Wild mushrooms, duck, apple pie and honey parfait

 

A tasty mushroom soup with a shot of frothy milk at the end to lighten things up. At this time of year you can usually find a good assortment of wild mushrooms (chanterelles, ceps, horns of plenty etc.) – bulk them up with some cultivated if the wild ones are scarce. Or if all else fails, use frozen wild mushrooms.

Makes 6 large or 10-12 small portions
25g dried ceps
25g butter + 1 tbsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, mashed
600-700g mixed wild and cultivated mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp flour
500ml vegetable or meat stock
500ml milk
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
150ml milk for ‘cappucino’ topping, or single cream

• Soak the ceps in a cup of hot water and leave to soften and infuse
• Heat the butter and oil, cook the onion and garlic gently without allowing them to brown
• Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper, cover and stew gently till the juices are rendered (10-15 minutes)
• Uncover the pan, raise the heat and cook hard, stirring, till juices are concentrated and evaporated
• Stir in the flour and cook a little more
• Add the stock, milk and ceps with their soaking liquid, season to taste, add a grating of nutmeg and bring to a boil, stirring
• Simmer the soup for 15 minutes – take care it doesn’t boil over!
• Blend the soup in the pan with a hand-held blender; or leave to cool a little and blend in the liquidizer
• Check the seasoning
• Froth up the milk in the coffee machine
• Ladle the soup into 6 heated bowls or 10-12 little coffee cups and top with a bit of frothy milk (or stir in some cream instead)

MAGRETS DE CANARD À LA CHOUCROUTE ET AUX POMMES

The new season’s choucroute (choucroute nouvelle) starts appearing in our shops round about now. Fresh, sharp and crunchy, it makes an excellent foil for rich meats like duck. Here a savoury mixture of choucroute and apples is slipped under the skin of the duck breasts, which are roasted and served with a red wine butter sauce spiked with juniper berries.

Serves 8
1 medium-sized dessert apple (e.g. Braeburn, Maigold, Cox), peeled and diced
300g cooked choucroute
3-4 tbsp crème fraîche
4 duck breasts with skin, about 350g each
salt and pepper
25g butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
300ml chicken or beef stock
150ml robust red wine
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3-4 juniper berries, smashed with the blade of a knife
100g cold butter, cut in pieces

• Put the choucroute in a colander and press out any excess liquid
• Put it in a bowl and add the apple dice and cream
• Peel and cut away the skin from the breasts, leaving it attached all along one side. Season the breasts and skin
• Lay the choucroute stuffing on top of the breasts, bring the skin up and over and score it with a sharp knife. Fix the skin over the filling with toothpicks
• Heat the oven to 220oC.
• Set the breasts, skin side uppermost, on a cake rack over a roasting pan. Put about one inch of water in the bottom of the pan (to prevent the fat burning and smoking)
• Roast for 20-25 minutes - the skin should be golden and crusty and the meat still pink
• For the sauce, melt the butter and cook the shallot till soft but not brown
• Add the stock, bring to a fast boil and reduce by half; add the wine, vinegar and juniper berries and reduce again by half
• Pull the pan off the heat and whisk in the cold butter bit by bit until the sauce is glossy and somewhat thickened (if you wish you can thicken it more with a little cornflour/Maizena – mix with some sauce, whisk in and bring back to a boil)
• Slice the duck breasts and serve with some sauce

ROAST PUMPKIN, CELERIAC AND POTATOES
WITH LOADS OF GARLIC

Serves 6
1 kg pumpkin flesh (i.e. weight without peel, seeds), cut in chunks
500g potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
500g celeriac, peeled and cut in chunks
salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
plenty of chopped parsley

• Heat the oven to 220C
• Put the pumpkin, potatoes and parsnips or celeriac chunks in a large roasting pan, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle on the garlic and drizzle olive oil all over
• Roast for 40-50 minutes or until tender and lightly golden. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley just before serving

GRIESSPFLÜTTA
Semolina ‘gnocchi’ Alsatian-style

If (like me) you have miserable memories of semolina from childhood days, here’s a delicious dish which may win you round. The semolina is cooked with milk, butter and eggs and left to cool until quite firm.  Then it is cut into the shapes desired and fried till golden in hot butter. The gnocchi work beautifully with roast meats or duck.

Serves 6
1 litre milk
75 g butter
salt and pepper
nutmeg
200 g fine semolina (semoule de blé tendre)
2 eggs + 1 yolk
oil for frying

• Bring the milk to a boil with 50g butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg
• Add the semolina and cook, stirring, until thick
• Let it bubble gently for a minute or two
• Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs and yolk
• Check the seasoning
• Turn the mixture into a shallow buttered baking tin or dish about 3-4 cm deep, and leave to cool
• Tip the whole thing out onto a board and cut into lozenge shapes (or stamp out with a cookie cutter to the shape desired)
• Fry in the remaining butter with a little oil on both sides till golden

TARTE AUX POMMES A L’ALSACIENNE
Alsatian apple tart

The classic Alsatian apple tart of sliced apples set on a pastry base and framed in an egg and cream mixture. Nice served just tepid, with ice cream.

Serves 6-8
250g shortcrust (pie crust) or puff pastry
6-7 dessert apples (Braeburn, Cox, Maigold, Golden Delicious)
juice of ½ a lemon
2 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp flour
2-3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
150ml (1/2 a cup) crème fraîche épaisse (thick sour cream)
icing sugar or quince jelly, melted
 vanilla or cinnamon ice cream to serve

• Roll out the pastry and lay it in a buttered 30cm quiche pan with removable base; cut off any excess
• Prick the pastry with a fork and put in the fridge
• Heat the oven to 200C/400F
• Peel, quarter and core the apples. Slice across the quarters with a sharp knife without going right to the bottom
• Arrange the quarters (sliced but still intact) decoratively in the pastry case. Sprinkle with lemon juice and sugar
• Bake the tart in the lower part of the oven for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is a little cooked (lift the base and see)
• Meanwhile, beat together the eggs, flour, sugar, cinnamon and cream with a fork until well mixed
• Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/350F. Pour the egg and cream mixture over the apples and put the tart back in the oven. Continue to bake for 15-20 minutes more or until the custard is set and lightly golden
• Sprinkle the tart with icing sugar (or brush with warmed quince jelly) and serve with ice cream

HONEY AND CINNAMON ICE CREAM

An old favourite,  quickly made and (unlike most home-made ice creams) it doesn’t need stirring during freezing.

Serves 6
150g runny honey (e.g. acacia)
2 eggs + 1 yolk
½ tsp ground cinnamon
300ml whipping cream

• Heat the honey gently to just below boiling point.
• Beat the eggs, yolk and cinnamon in a bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy
• Pour on the hot honey and continue beating the mixture until thick, pale and doubled in bulk – at least 10 minutes
• Whip the cream till it forms definite peaks
• Fold the two preparations together
• Freeze the ice cream, either in a bowl, or in a loaf tin (for slicing) or in individual coupes or containers