Duck, watercress and pomegranate salad<\/span><\/p>\nDuck ain’t cheap, but this reduces the amount you need to serve people. You could do this very well with pigeon too. Indeed, your suggestions towards this dish are welcome, though I’m not sure it needs much fiddling with. I was tempted to sling in some pear, or toasted pine nuts too, but this is lovely in its simplicity.<\/p>\n
Serves 6<\/p>\n
4 duck breasts, fat removed (don’t throw it away! render it over a medium heat in a saucepan and keep for christmas roasties)
\n1 pomegranate
\n100g watercress
\nolive oil
\nwhite wine vinegar<\/p>\n
First get stuck into the pomegranate. It’s a little time consuming, but it’s a job to enjoy, not endure. There are a lot of jobs like this in the kitchen. If you look upon them as a chore then you’re not doing yourself any favours, but if you stick some music on and enjoy a few quiet minutes of reflection then it turns into quite a pleasant task. Aaanyway, quarter the pomegranates and separate all the pith and membrane, keeping the pink pearls and chucking the rest.
\nTo make the dressing, take a couple of tablespoons of pomegranate seeds and liquidize or chop. Whisk in about 30 ml of vinegar then 50 ml of oil. Taste and adjust. It shouldn’t need seasoning.
\nPat the duck breasts dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat a little olive oil over a high heat until it’s thinking about smoking, and pop in the duck. How long you cook it for both depends on the size of the breasts and how you like them cooked. These were pretty small, so I did 3 minutes a side, but the sort of breasts you see in butchers shops might need double that. I’d suggest cooking for 5 minutes and turning. Give the breast a prod with a finger after a minute or two. If it’s slightly firm to the touch you’re about right.
\nPut on the carving board and rest for a few minutes. Put the watercress on a serving plate, slice the duck and lay on top. Scatter with pomegranate seeds and then drizzle with the dressing.<\/p>\n
Cous cous with roast squash, feta and mint<\/span><\/p>\nServes 6<\/p>\n
1 medium squash
\n100g cherry tomatoes
\n2 red chillies
\n250g cous cous
\n100g feta
\nA good handful of fresh mint<\/p>\n
Preheat the oven to 200C.<\/p>\n
Peel and deseed the squash. Chop into chunks and place on a roasting tray. Drizzle with oil, season and roast for 40 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and roast for a further 10 minutes. Pour 300 ml of boiling water over the cous cous, stir, cover and leave for 5 minutes. Meanwhile deseed and finely slice the chillies, crumble the feta and chop the mint. Stir into the cous cous with the squash and cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
\n
\nBaba ganoush<\/span><\/p>\nServes 6<\/p>\n
2 large aubergines
\nJuice of a lemon
\nChilli powder
\n100g Tahini
\nOlive oil
\nSalt and pepper<\/p>\n
Preheat the oven to 200C.<\/p>\n
Turn on two gas hobs, prick the aubergines all over with a fork and place them directly onto the flame. Char for about 15 minutes, turning occasionally. This gives the baba ganoush a wonderful smokey flavour. Pop in the oven and cook for 40 minutes or so, until completely tender. Remove and cool.<\/p>\n
Peel the skin off the aubergine and cut in half lengthways. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Put in a magimix with the lemon juice, a pinch of chilli powder, the tahini and salt and pepper. Blend, pouring in about 50 ml of olive oil as you go. Leave to cool and serve.<\/p>\n
Eat the whole lot with some flatbreads from my August blog, or some warm pitta breads. A light, nourishing, warming, heavenly supper. And not a potato in sight.<\/p>\n
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