Slow-roasted Duck with Spiced Sour Cherry Sauce

Jenny — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:00:59 +0000

Elegant, nourishing and easy to prepare, slow-roasted duck with sour cherry sauce is one of those simple dishes that can speak volumes. A good, local, pasture-fed duck is a hard item to find – at least it was for us. A pasture-fed poultry operation is difficult to manage. Predation, in our area, poses one of the greatest threats to a successful flock whether its magpies attacking young birds (I know, right, what a morbid image) or bears taking a few larger birds. After much looking, we were fortunate to be able to find a source of local, pasture-raised (or is that pond-raised?) ducks and geese. I have a few more birds lurking in my freezer for another special meal.

Duck is a richly flavored meat well-suited to strong accompaniments like fruit and potent spices. Duck is a good source of monounsaturated fat – the same fat found in unrefined olive oil, avocados and pastured lard that is noted for its ability to increase HDL (good cholesterol) and reduce the risk of heart disease. Duck is also a rich source of niacin, riboflavin, selenium and iron as duck meat is both mineral- and vitamin-rich.

Complete the Menu
Fresh Raw Cheese with Grapes
Simple Salad
Slow-roasted Duck with Sour Cherry Sauce
Radishes SautÃ©ed with Butter
Soaked Flour Gingerbread

The spiced sour cherry sauce not only provides an lovely accompaniment to the rich meatiness of roast duck, but it also carries with it its own health benefits. Indeed, sour cherries are a good source of anthocyanin – a powerful flavonoid known to fight inflammation. The action of anthocyanin and other components present in sour cherries are so powerful that recent research indicates that sour cherries may prove so effective in reducing inflammation that they may offer hope in the fight against type II diabetes and pain associated with arthritis.

Recipe for Slow-roasted Duck

This recipe for roast duck serves 6 with little leftover. Remember, you can prepare a delicious, savory roast duck stock in the same manner that you can prepare a roast chicken stock, so take care to save those bones.

Ingredients for Slow-roasted Duck

1 Pasture-raised Duck
¼ Cup Grass-fed Ghee or Butter (see sources)
Unrefined Sea Salt & Freshly Cracked Pepper to Taste
1 Sweet Yellow Onion
1 Cup Dry White Wine or Cherry Wine if Serving with Sour Cherry Sauce

Instructions for Preparing Slow-roasted Duck

Rinse the duck well and pat it dry.
With a blunt butter knife, gently separate the skin of the breast from the meat.
Spread ghee (see why ghee is such a wholesome fat) or butter between the skin and meat of the duck breast.
Slather the remaining ghee or butter along the skin of the duck’s breast, legs and thighs.
Stuff the duck’s cavity with the sweet, yellow onion.
Pour the wine into the roasting pan and roast the duck at 325 º F for 4 hours.
Increase the temperature to 375 º F for ½ hour.
Allow to rest before carving and serving with sour cherry sauce (recipe follows).

Recipe for Spiced Sour Cherry Sauce

Spiced with star anise and cinnamon, this sour cherry sauce is simultaneously sweet and savory – making it an excellent accompaniment to roast duck and pork. The caramelized shallots impart a nice faintly and smoky flavor to the sauce. This recipe provides enough sauce for six.

Ingredients for Spiced Sour Cherry Sauce

2 Cups Pitted, Frozen Sour Cherries
2 Shallots
2 Tablespoons Grass-fed Ghee or Butter (see sources)
1 Cinnamon Stick
2 Star Anise
2 Tablespoons Honey

Instructions for Preparing Spiced Sour Cherry Sauce

Heat ghee or butter in a pan over medium-high heat.
Fry the shallots until they’re well caramelized.
Add the sour cherries and spices and reduce the heat to medium.
Once the cherries are heated through, add the honey.
Allow the sauce to simmer until slightly syrupy.
Serve with roast duck or roast pork.

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Against the Grain: 10 Reasons to Give Up Grains

Jenny — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:46:59 +0000

I’ve been toying, off and on, with the idea of eliminating grains for a while. I love them though – they’re delicious in all their slightly sweet, grainy goodness. Still, there’s little reason to incorporate them into the diet on a regular basis with the exception of one: personal preference. I know, I know. I can hear you now: “But they’re good for you!” “But they reduce heart disease!” “But they have fiber!” Here’s a little food for thought: there’s no vitamin or mineral you can get from grain that you can’t get in better quantities elsewhere. So let’s take a look:

Why You Should Go Grain-free

1. If you can get it from grain, you can get it elsewhere.

The big heroes of most grains’ nutrient profile are dietary fiber and B vitamins. Take heed, every grain is different and different grains offer different nutrient profiles. Yet, one thing remains constant: if you can find the nutrient in grain, you can find the nutrient in better quantities in other foods. For example, 100 grams of whole wheat flour contains 44 mcg of folate; however, a 100-gram portion of lamb liver will give you 400 mcg of folate and a 100-gram portion of yardlong beans will give you a whopping 658 mcg per 100-gram portion. Similarly with the B Vitamins niacin and thiamin, while a 100-gram whole wheat flour contains 30% of the RDA for niacin and 32% of the RDA for thiamin, you can find these nutrients in higher quantities in other foods – namely flaxseeds and sesame seeds. Whole grains are often touted as health foods for their fiber content, but you can find dietary fiber in better quantities in other, more nutrient-dense foods. For example: 100 grams of cooked brown rice offers up 1.8 grams of dietary fiber; by contrast, a 100-gram serving of cooked collard greens offers 2.8 grams; 100 grams of raw fireweed contains a whopping 11 grams of dietary fiber and even green peas contain about 5 grams of fiber per serving.

2. Grains aren’t good for your gut.

Intestinal health is critical to your overall health. If you’re gut isn’t healthy, you can’t absorb nutrients from the foods you eat. If you can’t absorb nutrients from the foods you eat, your body is malnourished and is more prone to disease. Grains are associated with a condition called leaky gut syndrome. Tiny particles of grains, when ingested, can slip through the intestinal walls causing an immune response. With your immune system excessively taxed by constantly attacking these out-of-place particles of grain, it cannot effectively fight against true threats like pathogens.

3. You’re probably gluten-intolerant.

If you’re white, there’s a good chance that you’re gluten-intolerant to some degree. Current research estimates that about 1% of the population suffers from celiac disease, an auto-immune condition related to the ingestion of gluten-containing grains like wheat and barley; however, some researchers on celiac disease and gluten intolerance estimate that 30% to 40% of people of European descent are gluten-intolerant to some degree. That’s a lot of people who are regularly consuming a food that makes them sick. (And, yes, I’m one of them.)

4. Grains cause inflammation.

Due to a high starch content, grains are inflammatory foods. The more refined the grain, the more inflammatory it is. For example, unbleached white flour is more inflammatory than whole grain flour; however, whole grains are still moderately inflammatory foods and certainly more inflammatory than other foods like fresh vegetables and wholesome fats. Chronic inflammation is linked to a myriad of degenerative, modern diseases including arthritis, allergies, asthma, cardiovascular disease, bone loss, emotional imbalance and even cancer. Unbleached white flour earns an inflammation factor of -421 or strongly inflammatory on NutritionData.com while whole wheat flour earns an inflammation factor of -247 or moderately inflammatory. Similarly, whole cooked millet earns an inflammation factor of -150 and cooked brown rice earns an inflammation factor of -143 – also moderately inflammatory.

5. Grains are fairly new on the scene.

While still a traditional food, grains are, nonetheless, the new kids on the block. Prior to the advent of agriculture, humans relied on hunting and gathering for their foods. They foraged for wild greens, berries, fruits and other plants. They hunted wild animals. They fished for wild fish. They didn’t plant a garden, or grow any amber waves of grain or, for that matter, drink dairy from domesticated animals since there simply wasn’t any domesticated animals. Humans survived like this from the development of the appearance of the first homo sapiens sapiens about 47,000 years ago to the advent of agriculture some 10 – 12,000 years ago. So, for the better part of human existence grains did not comprise any notable portion of the human diet. In essence, what has become the bulk of our modern diet was missing from the diet of our prehistoric ancestors.

6. Grains aren’t good for your joints.

Due to their inflammatory nature, grains – even whole grains – are linked to joint pain and arthritis. Grain’s amino acid composition mirrors that of the soft tissue in your joints. Because both synovial tissue and grains are chemically similar, your body has difficulty differentiating between the two. So, when your immune cells get all hot and bothered by inflammation caused by grain and begin to attack it as a foreign invader, they also begin to attack the soft tissue in your joint – leading to pain, autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and, of course, more inflammation.

7. Poorly Prepared Grains prevent mineral absorption.

When improperly prepared as they most often are, grains can inhibit vitamin and mineral absorption. Grains contain substances like phytic acid which binds up minerals and prevents proper absorption. Essentially, though your diet might be rich in iron, calcium and other vital nutrients if you eat improperly prepared grain, you’re not fully absorbing nutrients from the foods you eat. However, please note that souring, sprouting and soaking grains neutralizes phytates and renders the nutrients in grain more absorbable.

8. Grains are bad for your teeth.

Due to those high levels of phytates in grain, grain is linked to dental decay. With high levels of mineral-blocking phytic acid coupled with low mineral absorption rates and plenty of starches for bacteria to feed on, grain contributes to dental decay. Anthropological records of our pre-agricultural ancestors indicates very little to no tooth decay; however, that changed after the dawn of agriculture. Indeed, some anthropologists use the presence of tooth decay is an indicator of an agricultural society.

9. Grains aren’t good for your skin either.

Grains have a very high carbohydrate content, and while the carbohydrates in grain are complex they are still broken down into sugars nonetheless. These sugars instruct your body to produce more insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IFG-1). Elevated insulin levels lead to a cascading hormonal response and these hormones activate the sebum-producing glands in your skin – encouraging them to produce more oil. IFG-1 is also linked with the increased production of keratinocytes which also contribute to acne.

10. Eating grain makes you crave grain.

You know how the smell of bread creates a longing in you – a yearning for a slice, slathered with butter and maybe jam. Or consider a plate of cookies set in front of you – so delicious – and you can’t just have one? Foods rich in carbohydrates give you quick energy, but that energy wears off just as quickly as it came. Since grains break down into sugar, they create a rise in insulin levels when those levels fall you crave more grains and, thus, the vicious cycle continues.

Of course, if you’re not quite ready to give up grains in their entirety, take care to make sure you eat the best quality grains prepared for optimal nourishment. Choose organic grains and make sure you eat them sprouted, soaked or soured. Or go on a grain-free trial with me for the month of May!