Creole Hand in the Pot
It's the crack of dawn, thirty-two degrees, a stiff north wind is blowing and a light mist is falling. You ask why I have a smile of on my face? Duck season is open. Don't get me wrong I'm not an avid hunter. I didn't grow up going out to the blind. I'm an occasional hunter but all it takes is once to be hooked. Part of the allure is just being miles away from civilization, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. No cell phone, no television and if you're lucky, enough guys to get up a poker game and good whiskey to sip. One of my all time favorite things to eat is Braised Teal in a Sauce Rouillee. Sauce Rouillee is Cajun French for rusty gravy. Teal are the best eating ducks around and the recipe is so simple. It is nothing more than a few lightly seasoned teal browned in a Dutch oven in a little oil. You then add a little chopped onion, maybe some chopped garlic and you continue to brown the ducks. You add some water, cook until the water has evaporated and the ducks and onion continue to brown basting the ducks throughout the process. You add more onion and repeat the process several times until the ducks are tender. You end up with this incredibly rich, dark gravy. This cooking method allows the true flavor of the ducks to shine, which is the ultimate compliment to any ingredient. Another one of my favorite ways to enjoy duck is in a gumbo. The recipe below is a recipe I created when I was the chef at Charley G's in Lafayette. The creative twist on this recipe is to smoke the ducks prior to adding them to the gumbo. At the time I did this it hadn't been done before. Unusual considering how much we smoke meat in Louisiana.
If you don't have a hunter in the family, don't worry I use a domesticated duck for this recipe.

Creole Stuffed Pork Roast

Ingredients:

1 cup minced onion ½ cup minced bell pepper ½ cup minced celery 4 tablespoon red wine vinegar 2 tablespoon minced garlic 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 tablespoons Garlic Powder, divided 2 tablespoon Onion Powder, divided 2 teaspoon Paprika, divided

1 teaspoon Red Pepper, divided 1 teaspoon Black Pepper, divided 2 teaspoon salt, divided 2 tablespoons Rosemary leaves One- 3 pound boneless pork roast One-half onion, coarse chopped One-half bell pepper, coarse chopped 1 celery stalk, coarse chopped 1 cup beef broth

 

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl stir together minced onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire. Stir in half of garlic powder, Onion Powder, Paprika, Red Pepper, Black Pepper and salt until blended with onion mix.
2. Place pork roast in a roasting pan. Cut slits in roast by running tip of knife half the length of the blade. Do not break through other side of roast. Stuff slits with seasoned onion mix. Stuff roast with seasoned onion mix until all used up.
3. In another small bowl place remaining spices and stir together and coat outside of pork roast with mixture.
4. Surround roast with coarse chopped onion, celery, bell pepper and pour in half of beef broth.
5. Place in oven and roast uncovered for 2 hours. Remove roast from pan and set aside to cool. Allow roast to sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
6. De-glaze bottom of pan with remaining one-half cup of beef broth. Strain mixture pressing to get all of juice from vegetables.
7. Cut roast into ½ inch slices and cover with pan drippings.

Yield 6 servings



Chef Patrick Mould
Louisiana Culinary Enterprises, Inc
http://louisianaschoolofcooking.com
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