Duck Fesenjan Recipes

Steps:

• Season duck legs all over with salt and black pepper.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place duck legs, skin-side down, in hot oil and cook until browned, 2 to 5 minutes; turn and cook until browned on the other side, 2 to 4 minutes more. Transfer legs to a plate; pour rendered duck fat into a bowl.
• Pour water into the skillet and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.
• Heat about 2 tablespoons duck fat and olive oil in Dutch oven medium heat. Cook and stir onion in hot oil and fat until golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Add turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg; cook and stir until fragrant, 1 minute.
• Pour chicken broth, pomegranate molasses, honey, and reserved water mixture from the skillet into onions; bring to a simmer.
• Grind walnuts to a fine powder in a food processor.
• Cook and stir walnuts in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir walnuts into broth mixture; place duck legs in broth to cover in broth. Reduce heat and simmer until duck legs are tender, 3 to 4 hours. Transfer duck to a serving dish.
• Bring broth mixture to a boil; cook until reduced and desired sauce consistency is reached. Season with salt. Ladle sauce over duck legs.

Steps:

• Heat butter or oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven.
• Add onions and sauté until wilted and translucent.
• Add garlic, cinnamon and nutmeg and sauté, stirring, for another 1-2 minutes.
• Stir in walnuts, pomegranate syrup, stock, sugar, salt, pepper and saffron.
• Adjust sugar and salt to taste.
• Bring to a low boil and simmer 1/2 hour.
• Add chicken and simmer on low heat another 30-60 minutes.
• Halfway through the cooking time, add the lime juice to taste.
• The sauce will thicken and darken during this cooking time, and the oil will begin to render out of the walnuts.
• Add water or stock if necessary to prevent the sauce from thickening too much and scorching.
• Serve with plain white rice.
• NOTES Fesenjan is special occasion food in Iran.
• It is traditionally made with duck or pheasant in the north of the country along the Caspian sea.
• It is a thick, rich, sweet-sour dish that improves in flavor the next day.
• Pomegranate syrup is available in most Middle Eastern and health food stores.
• If it is unavailable, you can use an equal amount of frozen, concentrated cranberry juice.
• The flavor is roughly the same.
• You can use a whole bone-in chicken if you like.
• Cut it into 8 serving pieces and remove most of the skin.
• The bones will give the dish a richer flavor.

Steps:

• Gently fry the duck breasts in oil, skin side down for 5-10 minutes, until they release their fat. Add the onion, garlic and salt and pepper. Fry until onion is soft, stirring occasionally. Once the skin has browned, turn the heat up and brown the flesh side. Remove the duck from the pan and leave in a warm place.
• Pour the duck fat from the onions and reserve fat for another use. Add the pomegranate molasses, chicken stock, walnuts and a little sugar to taste. Stir well, bring to a simmer then return the duck to the pan. Continue cooking until the duck is medium rare. Rest the duck for 5 minutes while you reduce the liquid to sauce consistency.

Steps:

• Sprinkle meat with lime juice and allow to marinate for 1-4 hours.
• Over medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot heat an 1/8 cup (2 Tablespoons) of the butter or oil until shimmering.
• Add the chicken/duck pieces a few at a time and brown on all sides. Remove to a plate.
• Add onions (and eggplant if using - see notes in description) and sauté in remaining butter or oil until translucent.
• Stir in ground walnuts and saute for 1/2 a minute.
• Add stock or water and browned chicken/duck pieces. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes.
• Stir in the pomegranate juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
• Taste and adjust seasoning. Sauce should have a balanced sweet-sour flavor. See notes to adjust.
• Simmer another 15-20 minutes until the chicken/duck is tender, sauce is somewhat thickened and the walnuts begin to give off their oil. Serve with plain white rice.

Steps:

• Heat a skillet over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and brown lightly on both sides, working in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
• Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onions and cook until lightly browned. Add the beets, walnuts, garlic, cinnamon, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the pomegranate syrup and stock and bring to a boil. Cook at a low boil, covered, for 10 minutes.
• Add the chicken and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. The stew should be bubbling the whole time. Turn the chicken pieces over every 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and add salt, if necessary. The beets should be fork-tender.
• To serve, transfer the chicken to a cutting board. For chicken legs, separate the thigh from the drumstick. For breasts, slice each one into 2 or 3 pieces. Put a small mound of rice on each plate with a few pieces of chicken on top. Spoon the stew over the chicken. Sprinkle the pomegranate seeds and several cilantro leaves on top. Serve the cucumber yogurt on the side.

Steps:

• In a food processor grind the walnuts until they are extremely fine and have a consistency almost like peanut butter. You can tell the nuts are ready when the crumbs start to stick together like dough.
• Place the ground walnuts in a large casserole dish. Add 1 litre of cold water. Bring this sauce to the boil on the stovetop and cook on a high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce to a low heat and leave it to simmer with the lid slightly ajar to let off some the steam. This is the basis of your sauce. Let it simmer on a low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally to make sure the walnuts don't stick to the bottom of the dish.
• After the walnut sauce has been cooking for 1 hour, add 200ml of cold water and two ice cubes to the pot. The cold water is important as it encourages the walnuts to release their natural oils. Give the sauce good stir then stick the lid back on and leave it to simmer for another hour.
• After 2 hours the sauce should have thickened and darkened in colour. Now add the pomegranate molasses, tomato concentrate, cinnamon, sugar, salt and pepper and stir well. Add the chicken pieces. Place the lid on the pot and continue to cook over a low heat for another hour.
• After about 50 minutes the chicken will be cooked and the sauce should be a rice, glossy, chocolate colour. Taste the sauce for seasoning. If you prefer it a bit sweeter, add more sugar or, if you want a more sour taste, add more pomegranate molasses. Cook for a final 10 minutes with the lid off so that the sauce thickens around the meat.
• Serve with steamed rice and a sprinkle a handful of fresh pomegranate seeds on top to garnish.