Duck Day 2014 Menu: what we cooked for Thanksgiving this year
If you’re new to following me and my partner corwin, our Thanksgiving meal is a Big Deal. corwin has been cooking duck for “Duck Day” ever since he got to college in 1986 and cooked Thanksgiving dinner for himself for the first time. He and I got together in November 1991 and I joined the tradition right away.
In recent years we’ve gotten into “molecular gastronomy” and have experimented with various cuisines. Our style tends to be postmodern, we’re not above puns whether verbal or visual in our dishes, and we tend toward Asian fusion, which makes tackling a theme like this years–Traditional French!–a very interesting challenge indeed.
Full menu under the cut. I have links to many recipes and variations.
I photographed and video’d much of the cooking and the finished dishes on Instagram:
http://instagram.com/ctan_writer
Likewise on Twitter (use hashtag #duckday): https://twitter.com/hashtag/duckday?src=hash
After the French revolution, restaurants sprang up all around Paris as out-of-work chefs opened eateries to support themselves. In the early days, chaos reigned in these establishments until Auguste Escoffier imposed the order we know today as the “classic” 17-course French meal. Play along and match which of the 17 courses listed below match up to the 14 we are serving tonight! (Some count as more than one!)
1. Hors d’oeuvre (appetizer) • 2. Potage (soup) • 3. Oeufs (eggs) • 4. Farineaux (rice & pasta) • 5. Poisson (fish) • 6. Entrée (entry of 1st meat course) • 7. Sorbet (flavoured water) • 8. Reléve (meat course) • 9. Rôti (roast) • 10. Légumes (vegetables) • 11. Salades (salad) • 12. Buffet Froid (cold meats) • 13. Entremet de sûcre (sweets) • 14. Savoureaux (savory) • 15. Fromage (cheese) • 16. Desserts (self-explanatory) • 17. Cafe (coffee)
Duck Day 2014 Menu
“Bouillabaisse”
—Oyster in saffron-tomato-lobster broth
“French Quarter”
—A Vieux Carré cocktail scientifique!
This was actually a Sazerac slush served with a sphere of vermouth, bitters, & grenadine.
“Orange à la Duck”
—honey & thyme-oil roasted orange slice, brulee, with ras el hanout orange sphere, and “duck sauce”
Corn Velouté with crème fraîche, cubed potatoes, and house-cured duck bacon
“Battleship Risotto”
—Onsen (sous vide) duck egg served sushi style on porcini risotto with nori confett and white truffle
“French Toast”
—Duck confit croquette on brioche French toast, with toasted cumin beurre blanc and a maple-red-wine-vinegar caramel
Palate cleanser:
Lime-basil sorbet with Nino Franco Valdobbiadene Prosecco
“Cassoulet”
—Vietnamese crepe served taco style with refried white beans, duck Toulouse sausage, and duck confit “carnitas,” with optional house-made sambal chili paste
“Canard au Sang”
—Roast duck breast served with traditional French “pressed” sauce and burgundy truffle. Served with French bread.
“Canard au Sang, Part Deux—Salades”
—Traditional second portion of Canard au Sang: shredded duck leg tossed with viniagrette and greens
Cheese Selection:
Boule de Chevre (Belgium, goat)
Tomme de Verbier (Switzerland, cow)
Cabra Raiano (Portugal, goat)
Challerhocker (Switzerland, cow)
Stichelton (U.K., cow)
Comte Extra Gran Cru (aged 36 months, France, cow)
Desserts:
Tarte au citron meringuée (yuzu, orange, lemon)
Moscato-braised Pineapple with French vanilla ice cream
Éclairs
Mignardise
—Truffles of white chocolate (lavender or rose), dark chocolate ginger
Coffee • Tea
