280851 Thu Nov 10 14:05:21 -0800 2005 12 31 Home Cooking 0 1493153 Yesterday I made the duck and sauerkraut braise I posted about a while ago. It came out great. I sautéed some uncured, good quality bacon until crispy and browned and then removed it to a plate, retaining the rendered fat. Then I browned four well trimmed duck legs in the fat and removed them to the plate. I poured off most of the fat and sautéed a chopped onion and 4-5 big cloves of garlic, adding a cubed granny smith apple after a few minutes. When the onions were starting to color up, I deglazed with about 2 cups of an Alsace Riesling. Then I added some chicken stock, the duck legs, the reserved bacon, some rinsed and drained sauerkraut, a lot of fresh thyme, a bay leaf, a few whole allspice berries, a couple of cloves, a few juniper berries, a handful of prunes, salt and pepper. Brought it to the boil and then braised at the lowest flame on the stove top for almost an hour. Served with the same Trimbach Riesling used in the braise and some glazed carrots. It was lovely—complex and aromatic with distinct sweet and savory notes. The sauerkraut retained just a bit of its bite (both flavor and texture), the duck was tender and well flavored, the apples had mostly broken down, the prunes were amazing. This was a wonderful dish to welcome the winter. Highly recommended! Thu Nov 10 14:05:21 -0800 2005 0 eel 1 1493165 did you keep the skin on the duck? Thu Nov 10 14:56:35 -0800 2005 1493153 0 kevinj 2 1493208 The duck legs weren't super fatty to begin with. I kept most of the skin. I trimed overhanging skin and visible fat. Much of the remaining fat rendered out during the browning process (I browned them quite dark). Thu Nov 10 19:31:12 -0800 2005 1493165 0 eel 1 1493168 Sounds absolutely exquisite. Thu Nov 10 15:09:37 -0800 2005 1493153 0 LT from LF 1 1493174 this dish sounds delicious-I'm going to try it soon. Thanks! Thu Nov 10 16:17:33 -0800 2005 1493153 0 fishfork 1 1493177 Thank you...now I know what new ingredient I'm going to add to my New Year's choucroute garni! Especially nice since duck legs are so cheap in the Asian markets around here. I can hardly wait...OK, so maybe I won't! Thu Nov 10 16:42:08 -0800 2005 1493153 0 Will Owen 2 1493212 Do chou croute garni before New Year's day. NYD means Hoppin' John and country ham! Crackling corbread too. Thu Nov 10 20:05:38 -0800 2005 1493177 0 Candy 3 1493396 Both choucroute garnie and hoppin' john were NY dishes I learned in Nashville. Both midwinter treats, made from what's in the smokehouse, root cellar and cold pantry, hence the traditional significance. It was the wife of a guy I worked for, an Alsatian woman, who served choucroute on my first NY day in Nashville, at which point I adopted it as my own tradition as it had been hers. Hoppin' john for supper NY Eve, choucroute for dinner NY Day. Leftovers, YUMMMM....all week! Back to South Beach Diet Phase 1 immediately following... Fri Nov 11 23:27:43 -0800 2005 1493212 0 Will Owen 1 1493178 Sounds great! I love duck legs and prunes! Apple sounds like a great addition. How do you think a red wine would work? Too overpowering? Not good w/ sauerkraut? If ok, what reds would work best? Thu Nov 10 16:51:54 -0800 2005 1493153 0 Carb Lover 2 1493183 I've drunk RW with sauerkraut, but I have a bad feeling about cooking them together - I could be wrong about that. You certainly wouldn't want anything with big tannins; woody chardonnays are a lousy choice, too. Think of where these dishes came from - the Rhineland, Alsace - and the kind of wines usually found there. Rieslings, Gewurtztraminers; even the dry ones are light-bodied, fruity, a touch of sweet. Now, if you pushed the seasoning of this dish over into fruity/spicy (which you certainly could), like a sort of medieval game dish, then you could use a rich, slightly "fat" red. Then throw in some boudin noir... Thu Nov 10 17:05:36 -0800 2005 1493178 0 Will Owen 2 1493228 Not a bad idea. Polish folk combine red wine, sauerkraut, mixed meats, cabbage, apples, and mushrooms in bigos (hunter's stew). A dry Hungarian wine like Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blood) or a decent chianti would work. I haven's used the recipe below but it seems like a good starting point. Link: http://www.polishnews.com/fulltext/chef/2001/chef58_1.shtml Thu Nov 10 23:33:08 -0800 2005 1493178 0 petradish 1 1493250 When you say the duck legs were well trimmed, did you remove the skin or did you cut out the fat underneath? I've never prepared duck and would like to try it. Thanks. Fri Nov 11 08:50:47 -0800 2005 1493153 0 Ellen 2 1493326 Duck can be very fatty, but these legs weren't excessivly so. I retained most of the skin on the legs. I trimed overhanging skin and visible fat but left what was under the remaining skin. Much of that rendered out during the browning process (I browned them quite dark). Recipes often call for scoring the skin and fat prior to searing, which helps render the fat. It didn't seem necessary in this case. Duck is quite wonderful. Give it a try. Fri Nov 11 15:11:52 -0800 2005 1493250 0 eel