Oyster Mushroom Timbales With Smoked Duck And Hazelnuts Recipes

Steps:

• Skin the duck breasts and remove all fat and connective tissues. Set aside.
• For the sauce, mix the stock, wine, shallots and thyme in a saucepan and reduce by about two-thirds, or until the mixture coats a spoon evenly. Remove from the heat and whisk in two tablespoons of butter. Season with salt and pepper. Strain through a fine mesh and keep warm.
• For the timbales, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter the interiors of eight muffin cups. Whisk together the half-and-half, stock and eggs, season with salt and pepper and strain. Place a tablespoon of the chopped mushrooms in each of the muffin cups and press down. Fill the cups with the timbale mixture. Cover the entire muffin tin with a sheet of buttered foil. Place the muffin tin inside a larger pan and fill with hot water to a level halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted near the center of a timbale comes out clean. Remove the timbales from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.
• Heat two tablespoons of butter and the oil in a skillet over high heat and saute the duck breasts, browning them on both sides until medium rare, or about five minutes a side. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• In the same skillet, saute the whole mushrooms. Season them and set aside.
• To serve, run a knife along the edge of each timbale and unmold by inverting onto a cookie sheet. Place each timbale in the center of a plate. Cut the duck breasts into thin strips lengthwise and wrap them around the outer edge of each timbale. Ladle the sauce in a circle around the strips of duck. Garnish with mushrooms, hazelnuts and herbs.

Steps:

• Rinse dried mushrooms to remove sand or dirt and place in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and let steep for 30 minutes.
• Lay duck breasts skin-side down on a cutting board. With your fingers, remove the thin tenderloins from the underside of each breast and reserve for sauce. With a sharp knife, trim away any gristle. Turn breasts skin-side up and trim excess fat from the edges. Score the skins in a diamond pattern. Season generously with salt and pepper, transfer to a plate and leave at cool room temperature for 1 hour.
• Put olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the reserved tenderloins and brown well on both sides. Add butter and flour to pan, and cook, stirring, until mixture is lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add soaked mushrooms and soaking liquid, and stir well as sauce begins to thicken. Add wine, thyme and bay leaf, turn heat to low, and simmer gently until gravylike, but not too thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard tenderloins, thyme and bay leaf. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning. Keep warm. (Sauce may be prepared several hours or up to 2 days in advance.)
• Set a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add duck breasts to skillet skin-side down and let sizzle. Lower heat to medium and cook for about 7 or 8 minutes, making sure skin doesn't brown too quickly. (This will render fat and crisp the skin.) Turn breasts over and cook 3 minutes more for rare (thermometer should read 120 degrees), or 4 to 5 minutes for medium-rare (thermometer should read 125 degrees). Transfer to a warm platter and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons rendered fat from the pan, and raise heat to medium-high. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, letting them brown nicely. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and stir in garlic and parsley.
• Slice duck 1/4-inch thick, crosswise at a slight angle, and serve immediately. Each serving should have 4 to 5 slices of duck, a large spoonful of mushrooms and a bit of sauce.

Steps:

• If the beef is an inch thick or more, slice it in half horizontally and cut each slice in two to make a total of four steaks. Pound the steaks thin, about a quarter of an inch or less, as if making veal scaloppine or minute steaks.
• Mix the garlic, oregano, salt and pepper with the bread crumbs and press the seasoned crumbs into both side of the steaks.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over a high flame and brown the steaks quickly, about two minutes on each side. Keep the steaks warm on a platter.

Steps:

• Rinse the steaks and pat them dry. Salt on both sides.
• Using a fork or a food processor, mash the sake lees with sugar and water to make a thick paste. Place a third of the paste in the bottom of a plastic bag, put two of the steaks on top of the paste and cover them with another third of the paste. Repeat with the remaining two steaks, covering them with remaining paste. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• When ready to broil or grill the steaks, scrape off the paste (which can be reused if refrigerated) and broil the fish close to the heat for four minutes on one side, three minutes on the other.
• Garnish the steaks with pickled seaweed or toasted nori leaves, cut into julienne strips.

Steps:

• Grate the lemon rind finely, squeeze the juice and mix both with the white wine, Madeira and sugar.
• Add nutmeg and beat in the heavy cream gradually with an electric beater or wire whisk. Beat until the cream forms soft peaks, but don't overbeat or the cream will become too dense.
• Spoon the mixture into parfait or Sherry glasses and chill or serve at room temperature. If you want the cream and liquor to separate, make syllabub several hours ahead.
• When ready to serve, garnish each glass with a sprig of rosemary, mint, lavender or a twist of lemon.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F. Using sharp knife, score skin of duck breasts diagonally to create 3/4-inch-wide diamond pattern; pat dry. Sprinkle duck with salt and pepper. Heat heavy large skillet over high heat. Add duck breasts, skin side down. Cook until skin is deep golden brown, about 8 minutes. Turn duck over; cook about 3 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in oven.
• Pour all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Add oil. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add mushrooms and shallots and sauté until mushrooms are tender, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add wine and stir until juices thicken, scraping up browned bits, about 1 minute.
• Place 1 duck breast on each of 4 plates. Pour mushroom sauce over, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.