Volume 9, Issue 75 - October 14, 2005

Hello Recipe Club,

I would like to thank Paula Wolfert for sharing her wonderful recipes with us this week. Her new release of The Cooking of Southwest France will be a huge success and we wish her all the best. Please drop by her website, PaulaWolfert.com and drop her a note to let her know how much you appreciated her recipes. Pick up two copies of her new cookbook, one for your best friend and one for yourself!

Next week, Chef Jean Denham, CC will again share some recipes from the Chef2Chef Share A Recipe Cookbook.

Have a great weekend folks...You deserve it.

Puréed Sorrel
(Purée d'Oseille)

One of the great natural affinities is a plate of rich duck confit and lemony puréed sorrel. Sorrel naturally purées itself when cooked, so it is an easy vegetable to prepare. Finding and cleaning enough for large groups is the problem. One pound of fresh young sorrel leaves makes about 1 1/4 cups purée, enough for two servings.

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh sorrel leaves
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream or Crème Fraîche

Preparation:

Carefully wash sorrel leaves and remove the stems, drain well. Tear the larger leaves into small pieces. Roll leaves into neat small bunches and cut each roll with a stainless steel knife into thin strips (chiffonnade). Makes about 6 packed cups.

Melt the butter in a non-aluminum saucepan over medium-low heat. Add sorrel and salt and pepper. Cover and cook 1 minute to steam leaves. Uncover and cook down until all moisture evaporates and the sorrel is thick. With the back of a stainless steel fork, crush the sorrel to a purée. Set aside until ready to serve.

Reheat gently with cream. Adjust seasoning.

Note to the Cook: If only a handful of sorrel is available, combine with 3/4 pound of spinach, but cook each separately and purée the spinach in the food processor before combining.

Source: The Cooking of Southwest France

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Sautéed Duck Hearts with Green Grapes
(Coeurs de Canard Poêlés aux Raisins Verts)

In an effort to use up every part of the duck, here is a quick meal for one, a special treat for the fatigued cook who has just cut up three or four ducks. Do not substitute chicken hearts.

Makes 1 serving

Active Work: 20 minutes (if you peel the grapes)

Ingredients:

3 to 4 duck hearts
1 tablespoon duck fat or unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup Rich Dark Duck Stock or 1 cup poultry stock reduced by half
20 green grapes (peeled, if you like)
red wine vinegar
a piece of toasted crusty bread, lightly rubbed with garlic

Preparation:

Rinse the duck hearts, pat dry.

In a small skillet, gently sauté the duck hearts in hot fat about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Blot away the fat.

Add the stock, cover, and simmer gently 5 minutes. Boil down, uncovered, until pan juices are reduced by half. Add the grapes, toss the ingredients and cook 3 or 4 seconds to heat through. Swirl in a few drops of vinegar and serve at once with crusty bread.

Source: The Cooking of Southwest France

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Mussels Peasant Style
(Moules Paysanne)

This is a very simple and quickly made dish to serve as a first course for two or three. It was in the city of Pau, the capital of the Béarn, that I first tasted this dish. What impressed me most, I think, is how well mussels and ham go together despite the fact that both are rather salty. The soft fresh white bread crumbs seemed to swallow up the excess salt and kept the dish light.

One of my favorite menus for spring begins with these mussels. Follow with a Confit of Duck with Green Peas and Ham and a dish of Preserved Spiced Pears in Red Wine with Armagnac.

Makes 2 to 3 servings

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh mussels, cleaned
2 to 3 tablespoons soft fresh white bread crumbs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ounce jambon de Bayonne, prosciutto, or Serrano ham, cut into thin matchsticks
1 1/2 teaspoons minced shallots
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon finely minced garlic (chopped by hand)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Roll bread crumbs in a towel to dry them well. Unroll and fluff them so that they are loose. Set aside.

In a non-aluminum skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter. Gently cook the ham and shallots 4 to 5 minutes without browning.

Meanwhile, steam mussels. Strain the liquor through several layers of damp cheesecloth and add to the skillet. Add the wine and cook until reduced by one quarter.

Remove the upper shell of each mussel and discard. Place the mussels in their half shells on a shallow heatproof platter. Cover loosely with foil and set in oven to keep warm.

Add garlic, parsley, a few grinds of pepper and the bread crumbs to the reduced cooking liquid. Reduce heat to medium.

Cut the remaining butter into small chunks. Add to the skillet, swirl until butter binds with bread crumbs to make a sauce. Pour over the mussels and serve at once. Pass rounds of lightly toasted French bread rubbed with garlic.

Source: The Cooking of Southwest France