Enjoy these three wonderful recipes from Chef Nora! Click here to read our profile of organic food pioneer, Chef Nora Pouillon.
Ingredients
- 4–6 whole duck or chicken legs (including thigh and drumstick)
- 2 large carrots (¾ pound), cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 8 small new potatoes (¾ pound)
- 8 baby turnips, trimmed and quartered
- 8 baby beets (½ pound) or parsnips, peeled and quartered
- 4 ribs celery (½ pound), cut into 1½-inch pieces
- 4 shallots, peeled and separated
- 4 heads garlic, with the top third trimmed off
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons mixed chopped herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, and parsley
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup chicken stock or white wine
- Celery leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Put duck, carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets, celery, shallots, garlic, and 3 teaspoons oil into a large bowl.
- Season to taste with chopped herbs, salt, and pepper.
- Toss to combine.
- Oil a 9- x 14-inch roasting pan with the remaining oil.
- Remove duck legs from bowl and place them into the baking dish.
- Pour ½ cup of stock or wine into the baking dish.
- Roast the legs for 30 minutes, turning once so they will brown evenly.
- Add the seasoned vegetables and the remaining stock or wine to the roasting pan with the duck legs.
- Roast for another 45 minutes or until the legs and vegetables are browned and cooked through.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces frisée, washed and spun dry
- 8 ounces radicchio, washed and spun dry
- 4 ounces bacon, thinly sliced and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 12 small garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Tear the frisée and radicchio into bite-size pieces and put them into a medium bowl.
- Sauté the bacon over medium heat for 3–4 minutes to render some fat.
- Add the garlic and sauté for about 2 more minutes, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden and the bacon is crisp.
- Remove the bacon and garlic with a slotted spoon and drain onto paper towels.
- Pour off some of the bacon fat, leaving about 4 tablespoons in the sauté pan.
- Add the water, vinegar, and thyme to the sauté pan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Use the salt sparingly—the bacon is already salty. Bring the dressing to a boil and pour over the lettuces.
- Toss to combine.
Ingredients
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 4 eggs
- 1⅓ cups sugar
- ¾ cup canola oil
- 1⅓ cups unbleached flour
- 1⅓ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup milk
- Zest of 2 lemons
- Prune-Port Compote
- 1½ cups ruby port
- 4 whole cloves
- Peel from 1 lemon
- 2-inch piece of cinnamon stick
- 2 cardamom pods
- ½-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
- ½ pound dried prunes, pitted
Instructions
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Toast the poppy seeds for 1 minute in a dry sauté pan, shaking and stirring the pan so as to not burn the seeds. Allow to cool.
- Put the eggs, sugar, and oil in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix until smooth, about 2 minutes. You can also mix by hand with a whisk. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds, and mix for one more minute or until well combined.
- Add the milk and lemon peel and mix one last minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure the batter is thoroughly combined.
- Oil an 8-inch springform pan. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out on a cake rack to finish cooling.
- Prune-Port Compote
- Pour the port into a medium, nonreactive saucepan and add the cloves, lemon peel, cinnamon stick, cardamom, and ginger. Bring to a boil. Add the prunes, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the fruit is soft.
- To serve, ladle some of the juice from the prune compote into shallow dessert bowls, then set a piece of poppy seed cake on top. Add three or four prunes to each bowl.
