Christmas cookery without Turkey

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Christmas cookery without Turkey

Rolled Christmas Duck

By Mike Robinson of The Field

Monday, 19 November 2007

If the thought of yet another turkey dinner drives you to distraction, duck out with this old-fashioned but elegant Christmas feast. A big hearty Italian soup, rolled Christmas duck and Lemon posset.

December is a wonderful month; I defy anyone in their heart of hearts to say otherwise. The whole build up to Christmas and New Year is truly exciting (with the obvious exception of the adverts for kids' toys on the telly 24/seven). I love the buzz in the air and the wonderful atmosphere it creates in the restaurant. For those in my profession it is also a profitable time that keeps us going over the quiet months to come. I, for one, don't understand the current trend for pooh-poohing Christmas - you know what I mean: all my friends seem to feel they have to say how much they hate Christmas, how over-commercialised it all is and so on. Rubbish! I believe that the festive season is all about excess, about forgetting your woes and really letting your hair down and, of course, eating too much.
Food is always a major focus that brings us all together, especially the Big One: Christmas lunch/dinner. If I am cooking for lots of people I do turkey, but when it is just Mrs R and me (when you work in hospitality and have just made it through the culinary equivalent of a military offensive, you really appreciate a bit of quietude) we often look for something different. Last year I did a lovely rib of beef; this year I am going old- fashioned but quite elegant.

We start with a soup - this one I had in Friuli in Italy was a revelation: a world-class broth of pearl barley, bacon and pulses. I am quite sure that this has a wonderful name but I omitted to find out what it was. All I know is that it fulfils my requirements for a winter broth to the letter, plus it gets better over the following days and you can add turkey to it after the big day - perfect!
Following that comes a spiced and very seasonal meat - duck. I want to make this the day before, which rules out roasting. What I'll do is apply one of our restaurant techniques to the bird. This involves deboning, which is probably best left to your butcher, who will do it for you if you ask nicely.
The boned bird is stuffed and wrapped in muslin, then poached for ages in a vegetable stock. This cooks it perfectly yet retains all the flavour and moisture in the meat. Once out of the muslin, we wrap the bird in cling film and cool it, which sets the meat into a perfect roll. All we then have to do is cut thick slices, fry them to colour, roast for 10 minutes and serve ? easy.
To finish I have resurrected the mediaeval classic - lemon posset. This precursor to crème brûlée is delicate yet wintry and a perfect finish (with the obvious exception of Christmas pud ) to your special meal.

Big, hearty, Italian soup

Serves: an army

4 sticks celery
4 cloves garlic
4 carrots
2 large onions
100ml (4fl oz) olive oil
200g (7oz) smoked bacon lardons
500g (1lb) assorted beans ? borlotti,
haricot, flageolet
200g (7oz) pearl barley
Sprig of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp vegetable bouillon in 1 litre (13?4pints) hot water or (better) 1 litre (13?4pints) good chicken stock
1 litre (13?4pints) water
Salt and pepper
Chives to garnish (optional)

This is simplicity itself. Just chop and soften the vegetables in the olive oil for 20 minutes, then add the bacon, pulses, barley and herbs. Pour in the stock and water and simmer for about 90 minutes. (If you are using dried beans make sure they are soft and fully cooked.) Season to taste and serve with a chive garnish, thick chunks of granary bread and salty butter.

Rolled Christmas duck

Serves 6

500g (1lb) herbed sausagemeat
Small bunch of sage, finely chopped
200g (7oz) prunes, chopped
Salt and pepper
2 good-quality ducks, deboned
3 litres (53?4 pints) water
Head of celery, chopped
Bulb of garlic, chopped
Few carrots, chopped
Vegetable oil for frying
You?ll also need butcher?s string and a square yard of muslin or a couple of clean tea towels

While this takes a bit of time to cook, the actual work involved is very quick and easy. Mix the sausagemeat well with the finely chopped sage and the chopped prunes and season. Squidge half the sausage mix on to each boned duck where the breast used to be, then roll the duck around it. Lay each rolled duck on a sheet of muslin or a tea towel, then tie the ends. Roll the string around the tube to hold the duck in place. Pour the water into your biggest roasting tin and add all your chopped vegetables. Place the duck in the water on top of the vegetables and cover with foil. Pop the tin in the oven for three hours on about 140°C/275°F/Gas Mark 1, then remove. When the meat is cool enough to handle, take off the muslin squares or tea towels and wrap each duck tightly in about five layers of cling film. This will set it into a roll. To serve, cut a 8cm (3in) chunk per person off a roll (leave the film in place). Pop the duck chunks into a hot pan with some oil. Brown both ends, then pop in the oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for 10 minutes. Remove the film and serve with red cabbage, mash and a red wine sauce with fresh sloes added for piquancy.

Lemon posset

Serves 8

600ml (1 pint) double cream
150g (5oz) caster sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
Ground cinnamon to taste
This delicious pudding is a doddle to make. Boil the cream; add the sugar and make sure it dissolves properly. Add the lemon juice and pour the mixture into ramekins. Allow the posset to set for a few hours in the fridge, then tuck in with a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Happy Christmas!
Next month: curry, chilli and spice.