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00:00Cook's Country is about more than just getting dinner on the table.
00:09We're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes.
00:14We go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook.
00:20And we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today.
00:25We bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you.
00:31This is Cook's Country.
00:37Today on Cook's Country, Brian and I make slow roasted ducks with blackberry sauce.
00:44Jack shares tips for making a tinned fish board.
00:47And Lawman makes a vegetarian bean bourguignon.
00:50That's all right here on Cook's Country.
00:55We'll be right back here on Cook's Country.
00:57We'll be right back here on Cook's Country.
00:58We'll be right back here on Cook's Country.
01:01During the holidays and on special occasions, some of us enjoy roast turkey and others really
01:08love baked ham.
01:09But Brian loves duck.
01:11I love duck so much.
01:12It's kind of like, you know, you could use every part of the pig.
01:15Duck is the same way.
01:16There's so much fat on this thing.
01:18You know, all the parts could be used in various ways.
01:21First things first, when you're going to roast the duck, you need to start with the trimming.
01:24There's a tremendous amount of fat on this.
01:26So even right inside here, you have this fat that you could just pull off.
01:31Okay.
01:32So we'll trim all this off.
01:33This little Pope's nose, the little tail of the duck.
01:35We're going to take that off as well.
01:38Okay.
01:39This is all the neck skin.
01:40We're going to take that off.
01:42So at this point, whenever you start to see the breast meat poke through or just shy of that,
01:47that's enough on that side.
01:49Over here, I want to get any of the stuff that's hanging over the cavity.
01:52Okay.
01:53So we'll do the same with the second.
01:56So once we've removed enough skin here, we're going to trim the wing flats and the wing tips off.
02:02Because what happens in the oven, these pieces would just tend to dry out and become leathery.
02:06It doesn't look as nice.
02:07So you can take these off.
02:08Just kind of wiggle a little bit to find the bone, the joint there.
02:14Just kind of pop right through it.
02:17And that'll be good for stock pot.
02:19And again, the same on the other side.
02:21So we can move our ducks over to a wire rack here.
02:27And now we're going to salt them.
02:29We want to season the inside of each duck with two teaspoons of kosher salt.
02:34And now the exterior of each duck, we're going to hit with five teaspoons of kosher salt.
02:40All right.
02:41So the ducks are well salted.
02:42Now the next thing is we're going to throw these in the refrigerator uncovered.
02:45So the skin gets a little bit dry and some of that moisture evaporates out of the duck.
02:50We'll leave them in the fridge for 24 or up to 48 hours.
02:53But I'm going to wash my hands first.
02:55All right, Tony.
02:56So our ducks have been salted for a good 24 hours.
02:59And now before we start tying them up and putting them in the roasting pan, we want to make a basting sauce.
03:04So we're going to combine one quart of water with half a cup of soy sauce and a quarter cup of honey.
03:11We're going to pour this over top of the ducks before they go into the oven.
03:14And this is going to encourage browning and help tighten the skin.
03:18Turn this to high heat and let it come to a quick boil.
03:21Once it comes to a boil, we'll shut it off and apply it to the ducks.
03:24But before we could do that, we need to stuff our ducks and we're going to stuff them with oranges.
03:28And this is not to encourage flavor, but is to help the duck keep its shape.
03:32Whenever you buy these ducks, sometimes they come with the carcass a little bit more smushed than the others.
03:37So the orange is kind of the great equalizer in helping the duck maintain its shape during cooking.
03:42So each duck gets an orange that's been cut in half.
03:46And now we'll spin this around. We're just going to tie these legs together.
03:49Put the string underneath both the legs and then I wrap it twice and then cinch it together.
03:55OK, I want to trim the excess.
03:58Now we can transfer our ducks to our roasting V-rack here.
04:02So we're going to put the ducks facing opposite directions.
04:05If we were to put the ducks facing the same direction, you see how close these thighs come to each other?
04:09They're not going to cook at the same rate because they're so close and the heat can't pass through them as these exterior thighs.
04:14So we're going to flip them around so each of these thighs gets a little bit more heat in the oven as they cook.
04:21All right, so our soy honey water mixture is coming to a boil.
04:26Just kind of whisk that to make sure it's fully combined.
04:29Now we're just going to ladle this over top.
04:32We're barring the concept from Peking duck.
04:35The hot liquid is poured over top.
04:37What it does is it tightens the skin up and so it makes it more round and like taut.
04:42So the heat of the oven really kind of cooks it at a nice even rate.
04:46You know, you don't get a lot of these peaks and valleys on the skin.
04:49We also have honey in here and soy sauce, which are both going to encourage a lot of browning.
04:54So this seems like it's a good amount of liquid to pour over top, but there is a third reason why we're using so much.
05:01As these ducks start to cook in the oven, they're going to cook for over three hours at 300 degrees.
05:07And then they're going to get blasted right at the end.
05:09And if we didn't have any liquid in the bottom of the pan, all that duck fat would drip into the bottom of the pan and just cause a whole lot of smoking in your kitchen.
05:16So this will catch all that fat that's dripping off and prevent that smoking.
05:21Multipurpose.
05:22So we're going to throw these ducks into a 300 degree oven.
05:25I've adjusted the rack to the lower middle position and we're going to let them go for three and a quarter to three and a half hours until this leg thigh joint hits 190 to 195 degrees.
05:39So that means that our leg thigh joints are nicely cooked and they're going to be tender, you know, rather than tough and chewy.
05:45All right, our oven is up to 450 degrees and we're going to throw these ducks back in there and that high temperature is going to be tender, you know, rather than tough and chewy.
05:52All right, our oven is up to 450 degrees and we're going to throw these ducks back in there and that high temperature is really going to encourage the browning on the skin.
05:59So we'll let that go for 10 to 25 minutes.
06:04Okay.
06:05So while the duck finishes cooking, we're going to work on our sauce and we're going to do a blackberry sauce.
06:11So fruit and duck are great partners together.
06:20So we're going to add three cups of blackberries to our sauce pan here.
06:25Three quarters of a cup of honey and then three quarters of a cup of sherry vinegar.
06:48really nice tart oaky flavor to it. Three sprigs of thyme, a quarter teaspoon of black pepper,
06:55and eighth of a teaspoon of kosher salt. All right so we're going to turn this on to
07:00medium high and we'll just give that a little stir to combine. As this cooks you know the blackberries
07:05will naturally start to break down but we're going to encourage them along by mashing with
07:09a potato masher. And what we're looking for at the end of the day is a temperature between 218
07:13and 220 degrees because at that temperature this liquid will remain syrupy even once it's cooled.
07:19So that'll take about 15 to 20 minutes. All right Tony so we're just going to encourage those berries
07:24to mash. By doing this we're helping thicken the sauce a little bit. I've still got another
07:3110 minutes or so to go. I think the ducks are actually ready so let's go take a look. All right.
07:36Oh wow. Wow. Those are gorgeous. They are gorgeous and they smell amazing.
07:47Tony look what you did. Amazing. Those are so gorgeous. Gorgeous. Almost shellac. Yeah the skin
07:55is nice and tight. It's very very well bronzed. It's looking gorgeous. These are going to need to rest for
08:01another 45 minutes and during that time we can finish up our sauce. Okay let's do it. All right
08:06Tony our sauce has been cooking for about 20 minutes. We're at 219 degrees which ensures
08:12that we're going to have a nice syrupy consistency once it's strained. So cut the heat off and we'll
08:18pass it through a fine mesh strainer here. All right so our sauce is all set. We'll add a half teaspoon
08:26of sherry vinegar to our sauce just to brighten it up a little bit at the end. Stir that in and we're
08:30going to let our sauce cool down to room temperature because as it cools it'll start to thicken up to a nice
08:35saucy consistency almost syrupy so it'll coat the duck really nicely when we serve it. So let the
08:40duck finish resting for another few minutes and then come back and carve it and start eating. Sounds
08:44good to me. So it looks good huh? Spectacular. Are you ready to start carving? We're going to first separate
08:50these legs. We're going to cut the string here and now the way I like to do it is I like to first remove
08:57the leg thigh joint. So go through the skin right there and you just let your knife kind of just fall
09:04through it and because this is cooked so well you kind of just grab onto that thigh bone
09:13and just pop it out and sort of follow along there. Looks like you're just following right along the body
09:21right? Absolutely. Pull that off and we'll do the same on the second side. Then we're going to remove
09:29the drumettes. So again just kind of use the weight of the bird. Pull it up a little bit. Make a small
09:35incision there. Expose the joint. Just go right through this leg thigh joint here. Put the thigh meat in
09:45there. Leggy. We're going to remove the breast now. So you can see this little bone that's going down
09:51here. We're going to cut on either side of that and sometimes you want to kind of coax it out with
09:56your thumb. It looks so tender and juicy. It's so tender. We're just going to cut each breast into four
10:01pieces. So we'll put the breast over there. So we'll do the second duck here. This last breast right here in
10:09the center. Perfect. Okay we did it. Ducks broken down. Amazing. Ready to do it? I am. What can I tempt
10:17you with here? A little piece of breast, a little piece of leg or thigh? Yeah a little piece of breast
10:21and a little piece of thigh. How about that? Okay. Mmm thank you. And thigh for you. I'm going to give you a
10:30little bit of our blackberry sauce which you see is nice and syrupy right now. I love that texture.
10:35Okay. All right. Go for the breast first. Okay. You can see the skin is rendered a good bit too. I do.
10:45Mmm. It's so good. Oh my goodness. And that was before sauce. Right. Ready for sauce? Yeah. Oh wow.
10:55Oh. Just the contrast. Mmm. I love that little tartness. It's amazing the way that the blackberry
11:02accompanies the duck. Right. The tartness of the berries sort of pulls out that fatty delicious
11:09lusciousness in the bird. It's really great. Yeah. And we have other sauce variations on our website.
11:13All right. And it feels so special occasion. Right. It could just make your guests feel like you really
11:20went to an extra step for them. Yeah. You know this recipe takes a little time, takes a little planning,
11:25but the steps aren't hard at all. You know and the payoff is so amazing. Brian this was amazing.
11:32You're very welcome. And if you would like to make these delicious ducks, salt two ducks one to two days
11:37to dry out the skin. Coat with a soy sauce honey mixture and finish with a blast of heat. From Cook's
11:44Country, slow roasted ducks with blackberry sauce. I think this might be on my holiday table this year. It's
11:54definitely one of my new favorites. There are very few cases where preserving food for years makes it
12:04better. But in the case of tinned fish, I think that might be true. This all started with Napoleon
12:10who wanted to feed his armies and they developed technology to take lightly cooked seafood, put it in
12:15a can with some brine, seal it and put it under vacuum pressure to kill the microbes. And so I'm going
12:20to take you through the world of making a sea cuterie board. See what I did there? Not charcuterie.
12:27And explain how I put together this board and think about the contrasting flavors. And then what I do
12:32with some of these things individually in my cooking. Now let's start with the basics, anchovies. And these
12:37are two favorite brands, Mero and Ortiz. I love them. This is, you know, the bacon of the sea and it needs to be
12:44on my board. Other basics, tuna packed in olive oil. And I've got the Ortiz and the Tonino brands here.
12:51Again, these are our favorites in this kitchen. They have won our tastings. It needs to be packed
12:56in extra virgin olive oil. Next up in the front here, I've got mackerel and I've got trout. And
13:03any place that you could be using the tuna, you could be using mackerel or trout. Now over here,
13:08I've got sardines. Again, this is a classic choice. I love not only to put it on my board, but to put it
13:15with white wine and a little bit of butter and create a Sardinian pasta sauce with sardines. Oh,
13:21it's so wonderful and delicious. Now let's say we want to branch out. Those might be considered the
13:26basics. How about octopus in garlic sauce? And as you're thinking about these interesting additions,
13:33the kind of more unusual items, think about the texture of the seafood as well as what's the packing
13:37liquids. Now over here, I have these beautiful mussels. Look how gorgeous they are. Now these
13:42are in escabeche. That's a vinegar-based sauce, so it's really bright and puckery. Next to them,
13:48razor clams. Now these are just in brine. It's really nice and salty. They have this incredible
13:53chewy texture and really sort of complement some of the softer things that are on the table.
13:58And then up here, we've got pink salmon, and this is in extra virgin olive oil. Now you're thinking,
14:04okay, what are the vessels that we're going to be putting all this on? And you can go sort of classic,
14:09like we've got crostini here, but I love these Portuguese crackers. They're very plain, but they're
14:14sturdy and they're thin, and they allow the seafood to shine. And then if you want something a little
14:19unusual, potato chips are actually kind of a nice vehicle for some of the fish here on the table,
14:25because they're salty and they're kind of fatty. Speaking of fatty, so it's nice to add some richness as
14:31well. And salted butter is surprisingly good with seafood, or you can add these beautiful jammy eggs,
14:39again, to add a little bit of fat and richness if you're making a meal of this. Now you're going to
14:43need acidity, because there's a lot of big flavors here, and you're going to want to clean your palate.
14:49So cornichon, that's favorite choice, just sliced in half. I love pickled jalapenos, because they give me
14:56spice and acidity. Now you could go sort of classic, lemon is always a good choice. And then you need
15:03freshness, because there's a lot of big flavors here, and I want some grassiness. So watercress,
15:09fresh dill, we could have arugula, sliced radishes, again they give you a little heat as well as freshness.
15:16So there you have it. It started with Napoleon, but you can make it so much better at home.
15:28Cooking something in the style of bourgognon means braising it in red wine, often a pinot noir.
15:34Now beef bourgognon is a classic. It's finished with mushrooms and pearl onions. But today,
15:39Lama's going to show us an equally festive vegetarian version of beans bourgognon.
15:44That's right, Julia. We wanted a vegetarian version of the French classic that was good for our
15:49vegetarian friends and family for Thanksgiving, Friends-Given, for any celebratory holiday.
15:55I love it.
15:56So we're going to start with one and a half pounds of portobello mushroom caps.
16:00Okay, so portobello, that's a meaty mushroom.
16:02Exactly. They're nice and beefy. They're going to be a great swap for the beef.
16:06So we already started prepping some of them, and we've cut them into one-inch pieces.
16:10We're keeping the ribs intact because they're going to help with the color and flavor of the stew.
16:18I'm just going to put those aside. And here I have a half ounce of porcini mushrooms that have been
16:24rinsed and patted dry. And we're just going to mince these up. This is going to add a nice,
16:28concentrated, intense mushroom flavor. Now adding to the heartiness of this dish,
16:35some dried Christmas limer beans. These are cool looking.
16:38They have like a, I guess a calico texture to them or a fudge ripple, if you will.
16:44I like the fudge ripple. They're very fun and festive.
16:47Mm-hmm. So here I have eight ounces of those beans that have been brined. To brine these beans,
16:52we mix two quarts of water with one and a half tablespoons of table salt. We've put them in the
16:56brine for a minimum of eight hours up to 24 hours, and they sit at room temperature.
17:01Brining helps with even cooking, a creamier texture, and tender skins.
17:05So I have seven cups of water here. Just going to add the beans. So we're going to cook these beans
17:11separate from the rest of the stew. Because there's wine in the dish, it has a very acidic
17:16environment. And that acid causes the beans to cook slowly and unevenly. So this way, cooking it
17:21separately, we have total control of the beans. And we found that this is the best way for the best
17:26results. Okay. And we want to bring it up to a simmer over medium low heat. And we're only going
17:32to cover this part way. Since we're cooking it for 20 to 30 minutes, having it part way, the water's
17:38not going to bubble over, and it's not going to evaporate. Makes sense. It's been 20 minutes. It's
17:43time to check the beans. Mm-hmm. So what I'm going to do, fish one of them out. And I want to press it so
17:50that it gives a little bit, but doesn't smash all the way. To finish cooking, we're going to add one and a half teaspoons of table salt.
17:54And cover the pot off heat and let it sit for 15 minutes. This is going to have the beans gradually
18:03finish cooking. Okay. Nice and gentle. All right, Julia, now it's time to cook the mushrooms. So we're
18:08going to start with a quarter cup of water and two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. So we're going
18:15to bring the heat up to medium high, and we want to get the water till it's simmering. Now what's going
18:20to happen is the water is going to turn into steam. The steam, once we add the mushrooms,
18:24is going to have the mushrooms cook very quickly. They're going to release their water, collapse,
18:29and then the water is going to evaporate. All that mushroom juice is going to evaporate,
18:33and what's left is the oil, which is going to keep the mushrooms from sticking to the pot,
18:37and it's going to help brown the mushrooms, creating some nice flavorful fond. Wow,
18:42that's really clever. Thank you. So now it's come to a simmer. We're going to add our mushrooms,
18:47and half a teaspoon of table salt, and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. Give it a good stir.
18:56I'm going to put the lid on, create that steam, and it's going to go for about five minutes until
19:03the liquid releases and the mushrooms collapse. Okay. It's been five minutes. I'm eager to see what's
19:09under the lid. Wow. I'm just going to give it a stir. You see all the juice. Now we're going to let
19:14that cook off for about six to eight minutes. Okay. So Julia, it's been six minutes, and the liquid
19:21has evaporated, and the pot is nice and dry. We have all that nice fond on the bottom. Now we're going
19:27to add two carrots that have been peeled and minced, and one large shallot that's been minced. Two
19:33tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. I'm going to give it a stir, and we're going to cook this until
19:40the vegetables are just starting to brown about three to four minutes. So the carrots and the
19:47shallots have browned. We're going to add our porcinis, four minced garlic cloves, two teaspoons of minced
19:56fresh thyme, and we're just going to stir that and cook this for about 30 seconds until it's fragrant.
20:01Mm-hmm. We're going to add three tablespoons of all-purpose flour. This is going to help thicken
20:06the stew. I'm going to cook that for about 30 seconds. Next, we're going to add some red wine.
20:13You can't have a bourguignon without the red wine. No, you can't. We're adding one cup. So this is going
20:18to help deglaze the pan, get all those nice flavorful brown bits incorporated into the rest of the
20:24ingredients. Now I'm going to add two tablespoons of white miso paste, and I have two tablespoons
20:30of soy sauce, and one tablespoon of tomato paste. Now, this dish is not shy on flavor,
20:38and these particular ingredients are going to add that umami to this stew. So because we've developed
20:45all this flavor, normally in a stew like this, you would add some beef broth, chicken broth,
20:50or since this is a vegetarian dish, you'd add vegetable broth. But because we've developed all that flavor,
20:55I'm adding five cups of water. Nice. And last but not least, two bay leaves.
21:05We're going to bring this to a boil over high heat. We want the sauce to thicken and reduce to a
21:10consistency of heavy cream. That will take about 20 to 25 minutes. So it's been about 25 minutes.
21:16The sauce has thickened. Looks beautiful. Luxurious.
21:19Now here are our perfectly cooked beans that we've drained. They're nice and tender. Oh yeah.
21:26And I'm going to add them to the pot. We're also going to add one cup of thawed pearl onions.
21:32Mm-hmm. That's a classic addition to a bourguignon. And two tablespoons of red wine.
21:39Stir everything, make sure everything's incorporated. Now we're going to cover them. And we want to cook this
21:44for another 15 minutes so that the onions and the beans can warm through and absorb all that great
21:50flavor that we've created. Okay. It's been 15 minutes. Oh, what a beautiful looking stew.
22:00Smells great. Mm-hmm. Now we're going to take out our bay leaves. It's time to say goodbye.
22:05Thank you for your service. Last but not least, a quarter cup of minced fresh parsley. This is going to add
22:10some fresh flavor and a pop of color. Ready to eat? I am. So I have a nice little surprise here.
22:16I'm going to serve it over some polenta. Mm. That is a lovely idea. So it's going to be very hearty
22:22and filling. Mm-hmm. It does smell good. And you know, from a distance, it almost looks like beef
22:31bourguignon because those mushrooms really look like little pieces of beef, but it's vegetarian.
22:36All right. I'm going for one of these Christmas beans first.
22:45Mm. Perfectly cooked. And those beans are nice and creamy. That's what I was going to say. Nice and
22:50creamy. The skin is nice and tender. Mm-hmm. I'm just going to go for a little bit of the sauce here.
22:56Mm. There is a lot of flavor. There is miso and soy and porcini. All that really boosts the flavor.
23:05Exactly. Tomato pays. Mm-hmm. I could definitely see serving this at a holiday when you had some
23:11vegetarians around the table, because I think meat eaters and vegetarians alike would fall in love
23:16with this. Lawman, awesome. Thank you. You're welcome. If you want to make this fantastic vegetarian
23:23stew, brine Christmas beans and cook them separately. Cook one and a half pounds of portobello mushrooms in
23:29a Dutch oven with water and oil and punch up the stew's flavor with powerhouse ingredients, including
23:34miso, soy, and porcini. From Cook's Country, a terrific recipe for bean bourguignon. You can get
23:41this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with select episodes and our product reviews at
23:47our website, cookscountry.com slash tv. This really is holiday worthy, especially with the polenta.
23:54Mm.
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