We roasted a duck which we purchased from Sebastien at the downtown farmer's market a couple of weeks ago.  The duck came out beautiful but we had tons of leftovers since it was just John and I.  We ended up deboning the meat and made duck broth from the bones as giblets.  The bird came with the head attached which isn't something you see every day.  We ended up adding that to the broth as well.

So now what to do with all the leftover duck.  I looked in the refigerator and saw I also had a bunch of leftover mashed potatoes so Shepard's Pie it is.

I went out and picked some carrots, parsnips and a little swiss chard to add to the pie.  I also had some mushrooms so I will add that to the mix as well.  Shepard's pie is great as you can use whatever meat and vegetbles you happen to have on hand.  I save the duck fat so that is what I used to saute the veggies.

Shepard's Pie

2 parsnips peeled and cubed.

2 carrots peeled and cubed

3 tbsp duck fat ( or bacon fat or olive oil or coconut oil)

1 onions chopped

2 bay leaves

1 teasppon fresh thyme

2 cups chopped duck ( or beef or port or chicken)

1/2 red wine,

1 cup stock -  I used half chicken and half beef -  I had already frozen the duck stock o r I would have used that

1/4 cup tomato sauce or 2 tbsp tomato paste.

2 tbsp oil

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 ups chopped swiss chard

2 cups mashed potatoes

Heat the fat in a medium dutch oven on the stove and saute the parsnips, carrots onion, thyme and bay leaves until tenders about 4 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper. Add the meat, wine and stock simmer for about 45 minutes until sauce us thick and reduced.  

Saute mushrooms and Swiss chard in the oil fir about 10 minutes. (I used duck fat here again as I happened to have some.  If I hadn't I would have used coconut or oil oil.).   Layer on top of the meat and veggie mixture.

Add the mashed potatoes to the top of this and add some grated parmesan on top of the potatoes.  Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes until top is golden brown and it is heated through.

Swiss Chard Soup

Swiss Chard and Squash Blossom Soup

This is a recipe I just made up because I happen to have these two ingredients.  You can substitute spinach or Swiss Chard and leave out the Squash Blossoms if you don't have any.

1 large bunch of Swiss Chard or other greens ( or combination of greens) remove the thick spines on the chard and chop into thin slivers

2-3 squash blossoms sliced into thin strips

5-6 large garlic cloves sliced

1 onion chopped

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

juice of half a  lemon

Gremolata -  see recipe  below

Lemon Creme sauce - see recipe below

Heat oil in large soup pot and add onion and cooks several minutes until soft.  Add Garlic cook 1 minute.  Add greens and broth and cook until chard is tender about 30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the lemon juice and squash blossoms -  serve with Gremolata and Lemon Creme Sauce

Gremolata

1/4 cup spinach or chard sliced very thin

2 squash blossoms (if you have them sliced very thin)

1/4 cup roasted pine nuts

1-2 garlic cloves pressed or minced

zest of one lemon

juice of half of the lemon

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Lemon Creme sauce

1/4 cup of goat cheese

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp of lemon zest

June 2011 new recipes

Tomato Watermelon salad

2 cups ripe tomatoes in med sized chunks

2 cups ripe watermelon cut to same size as tomatoes

1/4 cups chopped fresh mint

1/2 cup vinaigrette ( I make my own but you can used purchased)

1/2 cup Feta cheese

Truffle salt

combine all ingredients and serve

Got this one from a Sunset magazine article which was forwarned by my friend.

Swiss Chard Pesto
Adapted slightly from Sunset Magazine
Serves 4 with sauce left over

Note: Don’t feel hemmed in by the amount of chard you use. The original recipe called for two cups, but I didn’t want to be bothered with measuring the leaves, so I just started using the entire bunch. You could also save the stems for a soup or to chop and stew into a taco filling later, with some tomatoes and spinach.

Ingredients

1 bunch swiss chard (around 7 ounces), leaves removed, stems discarded or saved for another use
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup grated queso añejo, or grated parmesan
1/2 cup pine nuts or pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup olive oil — possibly a little more if you’re using the pumpkin seeds
Salt
Pepper

Directions

In a food processor, add the garlic and pulse to chop. Then add the chard, cheese and nuts or seeds. Pulse until smooth — feel free to scrape down the sides of the bowl to add in any errant cheese or chard bits. Add olive oil and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pasta, vegetables, or (as I did with my sister-in-law recently) spread on crusty bread.

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard is a versatile green which can be used in salads, sauteed it can be eaten alone or added to quiche or eggs Benedict. You can add it to soups and stews or pasta sauces. It is a colorful sturdy grower in Texas. We can harvest Swiss Chard year round - one of the very few plants that you can harvest year round.








Pasta with Pancetta, Tomatoes and Swiss Chard.

2 large sweet or white onions - cut Julienne style
1 1/2-1 inch slice of pancetta diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic sliced
1 large can organic fire roasted whole tomatoes
1 bunch of Swiss chard - chopped
1/2 box of spaghetti or linguine
Fresh Grated Parmesan, Asiago or Romano cheese.

Heat large pan of water to boil pasta. Add the pasta and cook per instructions on package.

Heat a large skillet and add two ladles full of the boiling pasta water. Add the sliced onions and cook until the water is evaporated. Add the olive oil to the onions and push to one side of the skillet to caramelize. Add the diced pancetta to the other side of the pan and render fat until browned. In another corner of the pan add the garlic and a little more olive oil to cook garlic. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in 4ths lengthwise. When onions are golden colored and pancetta is browned stir the garlic, onions and pancetta together and add the tomatoes. Let cook for a minute and add the Swiss chard. Stir together for a few minutes until the Swiss chard cooks down. Add the pasta and serve with grated Parmesan or Romano.

Parsnips and Carrots

We pulled our first parsnips today. Yummy. John planted quite a few of them and usually they take another month or so but he picked a few today. Parsnips are in the carrot family. Well actually it is probably more correct to say carrots are in the parsnips family. Carrot were developed for the House of Orange and at the time parnips were the root vegetable of choice. One tip on growing carrots and parsnips. Do not add any compost or fertilizer before planting and while they are growing. Also, make sure if you are not planting a shallow short carrot that you have at least 12 inches of nice loose soil for them to grow. Our carrots and parsnips were planted back in September but we layer about 6 inches of mulch on top of the parsnips. Neither one will germimate until the soil temperature gets below 85 degress. Peak germination for parsnips is 68 degress and for carrots it is 77 degees. You can reduce the soil temperature by layering the mulch on top. Both of these did just fine in our latest freeze where the temperature went into the teens. You don't have to even cover them. They like the hard frost as it increases the sugar content.


Carrot, Parsnip and Swiss Chard stir fry.

2 carrots chopped
2 parsnips chopped
1 small onion chopped
2 garlic cloves pressed
8 leaves of swiss chard
1-2 tablespoon Coconut oil or Olive oil.

Heat the oil in a frying pan or saute pan. Stir fry the onion until it get soft and add the chopped carrots, parsnips and garlic and cook stirring frequentlu until the vegetables are soft. Add the
swiss chard and cook until soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste.