Tag: nero davalo

Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce

18 December 2025

Breast of Duck (Margret de Canard) is often paired with sweet ingredients, such as figs and oranges. We love the combination of duck with a green pepper sauce, because the sharpness emphasises the natural sweetness of the duck meat. In this recipe we do something similar. The sauce with thyme and mustard is aromatic and a touch sharp, which is very nice with the duck. The grated garlic adds spiciness to the sauce, making the dish more complex and bold. Delicious when combined with the sweet and sour caponata and crunchy fried polenta.

Wine Pairing

To balance the flavours of the dish, we suggest a fruity, dry red wine, one with subtle tannins and lots of freshness. We enjoyed a glass of Nero d’Avola, made in Sicily. The unoaked wine had a ruby red colour and aromas of cherries and plum. Serving the wine slightly chilled (meaning 15°C or 16°C (59°F or 61°F)) enhanced the freshness, acidity and fruitiness of the wine.

What You Need
  • 1 Breast of Duck
  • Thyme
  • Chicken Stock
  • Garlic
  • Mustard
  • Crème Fraîche
  • ½ grated clove Garlic
  • Black Pepper
  • To serve with the Duck
What You Do
  1. Check the breast for remainders of feathers
  2. Remove the vein on the meat side of the breast (and other bits you don’t like)
  3. Place on a dish, cover with foil and transfer to the refrigerator
  4. Leave in the refrigerator for one hour, making sure it’s nice, firm and cold
  5. Fry the duck in a hot, non-sticky skillet for 10-12 minutes on the skin side. Reduce the heat after a few minutes. You don’t need oil or butter, the ducks fat will do the trick
  6. Now fry for 2-3 minutes on the meat side and remove
  7. Cover with aluminum foil in such a way that the crispy skin is not covered. The foil should only cover the meat
  8. Remove most of the fat from the pan, but not all
  9. Add chicken stock and thyme
  10. Deglaze the pan
  11. Start building the sauce by adding juices from the duck
  12. Add mustard. This will not only add complexity and sharpness to the sauce, it will also make it thicker
  13. Add crème fraîche
  14. Add stock, mustard and crème fraîche to taste
  15. After 10 – 15 minutes add grated garlic, this will give a boost to the sauce
  16. Slice the duck (we like fairly big slices; you may prefer thinner ones)
  17. Add the last juices to the sauce and serve the duck with the sauce, caponata and fried polenta
Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce ©cadwu served with caponata and polenta
Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce ©cadwu

Veal Rib Eye with Morels

4 April 2019

Morels or Not?

In January 2019 one person died and over 30 people became ill after having eaten at Riff, the one Michelin star restaurant in Valencia. Media were quick in their analysis and decided that it was caused by the morels in one of the dishes. Today (April 4th) it’s not yet clear what caused the catastrophe.

Most sources mention that Morels contain some kind of toxin, one that can be destroyed by heating the morels. So lesson one with morels is not to eat them raw; they must be sautéed for a few minutes. Luckily the taste improves when sautéing them a bit longer, let’s say 10 minutes, so the toxin should be gone by then. However… some people report an upset stomach after having eaten morels and drinking alcohol. If you’re not used to eating morels, it could be wise to eat just a few and see how you react.

Look-A-Likes

A clear risk with morels is the fact that some other mushrooms are true look-a-likes. For example the highly toxic early morel or wrinkled thimble-cap and other ‘false’ morels. So picking them yourself is not a good idea unless you are an experienced morel-hunter. If you buy them (like we do), then buy them fresh or dried from a reliable source.

China

Some media mentioned that the morels used at Riff were brought in from China. Is that a problem? Yes from a sustainability point of view and No from a morel point of view. Morels are found in abundance in North America, Australia, China, Poland, France, India, Pakistan and many other countries, so why distrust them when they originate from China?

Back to Riff

Our humble view is that morels are in the mushroom top three together with Cèpes and Truffle. We are perfectly happy to eat them, for instance combined with Veal. And we look forward to having dinner at Riff when we are in Valencia later this year.

Wine Pairing

We prefer a full-bodied red wine, for instance a Nero d’Avola. We enjoyed a glass of Vanitá Nero d’Avola Organico Terre Siciliane I.G.T. 2016. It goes very well with the rich flavours of the veal and the morels. The wine comes with raspberries, red fruits and just a touch of vanilla. It has medium sweetness and a hint of herbs and spices, almost cinnamon. A long aftertaste and light tannins.

What You Need

  • Rib Eye of Veal
  • Butter
  • Olive Oil
  • Morels
  • Veal stock
  • Spinach

What You Do

Fry the Rib Eye in a heavy iron skillet for a few minutes until (very) pink. Wrap in aluminium foil and allow to rest. Reduce the heat and if necessary add some extra butter to the pan. Add the cleaned and halved morels and sauté gently. Add some veal stock and juices from the rib eye. In a small pan heat some olive oil, add the dry spinach and stir constantly. Serve the rib eye with the sauce, the morels and the spinach. Spring on your plate!

Rib Eye of Veal with Fresh Morels and Spinach © cadwu
Ingredienst of Rib Eye of Veal with Fresh Morels and Spinach © cadwu
Fresh Morels © cadwu

Chicken with Tarragon, Leek and Nero d’Avola

14 August 2018

Some combinations are made in heaven. Chicken and Tarragon is such a combination: it simply works brilliantly. Tarragon is a very powerful, aromatic herb, full of flavors such as anise and licorice. It’s the key ingredient of the sauce Béarnaise and it is of course wonderful when combined with vinegar and mustard. For kitchen purposes you need to buy French tarragon. The other well-known variety is called Russian tarragon. It’s a nice plant for your garden or balcony, with flowers and lots of leaves, but the taste is very bland, so not one to use in the kitchen.

We use butter to carry the taste of the tarragon to the chicken and to the sauce. It’s the principle behind enfleurage and maceration in the perfume making industry: fat is used to absorb the fragrance. So yes, you need an excellent chicken with lots of fat under the skin.

This recipe works with a whole chicken, with breasts and legs, provided they come with a skin. The crux of this recipe is to create a layer of tarragon butter between the meat and the skin, allowing for a crispy skin in combination with rich, flavored meat. You can stuff the chicken in the morning or the day before. Ideal when you’re having guests!

The sauce is very rich, so instead of using flour or cream, we create an emulsified sauce by blendering the mixture. The result is a velvety, filming sauce.

We enjoyed our chicken with a glass of Inycon Nero d’Avola. The wine is elegant, fruity, not too full bodied and it has soft tannins and a gentle acidity. You will also taste licorice, which is a nice reflection of the tarragon and the Pastis. The balance of the acidity of the wine and the filming structure of the sauce is essential to the dish.

Here is what you need

  • 2 Chicken Legs
  • 8 Sprigs of Tarragon
  • 20 + 10 grams of Butter
  • Olive Oil
  • Pastis
  • Chicken Stock
  • Optional: Leek, olive oil and water

Strip the tarragon leaves from the stem and chop. Let’s say you need one or two sprigs of tarragon per chicken leg. Use a fork to make the tarragon butter. Use your fingers to create space (a pocket) between the skin and the meat. Start for instance in the middle of the leg (outside) or at the rear of the whole chicken. Be careful not to open the edges, otherwise the tarragon butter can’t do its work. Put some of the butter between the skin and the meat and use your fingers to create a thin layer by pressing the butter to the sides. Coat the bottom of a shallow baking pan with olive oil.
Transfer the chicken legs to the pan. Add some additional butter to the pan (not on top of the chicken). Also add the sprigs you haven’t used. Put the pan in an oven of 200˚ Celsius or 390˚ Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
Transfer the chicken legs and two sprigs of tarragon to a plate and keep them warm in the oven (just switch it of and keep the door open). Deglaze the pan with chicken stock and Pastis. Deglazing simply means that you add a liquid and then by stirring the mixture you capture the residue in the pan. As if you are cleaning the pan. Blender the mixture and poor through a sieve into a small saucepan. You now have a homogenous, emulsified sauce. Warm the sauce and stir occasionally for five minutes. Serve the chicken with the sauce, the fried sprigs of tarragon and the briefly cooked leek.

(P.S. Clean the leek, making sure you have removed the sand and dirt. Slice thinly and cook with some olive oil and a drop or two of water. Five minutes maximum should do the trick.)