Blogger Clue Picnic – Kellis Kitchen
It’s Blogger CLUE time and this month’s theme is “Picnic”.
I received Heather from Girlichef as my fellow blogger and as I perused her blog looking for just the right picnic recipe, I found two that I felt I must make. She has been a blogger a long time and has so many wonderful recipes – she’s a bread baker extraordinaire as well as making some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever seen. A great girl that I’ve enjoyed getting to know over the last few years, honored to get her blog so I had more time to learn even more about her Michiana cooking style. Michiana is a region of Northern Indiana and South Western Michigan centered on South Bend, Indiana………..that’s for those of you, like me, who didn’t already know what that was.
First I chose her Turkey and pear wraps. They looked so inviting for a hot summer’s day meal. I hoped she would be okay with me making them Duck as our family does not really care for Turkey. Also – have you ever tasted duck and pear together? It is sublime, especially if you add a bit of red onion a long with Heather’s curried aioli. Spicy, sweet, and tangy all at once, every single bite is very complex. When you add to it the tartness of the freshly squeezed limeade and Chia Seeds – whose health benefits are widely known – it’s a winning combination that we enjoyed for two nights in a row while it rained cats and dogs outside. As you can see from my photos, the sun was not blessing us much and only for about 15 minutes on that day. Just enough time to assemble the wraps and snap a few photos. There is less duck used in the wrap than Heather used turkey because duck is so rich that it would ruin the entirety of the wrap to put too much in.
To prepare the duck (I always use Maple Leaf Farms Duck – no one paid me or gave me anything to say that) you just need to dip the duck in boiling water and leave it there for 10 minutes and so you will need a big and deep pot – I use my largest stock pot.
Pre heat the oven to 425F.
After 10 minutes, pull the duck out and prick the skin a bit – stuff the cavity with 1 onion quartered as well as a lemon and 2 oranges also quartered. Stuff those pieces in all places.
Pat the outside of the duck dry with paper towels and sprinkle around salt and pepper. Put the duck on a rack in your roasting pan and bake for 15 minutes then turn the oven down to 350F, letting it cook for 45 minutes.
Take the duck out, gingerly turn the duck over and pour out the duck fat into an oven proof bowl (save this stuff to fry some potatoes in – it makes them taste incredible!)
Put it back into the oven and left it roast for 35 more minutes. Pull the duck out, again gingerly turn it over and then pour out that duck fat.
Return the duck to the oven for another 30 minutes, take it out and tent the foil over top for at least 20 minutes to let it rest. Then you can carve and serve in the wraps – Mmmmmm……good!
Duck – Kellis Kitchen
The Curried Aioli is:
½ Cup Mayo, 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon ground curry – mix it all up and store in the fridge for at least an hour or so before you make the wraps.
Heat the flour tortillas for about 20 seconds in a hot skillet.
Slather on some of the aioli, layer on the lettuce, thinly sliced red onion and pear as well we some duck.
Roll up tightly then wrap a brightly colored napkin around from and tape at back – it helps hold the wrap together and then serve with limeade.
Limeade Recipe:
5 medium limes squeezed juice
Some Chia Seeds (optional – they have great health benefits but I didn’t care for the gummy texture)
4 cups of cold water
1 cup water/1 cup sugar in medium saucepan on medium heat stirred until sugar is all dissolved – it’s a simple syrup recipe my nana used.
Mix the simple syrup, lime juice and cold water in a pitcher, add some ice and slices of lime.
Rim the glass with chia seeds and even drop a few into the glass then fill it with lovely limeade – just delicious!
Now then – check out everyone’s Picnic post. Can you see who got me??!?
- Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
- Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
- Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
- Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
- Kelli from Kelli’s Kitchen
- Kim from Liv Life
- Stacy from Food Lust People Love
- Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
- Kathleen from Bakeaway with Me
- Anna from annaDishes
- Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
- Heather from girlichef
- Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Christiane from Taking on Magazines
- Debra from Eliot’s Eats
- Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme
- Rebekah from Making Miracles
- Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook
- Kate from Kate’s Kitchen
- Aly from Cooking in Stilettos
