacon

extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons / 30 g unsalted butter, at room temperature gravy

⅔ cup / 160 ml white wine

3 tablespoons / 45 g unsalted butter

1 tablespoon cornstarch, sifted

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1 Prepare the stuffed capon: Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.

2 Clean the capon and pat dry.

3 Place half of the chestnuts in a bowl, mash them with a fork, and set aside.

4 In a small bowl, combine the bread and the milk and soak until softened. Squeeze out the excess milk.

5 In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, sausage meat, and soaked bread. Add the eggs, Parmesan, Marsala, sage, mashed chestnuts, and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

6 Lay the capon skin side down on a work surface and spread the filling over the flesh, then roll up, starting from a long side. Wrap the top part of the rolled capon horizontally with the pancetta. Tie the roast in several places with kitchen twine. In a roasting pan large enough to hold the bird, drizzle a little olive oil. Place the rolled bird in the center of the roasting pan and drizzle with more olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Dot the bird with the butter.

7 Transfer to the oven and roast, basting the bird regularly, until cooked through, about 2 hours. About 15 minutes before the end of cooking, add the remaining chestnuts to the roasting pan. Transfer the bird to a cutting board and the chestnuts to a bowl, cover the bird with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.

8 Meanwhile, make the gravy: Place the roasting pan over medium heat. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, stirring constantly. Scrape up all of the browned bits and bring to a boil. Add 3 tablespoons butter. When the butter is melted, add the sifted cornstarch and whisk it into the sauce. Cook until glossy and thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

9 Carve the capon into slices ¾ inch / 2 cm thick and serve with the gravy and chestnuts on the side.

Note: Instead of capon, you can also make this recipe with a chicken or a turkey, adjusting the stuffing amounts and cooking time. For the Bra sausage, you can use an herbed pork sausage

(*Recipe reproduced with permission from Old World Italian 'Recipes and Secrets from Our Travels in Italy' -Clarkson Potter, September 2020- by Mimi Thorisson. Photograph by Oddur Thorisson)

Repeat post, in case you missed this when we shared it a while back, A little lesson on How to Carve Ducks and Geese from Duck, Duck, Goose Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Ducks and Geese, both Wild and Domesticated (Ten Speed Press, October 2013) by Hank Shaw.

Practice over the week-end

How to carve ducks and geese?

Carving a duck is pretty much the same as carving a chicken or turkey. There are lots of ways to go about it, but this is what I do.

With the bird breast up, take off the legs and wings the same way you would when breaking down a whole duck (see page 8), slicing the skin between the breast and leg into the open area beneath. Use the point of the knife to locate the ball-and-socket joint that holds the leg to the body. Pop the joint by moving the leg downward.

Slip the knife around the joint from the tail end of the bird. once the leg is free from its socket, use the point of the knife to free it from the body, making sure to cut out the “oyster,” the oval knob of meat in front of the ball joint. Do this for both legs.

To remove the wings (usually just the drumette), turn the duck over to reveal the curved saber bone along its back; this is the equivalent of its shoulder blade. Slice along this bone toward the neck of the duck, feeling with the point of your knife for the joint that attaches the wing to the body. Use the point of your knife to separate the wing from the joint, taking care to cut out as little of the breast meat as possible. Do this for both wings.

For the breast, take the whole breast off first and then slice it. Start by cutting each half free. Begin at the keel bone, which separates the breast halves, and slice down along the keel bone, tapping the point of your knife against the breastbone. Start in the middle of the breast and work toward the tail end, then work the other way, toward the wishbone. When you get to the wishbone, use the knife point to cut around it and then down to where the wing was. Free the breast from the carcass with short
strokes of the knife. once it’s free, peel off the tender. eat it, as it is the cook’s treat. Slice the rest of the breast on the diagonal, to get the best ratio of skin to meat. once you’re finished, don’t forget to save the carcass for stock!

(* Reprinted with permission from Duck, Duck, Goose by Hank Shaw, copyright (c) 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Photography (c) 2013 by Holly A. Heyser)

From salad to soup, after Green Papaya Salad from Thailand: The Cookbook (Phaidon Press, May 2014) by Jean-Pierre Gabriel, here's a soup recipe.

Roasted Duck Noodle Soup

Adapted from THAILAND: THE COOKBOOK by Jean-Pierre Gabriel

Origin: Central

Preparation time: 30 – 40 minutes, plus standing time

Cooking time: 2 hours

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

For the roasted duck:

 1 x 2¼ - lb./1-kg whole duck, cleaned without giblets
 ¼ cup (2⅔ oz./70 g) salt flakes
 5 slices fresh ginger
 4 cloves garlic, chopped
 3 – 4 cilantro (coriander) roots, chopped
 1 teaspoon five spice powder
 1½ tablespoon black salted soybeans, finely pounded
 1 teaspoon slat
 1 tablespoon 55 proof liquor or brandy
 1 tablespoon sugar
 2 tablespoons honey
 1 tablespoon thick soy sauce

For the soup:

 7½ cups (3 pints/1.75 liters) chicken broth (stock)
 2 star anise
 1 small cinnamon stick, broken into small pieces
 2 cloves garlic, coarsely crushed
 2 cilantro (coriander) roots, coarsely crushed
 ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
 1 teaspoon salt
 1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
To serve:
 11 oz./300 g fresh egg noodles
 1 cups (3½ oz./100 g) bean sprouts
 ¼ cup (¾ oz./20 g) finely sliced scallions (spring onions)
 4 tablespoons Fried Garlic (see p. 64)
 ¼ cup (2 fl oz./50 ml) white vinegar (optional)
 ¼ cup (2 fl oz./50 ml) soy sauce (optional)
 ¼ cup (2 oz./50 g) superfine (caster) sugar (optional)
 2 tablespoons dried chili flakes (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 300 °F/150 °C/Gas Mark 2.

Rinse the duck thoroughly in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the whole duck with the salt flakes and let stand for 30 minutes. Rinse off the salt and pat dry with paper towels, then set aside.

Pound the ginger, garlic and cilantro (coriander) roots in a mortar with a pestle until smooth, then transfer to a bowl and add the five spice powder, salted soybeans, salt, liquor or brandy, and sugar and mix until combined. Put the mixture inside the duck, then place the duck on a roasting tray and set aside.

To make the honey sauce, mix the honey, thick soy sauce, and ⅓ cup (2½ fl oz./75 ml) water in a bowl.

Brush the duck all over 2-3 times with this mixture, then roast the duck in the oven for about 1½ hours or until cooked. During roasting, brush the duck with some of the honey sauce every 30 minutes. When
cooked, remove the duck from the oven, cover with kitchen foil, and let rest for at least 15 minutes.

Remove the duck drumsticks and set aside, then carve the meat, slice into strips, and set aside.

To make the soup, heat the broth (stock) in a pan over medium heat. Put the star anise, cinnamon, garlic, cilantro (coriander) roots, and black pepper into a spice bag and add to the pan. Let the broth boil for 5 minutes, Season with soy sauce, salt, sugar, and dark soy sauce then reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Divide the noodles, been sprouts, scallion (spring onion), and fried garlic among serving bowls. Season with the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and chili flakes, if using, and serve.

(* Recipe reproduced with permission from Thailand: the Cookbook by Jean-Pierre Gabriel- published by Phaidon Press, May 2014)

We previously shared German Style Goose Meatballs recipe Duck, Duck, Goose Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Ducks and Geese, both Wild and Domesticated (Ten Speed Press, October 2013) by Hank Shaw.

How about a Friday Korean style duck dinner?

Duck Bulgogi

Bulgogi is one of the national dishes of Korea, though this is not an authentic version. It is an adaptation of an adaptation. Back in the 1960s, my mom and dad were invited to a barbecue at the home of a Korean War veteran and his Korean wife, who served their guests an authentic bulgogi. There is a reason this is a popular dish in Korea, and it was a hit that day, too. But all mom could get from the host was a list of ingredients, not the full recipe.
So mom did the best she could, and it eventually gelled into a dish that I remember longing for as a child: savory sweet, garlicky, and a little sticky. Mom made it with flank steak or London broil. I’ve since made it with venison, antelope, beef, and, yes, duck.
This is one of the easiest recipes in this book, and works with any skinless red meat. If you are serving a crowd, a domestic or Canada goose breast would be ideal.

Ingredients:

¼ cup rice vinegar
⅓ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
4 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
2 tablespoons peeled and chopped fresh ginger
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
2 pounds skinless duck breasts
kimchi and cooked white rice, for serving
Black sesame seeds, for garnish, optional

In a blender, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, onions, ginger, garlic, and sugar and puree until smooth. Put the duck breasts in a container just large enough to accommodate them, pour in the marinade, and turn to coat evenly. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

When you are ready to cook, set up the grill as directed on page 62. Remove the duck breasts from the marinade, pat dry, and set aside. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

Coat the duck breasts with a little oil as directed in the grilling instructions, then grill as directed.
Transfer the duck breasts to a cutting board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes.

Slice the breasts thinly and arrange on dinner plates along with the kimchi and rice. Drizzle the hot marinade over the duck, then sprinkle the sesame seeds over everything.

Serve with a cold lager or pilsner.

(* Reprinted with permission from Duck, Duck, Goose by Hank Shaw, copyright (c) 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Photography (c) 2013 by Holly A. Heyser)

Turning your nose up when turnips are mentioned on a restaurant menu, in a recipe, or appear on your plate, maybe this duck recipe from Rachel's Irish Family Food (Harper Collins, February 2013) by Rachel Allen will change your mind.

Irish still eat turnips as Rachel reminds us. You should also try her Barmbrack Speckled Loaf for St. Patrick's Day.

Pot Roasted Duck Legs with Onions and Root Vegetables

This is the food I love to serve on a wintery weekend evening when friends are over. It's a dish for an easy going dinner party, to serve with plenty of red wine and lots of laughter.

Turnips are eaten less around the world, but we still eat them here in Ireland. There are large sweet turnips, but I prefer the small white ones because they are more refined in flavor and are particularly at home with duck or goose.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 60 to 75 minutes

Ingredients:

1 and a half teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

4 duck legs, excess fat removed, but with the skin left on

4 onions, halved through the root, each half cut lengthwise into 4 wedges

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 baking or russet (floury) potatoes, peeled and cut into 3 quarter inch (2 cm) dice

6 small white turnips, peeled and cut into half to three quarter inch (1-2 cm) dice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit (200 Centigrade, Mark 6)

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or flameproof casserole dish over medium heat. Add the duck legs, skin side down, followed by the onions, rosemary, and salt and pepper. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the skin is a rich golden brown. Tip in the potatoes and turnips and cover with a lid.

Roast in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and a quarter, by which time the onions should be golden and the root vegetables and duck cooked through and tender.

(* Recipe from Rachel's Irish Family Food by Rachel Allen- Harper Collins, February 19, 2013- reproduced with permission)

Carving and serving meats is an art that needs to be mastered.

Here is step by step guide on How to Carve Ducks and Geese from Duck, Duck, Goose Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Ducks and Geese, both Wild and Domesticated (Ten Speed Press, October 2013) by Hank Shaw.

How to Carve Ducks and Geese

Carving a duck is pretty much the same as carving a chicken or turkey. There are lots of ways to go about it, but this is what I do.

With the bird breast up, take off the legs and wings the same way you would when breaking down a whole duck (see page 8), slicing the skin between the breast and leg into the open area beneath. Use the point of the knife to locate the ball-and-socket joint that holds the leg to the body. Pop the joint by moving the leg downward. Slip the knife around the joint from the tail end of the bird. Once the leg is free from its socket, use the point of the knife to free it from the body, making sure to cut out the “oyster,” the oval knob of meat in front of the ball joint. Do this for both legs.

To remove the wings (usually just the drumette), turn the duck over to reveal the curved saber bone along its back; this is the equivalent of its shoulder blade. Slice along this bone toward the neck of the duck, feeling with the point of your knife for the joint that attaches the wing to the body. Use the point of your knife to separate the wing from the joint, taking care to cut out as little of the breast meat as possible. Do this for both wings.

For the breast, take the whole breast off first and then slice it. Start by cutting each half free. Begin at the keel bone, which separates the breast halves, and slice down along the keel bone, tapping the point of your knife against the breastbone. Start in the middle of the breast and work toward the tail end, then work the other way, toward the wishbone. When you get to the wishbone, use the knife point to cut around it and then down to where the wing was. Free the breast from the carcass with short strokes of the knife. Once it’s free, peel off the tender. Eat it, as it is the cook’s treat. Slice the rest of the breast on the diagonal, to get the best ratio of skin to meat.

Once you’re finished, don’t forget to save the carcass for stock!

(* Reprinted with permission from Duck, Duck, Goose by Hank Shaw, copyright (c) 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Photography (c) 2013 by Holly A. Heyser)

For Sunday's game, think outside the can with this Wild Game Chili recipe by way of Cold Spring Tavern (Santa Barbara) from A Century of Restaurants (Andrews McMeel, October 2013) by Rick Browne.

Wild-Game Black Bean Chili

Makes about 1 gallon

3 ½ cups dried black beans, rinsed and picked over
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 ½ pounds mixed chopped or ground venison, buffalo, and rabbit meat (see Note)
1 ½ pounds poblano chiles
1 ½ pounds yellow onions
12 ounces tomatoes, diced
¼ cup chili powder
2 ½ tablespoons cumin seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sour cream, for serving
Minced jalapeños, for serving
Sweet or sourdough French bread, for serving

In a large pot, soak the beans overnight in water to cover by 2 inches. Drain and add fresh water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a low boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 2 hours, or until tender. Drain.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the meat until browned. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a dish but leave the pan on the heat. Sauté the poblano chiles and onions in the pan for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.

Combine the beans, meat, onions, chiles, and tomatoes in a stockpot over medium heat. Stir in the chili powder, cumin seeds, and salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for at least 1 hour.

Ladle the chili into bowls and top each serving with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of jalapeños. Serve with sweet or sourdough French bread.

NOTE: You could use pork or chicken in this dish. But the wild game adds the rich taste that has made this one of the most popular dishes at the tavern.

(* Reproduced with permission from A Century of Restaurantsby Rick Browne- published by Andrews McMeel, October 2013...3 Kinds of Chili photo).

Raise your Duck and Goose prepping technique and cooking chops with Duck, Duck, Goose Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Ducks and Geese, both Wild and Domesticated (Ten Speed Press, October 2013) by Hank Shaw.

Goose Meatballs, German Style

Königsberger Klopse is a classic German recipe that uses several ingredients Americans don’t normally associate with German food: capers, anchovies, and lemon zest. My version is an adaptation of a recipe in Mimi Sheraton’s classic, The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking. The dish originates in East Prussia, where Königsberg once stood. The Russians leveled the city during World War II and rebuilt it as Kaliningrad.

Historically, these meatballs (pronounced something like ker-nigs-burger klop-shuh) are made from veal or pork, but as both the Germans and the Russians eat a lot of goose, I made them with ground goose. Duck, of course, works as well.

Serve the meatballs with boiled or mashed potatoes or a good German bread and a dark, malty beer.

Meatballs

2 tablespoons duck fat or unsalted butter
1 cup minced yellow or white onion
Kosher salt
1½ pounds ground goose or duck (see opposite)
⅔ cup dried bread crumbs
2 teaspoons anchovy paste, or 5 anchovies, mashed
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 cups Basic Duck Stock (page 222) or beef stock

Sauce

3 tablespoons duck fat or unsalted butter
½ cup minced yellow or white onion
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 to 4 tablespoons sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the meatballs, in a small frying pan, heat the duck fat over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, until soft and translucent.
Do not allow it to brown. Sprinkle a little salt over the onion as it cooks. When the onion is ready, remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

If you are not using meat that is already ground, you can make a better, smoother meatball by doing the
following: cut the meat and fat into 1-inch pieces, and put them in a large bowl. Add the cooked onion, bread crumbs, anchovy paste, lemon zest, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and the pepper to the bowl. Fit your meat grinder with the fine die, and pass the meat mixture through the grinder. Then add the eggs and Worcestershire sauce and mix in by hand. If using already-ground meat, in a bowl, combine the meat with all of the other ingredients and mix together with your hands.

Line a baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper. Form the meat mixture into small meatballs with a teaspoon, placing them on the prepared baking sheet

as they are shaped. You can make them bigger, but a heaping teaspoon makes a nice size.

Pour the stock into a pan large enough to accommodate all of the meatballs at the same time. A wide, deep sauté pan with a lid is a good choice. Place the stock over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. When the stock is simmering, carefully add the meatballs. When all of the meatballs are in the pan, turn down the heat as low as it will go. If all of the meatballs are not submerged in the stock, it will be okay. Cover the pan and let the meatballs cook gently for 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the meatballs and set them aside on a platter.

Pour the stock into a heatproof container and reserve it. To make the sauce, wipe the pan out with a paper towel, set it over medium-high heat, and add the duck fat. When the fat is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Do not allow the onion to brown. Add the flour, mix well, lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring often, for a few minutes, until the mixture is the color of coffee with cream.

Add the reserved hot stock, a little at a time, stirring constantly. Continue to add the stock until you have a sauce the consistency of thin gravy—not as thick as Thanksgiving gravy and not thin like soup. You probably will not need all 4 cups of the stock.

Return the meatballs to the sauce and add the capers. Turn down the heat to low and heat until the meatballs are heated through. Add the parsley and remove from the heat.

Serve the meatballs at once. Pass the sour cream and pepper at the table, and invite diners to add as much as they like. This ensures the sour cream won’t curdle from overheating on the stove top and will allow diners to make their servings as creamy as they like.

(* Reprinted with permission from Duck, Duck, Goose by Hank Shaw, copyright (c) 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Photography (c) 2013 by Holly A. Heyser)

Brooklyn raised chef Edward Lee took a trip to Louisville in 2001 for Kentucky Derby, discovered a local restaurant called 610 Magnolia and made it his new home...so the story goes...

Whether you like horse racing, Brooklyn, or not you will find plenty to cook in Edward Lee's cookbook Smoke and Pickles, Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen (Artisan Books, Spring 2013).

I had a hard time deciding which 3 recipes I was going to share.

Let's start with KFQ.

Kentucky Fried Quail

The technique of double-cooking poultry gives it that extra crispiness. Just as in the Adobo Fried Chicken and Waffles (page 82), here you poach the bird first before frying it. This allows some of the fat to render out, and it also shrinks the skin. Then your frying time will be less, so the meat won’t be overcooked. It’s a nifty trick—try it. Quail is often treated as a luxury item, adorably trussed and served on pretty porcelain plates. I love taking quail out of that context and serving it on newspaper with a dipping sauce and a mound of seasoned salt, letting people eat with their hands.

The Fragrant Salt used here is popular in Chinese cuisine; it can be used to flavor anything from scallops to popcorn. The quail is extra tasty paired with Pickled Garlic in Molasses Soy Sauce (page 181).

Feeds 4 as an appetizer

FRAGRANT SALT
¼ cup sea salt
4 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns
1 tablespoon five-spice powder

DIPPING SAUCE
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
Juice of 1 lime

4 semi-boneless quail (see note)
2 to 3 cups peanut oil for deep-frying

1. To make the fragrant salt: Combine all the ingredients in a spice grinder or a blender and grind until fine. Transfer to a small bowl.

2. To make the dipping sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside at room temperature.

3. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a wide pot and add 1 tablespoon of the fragrant salt. Add the quail to the water and boil for 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels and pat thoroughly dry; transfer to a plate.

4. In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil (enough to barely cover the quail) to 390°F over medium-high heat. Cook the quail one at a time, and keep a lid handy; if the oil splatters too much, simply cover the pot with the lid. Add 1 quail to the pot and fry for 1 minute, then flip the bird and fry for another 30 seconds. It should crisp up very fast and turn a dark, shiny amber. Drain on paper towels, pat dry with more paper towels, and immediately sprinkle some of the fragrant salt over the quail. Repeat this process with the rest of the quail.

5. Serve the quail with the dipping sauce and the remaining fragrant salt on the side.

NOTE: Semi-boneless quail have been partially boned, leaving the wing and leg bones intact. If you are using wild-caught quail, simply remove the back bones and leave the breast meat on the breastbone.

( Excerpted from Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2013. Photographs by Grant Cornett.)

Scandinavian and Mediterranean cuisine get more attention than Eastern Europe.

We must have to thank the fact that neither Anne Applebaum nor Danielle Crittenden are cookbook writers for the creation of From a Polish Country House Kitchen, 90 Recipes for the Ultimate Comfort Food (Chronicle Books, November 2012).

Recipe below can serve as a vegetarian side dish if you substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock.

Red Cabbage with Cranberries
Czerwona Kapusta z ŹurawinĄ

Serves 4 to 6

If green cabbage doesn’t get enough respect, then red cabbage doesn’t get enough attention. This is pretty much the only thing I ever serve with Venison Noisettes, but it would go equally  well with duck breast.

Leftovers can be used in the duck pierogi recipe.

1 large head red cabbage
3 tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup/120 ml dry red wine
¾ cup/180 ml chicken stock
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup/30 g dried cranberries
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Core the cabbage and chop roughly.

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt 1 tbsp of the butter over medium heat and cook the cabbage until softened, but do not brown (or it will become bitter). Add the wine, chicken stock, and cloves. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes; the cabbage should be tender.
Melt the remaining 2 tbsp butter (you can do this in a small bowl in the microwave) and mix in the flour to create a paste. Stir it into the cabbage, add the cranberries, and continue to cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes, until everything is tender and thickened. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Variation: You can make this same recipe with fresh or frozen (and thawed) red currants instead of cranberries, though you will need to sprinkle in some sugar to taste when you add the currants.

(* Recipe from  From a Polish Country House Kitchen- Chronicle Books, Fall 2012- by Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden, Reprinted with permission of the publisher)