Tag: orange

Canard a l’Orange

27 January 2021

Preparing Duck is always a pleasure, whether with green peppers or with Szechuan, the result is tasty and your guests will be happy. So let’s revisit another classic from the 1960’s: Canard A l’Orange is a delicious combination of duck with a multi-layered orange sauce.

So what did we change compared to the 1960’s-recipe? We don’t use a whole duck, due to the lack of availability but also because cooking a whole duck is far more challenging than cooking a whole chicken or turkey. We also don’t use (caramelized) sugar and we use butter instead of flower or corn starch to create a nice, velvety sauce.

Wine Pairing

A classic wine from the Bordeaux region will be wonderful with your duck. We enjoyed a glass of Château Cap Saint-Martin Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux Le Cabernet d’en face 2017. This wine is made from 100% Cabernet-Sauvignon grapes, which is to be expected for Bordeaux wines from the left bank of the Gironde. Hence the d’en face (opposite or other side) in the name, because Blaye is situated on the right bank of the Gironde (where Merlot is the dominant grape for red wine).
In general you’re looking for a wine with soft aromas of dark berries, vanilla and spices. On the palette it should be round with present tannins. A wine that will combine with the sweetness and depth of the sauce in combination with the rich, juicy and slightly sweet duck meat and its crispy skin.

What You Need

What You Do

Check the breast of duck for remainders of feathers. Remove the vein on the meat side of the breast (and the odd membrane you don’t like). Put on a dish, cover and transfer to the fridge. Leave in the fridge for a few hours, making sure it’s nice, firm and cold.
Fry the duck (straight from the refrigerator!) 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 duck fat will do the trick. Now fry for 2-3 minute on the meat side and remove. Cover with aluminium foil in such a way that the crispy skin is not covered. The foil should only cover the meat. The skin must remain crispy.
Clean the orange, make thin zest and press the orange. Remove some of the fat and add stock, a generous amount of zest, orange juice, garlic, thyme and Mandarin Napoleon. Stir and make sure the garlic becomes integrated in the sauce. Allow to reduce by half. Add liquid from the duck. Taste and adjust. Later on butter will be added  softening the taste so at this stage the flavours need to be clearly present. You may want to add some mustard to push the flavours and help the sauce emulgate. Add more of the duck’s liquid. Reduce the heat and add cubes of cold butter. Keep stirring, taste, add black pepper, perhaps extra thyme and plate up. We served the duck with green beans (olive oil, freshly grated nutmeg) and fried potatoes.

Canard a l'Orange
Canard a l’Orange ©cadwu

A Royal Sabayon

27 April 2020

Happy Birtday!

Today April 27th we celebrate the King’s Birthday in the Netherlands. Hip hip hurrah! The Dutch Royal Family is known as the House of Orange-Nassau, hence the link to anything orange (oranje in Dutch), including a liqueur called Oranje Bitter. It’s not many people’s favourite; most people prefer another traditional drink: lots of beer.

There are many recipes for Oranje Bitter; most of them with too much sugar and undefined herbs. We prefer the more classic version produced by Van Wees and De Ooievaar. Their Oranje Bitter is made with Pomerans (Citrus Aurantium, the bitter orange) and Curaçao peel.

Our grandmother wasn’t a big fan of Oranje Bitter, but she felt she had to serve it on the (then) Queens Birthday. She combined one tradition with another: she made Dutch Advocaat using Oranje Bitter. Basically Advocaat (similar to Eggnog) is a sabayon-like drink made with egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and a strong alcohol (brandewijn, gin, vodka or grappa), served in a nice glass with a small spoon and possibly topped with whipped cream (but no need for that).

Grandmother cooked her advocaat Au Bain Marie; we prepare our Royal Sabayon using a microwave oven.

What You Need

  • 3 Egg Yolks
  • 30 grams of Sugar
  • 80 ml of Oranje Bitter

What You Do

Mix the egg yolks and the sugar well. Make sure the sugar is dissolved before adding the liquid. Transfer to the microwave and very gently heat the mixture. We used intervals of 10 seconds to start with and intervals of 5 seconds to finish. In total only 75 seconds on 30% power. Duration depends on the power of your microwave. Stir well (or whisk, but not too much) after every interval until it becomes thick. The consistency must be similar to a thick pastry cream (crème pâtissière). Cool quickly and store in the refrigerator.

PS Obviously you need fresh eggs when making  a sabayon, mayonnaise, béarnaise et cetera. We don’t think eating fresh, organic eggs is a problem. Eating all kinds of additives, unclear syrops, modified milk ingredients, guar gum, monoglycerides et cetera, that’s a problem.

PS Use the egg whites to make madeleines.

Oranje Bitter as produced by Van Wees – De Ooievaar © cadwu
Oranje Bitter Advocaat © cadwu

Today’s Royal Special

27 April 2019

Happy Birtday!

Today April 27th we celebrate the King’s Birthday in the Netherlands. Hip hip hurrah! The Dutch Royal Family is known as the House of Orange-Nassau, hence the link to anything orange (Oranje in Dutch), including a drink (liqueur) called Oranje Bitter. It’s not many people’s favourite by the way, most people prefer another traditional drink: lots of beer.
There are many recipes for Oranje Bitter, most of them with lots of sugar and some undefined herbs. We prefer the more classic version produced by Van Wees and De Ooievaar. Their Oranje Bitter is made with Pomerans (Citrus Aurantium, the bitter orange) and Curacao peel. To compensate the bitterness some people add sugar, but the bitter as produced by Van Wees has a great balance between sweet and bitter. Plus a bitter should be bitter.

Our grandmother (or Beppe as we used to call her) wasn’t a big fan of Oranje Bitter, but she felt she had to serve it on the Queens Birthday. She combined one tradition with another tradition: Dutch Advocaat. This drink is similar to Eggnog, with three important differences: Advocaat is made with egg yolks only, no milk is added and advocaat is heated (62° Celsius to be exact). Basically Advocaat is a sabayon-like drink made with egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and a strong alcohol (brandewijn, gin, vodka or grappa), served in a nice glass with a small spoon. You could add whipped cream, but that’s only hiding the taste.

Beppe cooked her advocaat Au Bain Marie; we cook our Oranje Bitter advocaat using a microwave oven.

What You Need (Oranje Bitter Advocaat)

  • 3 Egg Yolks
  • 30 grams of Sugar
  • 80 ml of Oranje Bitter

What You Need (Advocaat)

  • 100 grams of Egg Yolks
  • 75 grams of Sugar
  • 5 grams of Vanilla Sugar
  • 125 ml of Vodka

What You Do

Mix the egg yolks and the sugar well. Make sure is dissolved before gently adding the liquid. Transfer to the microwave and very gently heat the mixture. We used intervals of 10 seconds to start with and intervals of 5 seconds to finish. In total only 75 seconds on 30% power. Duration depends on the power of your microwave. Stir well (or whisk, but not too much) after every interval until it becomes thick. The consistency must be similar to a thick pastry cream (crème pâtissière). Cool quickly and store in the refrigerator.

PS Obviously you need fresh eggs when making advocaat, mayonnaise, sabayon, béarnaise et cetera. We don’t think eating fresh, organic eggs is a problem. Eating all kinds of additives, unclear syrops, modified milk ingredients, guar gum, monoglycerides et cetera, that’s a problem.

PS Use the egg whites to make madeleines.

Oranje Bitter as produced by Van Wees – De Ooievaar © cadwu
Oranje Bitter Advocaat © cadwu

Orange Flan

10 October 2018

Such a nice small dessert! It combines the gentle taste of a classic flan with the fruity orange. The fun is that the orange is in the flan itself, in the gel and of course in the zest. We’re sure you and your guests will appreciate the lightness and long taste.

We love to combine this dish with Rivesalte Ambré. If you can’t get hold of the Ambré, then go for another Rivesalte. The Ambré has a long, deep taste that supports the taste of the flan very well; it lifts it to an exquisite level. The Ambré comes with a hint of citrus; if it’s clementine even better.

 Here is what you need

  • For the flan
    • 8 small Coddlers (so-called standard size)
    • 2 Eggs
    • 2 Egg Yolks
    • 200 ml fresh Orange Juice
    • 20 grams of Sugar (depending on the sweetness of the orange juice)
    • butter
  • For the gel
    • 100 ml fresh Orange Juice
    • Grand Marnier or Cointreau
    • 0,5 gram of Agar Agar
  • And also
    • Orange Zest
    • Edible Flower

In a bowl mix the eggs and the egg yolks using a spoon. Make sure to do this very gently; we don’t want any bubbles in the mixture. Now add 20 gram of sugar to the orange juice and make sure it’s totally absorbed. Combine the juice and the egg and stir gently. Pass through a sieve. It’s important that the mixture is very smooth, so no bits of egg, sugar and orange. If not, pass through a finer sieve. If you have bubbles in the mixture then let rest in the refrigerator.
Apply a very thin layer of butter to the coddlers, just enough to cover the inside. Pour the mixture in the coddlers, but nor more than 2/3. The mixture will set but not raise (or only a little bit). Close the coddlers, but not too tight. You want to test one during the cooking process and you don’t want to burn your hands.
Set your oven to ‘classic’ and to 170° Celsius or 340° Fahrenheit . Place a large oven tray in the middel of the oven. When the oven has reached the right temperature, place the coddlers in the tray and add boiling water. The water should reach ¾ of the coddler, leaving ¼ free. Once in the oven reduce the temperature to 120° Celsius or 250° Fahrenheit and cook for 30 minutes. The flans are done when a metal pen comes out clean.
Remove the coddlers from the oven and allow to cool. You can do this by putting them in cold water, but you can also give it a bit of time. When cool, dry the inside of the metal lid (condense). Transfer to the refrigerator.
Reduce 100 ml orange juice and the Grand Marnier or Cointreau. When nearly reduced by 50% add the agar agar. Allow to simmer for a few minutes. You may want to test the consistency. Simply put some reduced liquid on a saucer, transfer to the freezer and wait for 2 minutes. The consistency will be a good indication of the final result.
Now for the zest: most citrus fruit is waxed, so you may need to rub the orange. Put a bit of very thin orange zest on top of the flan and finish by pouring some (still warm) gel over it. Ideally this will cover the top (and the zest) and flow between the coddler and the flan.
Put the coddlers in the refrigerator and let cool. Half an hour before serving, take them out of the refrigerator, remove the lid, dry the inside and put it back on again.
If you can get hold of a nice edible flower, then put it on top of the gel, just before serving.
You can serve them with a slice of confit of orange. And if you have made these anyway, why not dip them in deepest, darkest chocolate?

orange flan

Panna Cotta

29 January 2018

Cream, Cream and More Cream

Such a lovely and simple dessert! Provided of course it’s made the right way. So no milk, no yoghurt, no cream cheese, no whipped cream and most certainly no whipped egg white! Just cream. Cooked Cream. And preferably cream with lots of fat because then you will need less gelatine.
You can serve the panna cotta after a few hours (or the next day) with a rich strawberry or raspberry sauce, but we prefer to enjoy the panna cotta with a bit of candied orange zest, simply because we want to balance the sweetness and richness of the panna cotta with the acidity and bitterness of the orange. Home made is preferred, see the recipe for an Orange Flan.

What You Need (For 4)

  • 500 ml fresh Cream
  • 3,5 leaves of Gelatine
  • 1 Vanilla Bean
  • 25 gram Sugar
  • Candied Orange

What You Do

The recipe is for 4 panna cotta (actually should we say 4 panne cotte).
Slowly bring the cream to the boil. Add the seeds of the vanilla but also add the remainder of the bean. Now keep close to boiling for 15 minutes. Stir when necessary. Remove from the heat and while stirring add the sugar until totally resolved. Now pass through a sieve to make sure you remove all the bits you don’t want. Follow the instruction of the gelatine and add the leaves. Stir well until homogeneous. Cool the liquid somewhat before filling the forms. We used a silicone mold. Nice and easy! The only thing you need to do is to make the mold a bit moist with water. Let the panna cotta cool and then store in the refrigerator until set. Don’t forget to seal with cling foil, otherwise your panna cotta will absorb aromas from other food in the refrigerator.

Panna Cotta © cadwu
Panna Cotta © cadwu