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Wine & Food

Molasses Duck with Smoked Vegetable Dressing and Peach Chutney

by Dean Fearing

Dean's recipe is a delectable twist on the classic Southern combination of poultry with cornbread stuffing.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 whole ducks, approximately 5 pounds each
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1-1/2 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
• 2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic

Smoked Vegetable Dressing

• 2 medium yellow onions, diced medium
• 2 stalks of celery, diced medium
• 1 medium carrots, diced medium
• 1 red bell pepper, seeds and membrane removed, diced medium
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 cups cornbread crumbs
• 2 cups good quality white bread cut into1/2-inch cubes
• 1-1/2 cup rich chicken stock
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Peach Chutney

• 5 ripe peaches
• 1 tablespoon finely diced ginger
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse each duck with cool water and pat dry. Season inside and out with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place ducks on a rack in a large roasting pan and roast for 2 hours.

While the ducks are cooking, make the molasses glaze. In a medium bowl, combine the molasses, Tabasco sauce, ginger and garlic. Stir and set aside. After the duck has roasted for 2 hours, remove the pan from the oven and drain all of the fat out of the pan and discard. Brush the molasses glaze over the entire surface of each duck and return them to the oven. Baste the ducks with the molasses glaze every 8 minutes for 40 minutes. The ducks' skin should be crisp and mahogany-colored. While the ducks are roasting, prepare the smoked vegetable dressing. Place onions, celery, carrots and red bell pepper in a smoker and cold smoke for 15 to 20 minutes. (See note below.) Remove. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add smoked vegetables and sauté for 5 minutes or until the onions are transparent and the carrots are soft. Add sage and thyme and sauté for another minute. Add cornbread and white bread and stir to combine. Slowly add the chicken stock, stirring gently, until dressing has enough moisture to come together but is not soggy. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

To make the peach chutney, peel and pit the peaches. Cut 3 of them into medium dice, sprinkle with a little lemon juice and set aside. Purée the remaining peaches in a blender. Pour the purée into a medium stainless steel saucepan with the ginger, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Reduce the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thick. This should take about 5 or 6 minutes. Add the diced peaches to the saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is heated through. The chutney can be made ahead and reheated just before serving time.

To serve, remove the ducks from oven. Carefully lift each duck from the roasting pan and place on a cutting board. As soon as the ducks are cool enough to handle, cut the breasts away from the bone, disturbing the molasses-glazed skin as little as possible. Cut the legs off by severing at the hip joint. Spoon a portion of the Smoked Vegetable Dressing in the middle of each warm dinner plate. Place a duck breast and leg next to the dressing and spoon a portion of Peach Chutney over each duck breast.

NOTE: If you don't have a smoker, you can create your own stovetop version with a wok. First, soak a handful of wood chips in warm water for 10 minutes (we particularly like fruitwood, such as cherry or apple, with this recipe). Drain. Line a wok with aluminum foil. Put half a cup of rice in the bottom and set over high heat. When the rice begins to smolder, add the wood chips. Meanwhile, make a shallow basket out of foil and put the vegetables in it. Set a round cake rack in the wok so that it rests above the smoking chips. Set the foil basket on the rack, allowing plenty of room for the smoke to circulate. Cover the wok tightly, turn the burner off, and allow the vegetables to smoke for 15 to 20 minutes.
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Dean Fearing

In 1985, Dean returned to The Mansion on Turtle Creek as executive chef. More than a decade later, he continues to garner the top awards in his profession. In 1994, he won The James Beard Foundation's Award as Best American Chef: Southwest, and in 1996, the restaurant at The Mansion on Turtle Creek received its fifth star from the Mobil Guide. Dean has been featured in numerous articles in the nation's food and wine press and is the author of two cookbooks, The Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook and Dean Fearing's Southwest Cuisine: Blending Asia and the Americas. At this writing he can be seen demonstrating some of his signature Southwest recipes on PBS's Cooking with Master Chefs series with Julia Child.

This all-American chef, who still plays guitar and wears flashy cowboy boots, sees his career as similar to those of the master chefs of France. "It is typical," he says, "for a master chef to work at the same restaurant for 30 years, where his fortune is intertwined with that of the restaurant. I expect to be at The Mansion for at least 20 more years."
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