Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I love duck any way you make it. From a simple roast half duck (bones intact, hopefully with crispy skin), to duck Prosciutto, to duck sausage, I will always try the duck on the menu. Bernice had the duck salad at Max’s a few weeks ago — it seems to run in my family. Even my favorite game as a kid was Duck Duck Goose! So when I found this recipe for Duck Pie in the Loaves and Fishes Party Cookbook, which I bought at the KSFR book sale, I was intrigued. However, they started with a whole duck and removed the meat. I say why not just buy the Maple Leaf boneless duck breasts a save some time. And I also made some other changes, which just made sense to me — well, I am a chef! So here is the recipe.
Ingredients for pastry crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
12 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup very cold water
Procedure for pastry crust
Place flour, butter, salt, and pepper in food processor with steel blade a pulse a few times 'til butter appears the size of small peas. Now add lemon juice and cold water and continue to pulse till mixture starts to get clumpy. Remove from mixer and dump onto floured counter. Gather pastry into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Now make duck filling.
Ingredients for filling
2 pounds duck breast meat
1 pound lean pork, coarsely ground
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup Madeira wine
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 tablespoon drained green peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 cup sour cream
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk
Procedure for filling
Cut the raw duck meat into 1/2 inch pieces, place into a bowl and add the ground pork. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan, add the shallots and sauté for 2 minutes over low heat. Now add the garlic and the meat mixture and stir to break up meat lumps. Add chicken stock, Madeira, sage, peppercorns, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Turn up to high heat and cook the mixture for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the sour cream and let cool to room temperature.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. To assemble the pie, divide the pastry into 2/3 and 1/3. Roll out the larger piece into a 12 inch circle and place in the bottom and up the sides of a buttered and lined, 10-inch springform pan. Spoon meat mix into the bottom of the shell. Roll out remaining dough and place on top where the side pastry ends. It will not fill the pan. Use a fork to seal the top and bottom crusts together. Cut a few slits in the top to let out steam. Now with a fork, whisk together the egg yolk and milk and brush the top to create a nice glaze. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 then lower the oven to 350 and bake for 40 minutes more. Let pie cool 30 minutes before serving, so the mixture can set. Serve warm or room temperature. This is worth the effort, trust me!
