SOUTHWESTERN-ASIAN DINNER (Duck!!)

SOUTHWESTERN-ASIAN DINNER

Duck!!

We were planning a dinner for some new friends last week, and Sherry decided to do a Southwestern-themed dinner.  Main course was a spiced-rubbed and marinated London Broil with Sweet Potato Fries, grilled and smoked over charcoal, but Sherry wanted to have an exotic appetizer to serve first.  We decided to begin with an amazing Asian-southwest fusion dish - Duck Quesadillas.  The essential ingredient is a whole smoked duck from the Asian market or Chinatown - you see them hanging up in rows. (Photo)  The butcher will chop up the duck into pieces (and doesn't include the head!) for you.  While it's labor-intensive to pull off all of the meat from the bones and discard the skin and fat, the end result is totally worth it.  We use a hoisin-chipotle sauce, along with goat cheese and Pepper jack cheese (which seals the quesadilla), and it's served with an optional fresh garlic-tomato salsa, and either plain greek yogurt or sour cream.  Our guests were amazed by Sherry’s creativity.

DUCK QUESADILLA

Ingredients:

•   Shredded Jack Cheese

•   Goat Cheese (chèvre)

•   1 bunch cilantro

•   1 bunch finely julienned scallion

•   1 whole roasted Chinese duck

•   1 1/2 cups hoisin sauce

•   Adobo sauce from chipotle in adobo

•   Kosher salt

•   Dry Sherry

•   12 flour tortillas

Method:

1.    Remove skin from duck and de-bone duck.  Then shred or pull the meat into bite size pieces.  Please the meat and drippings in a covered baking dish and warm in the oven (300 degrees).

2.    Mix the adobo sauce and hoisin in a small pot and add a Teaspoon of dry sherry. Warm the mixture over medium heat and then remove.

3.    Heat fry pan to medium high.  Place one tortilla in the fry pan.  Spread one to two teaspoons of the hoisin/adobo mixture evenly over the tortilla. Place a small amount of jack cheese in the center of the tortilla and make an outer ring of jack cheese along the edges of the tortilla.  The jack Cheese will serve as the "glue" for the quesadilla.  Begin dotting the open spaces with goat cheese, duck, scallion and cilantro. Cover with another tortilla.

4.    After a few minutes, flip the quesadilla and cook on the other side.  The quesadilla should be browned evenly on both sides. 

5.    Cut into eighths and serve with fresh salsa and fresh greek yogurt or sour cream.

A Turkish Recipe for Spicy Eggplant and Red Kidney Bean Stew

A Turkish Recipe for Spicy Eggplant and Red Kidney Bean Stew 

(Adapted from turkeysforlife)

So, for some reason, I always have eggplants lying around in the refrigerator, with no specific plans.  I could grill them, smoke them (baba ganoush, baignan bhartha), make Honey-Harissa Eggplant, but today I thought I should make a Turkish Eggplant stew.  Somewhat related to the Indian eggplant/bean dish we’ve made before, but this recipe has less liquid and a nice mix of sweet/spicy flavors.  I decided that this would be a dish that Katie would be able to prepare in her apartment in Istanbul.  Someday, I will make a Patlican Gozleme, but that is for another time!

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. olive oil (or a little more)

1 large onion chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 Tbsp. cumin

1 Tsp. coriander

1 Tsp. red pepper flakes (or red chili powder)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 can Red kidney beans, drained and washed

Procedure:

1.     Gently heat 3 Tbsp. of olive oil in a large pan. Peel and chop 1 large onion into cubes and add to your pan.

2.     Peel and mince 4 cloves of garlic and add that to the pan also and give it a stir. Sauté the contents of your pan until the onions soften.

3.     Add ground cumin, ground coriander and chilli flakes and cinnamon.

4.     Now chop eggplant into bite-sized chunks and add to the pan. Stir it all up so the eggplant pieces become coated with the oil and spices and let them cook for a few minutes.

5.     Add can of tomatoes to the pan.

6.     Drain beans, add to the pan, stir everything up, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, until your eggplant goes soft.

Serve the stew on a bed of Turkish rice or bulgur wheat. Sprinkle freshly chopped cilantro over the dish. You can also mix in some plain Yogurt before eating. Delicious!