Slow Roasted Duck Dinner Menu in Provence - Canard Rôti aux olives vertes
A new inspiring Provençal menu
I am honored that some of my Portland friends made their way to my countryside home in Provence.
I wanted to cook an authentic Provence dish for my Portland Guests.
The dinner Menu
hors d’œurvre
Pissaladière - Onion Tart
French olives
Vins:
aperol spritz -or- Rosé de Provence
Entree - First course
melon au proscuitto
Vin:
Sancerre (a gift from my parents)
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le plat - Main course
Canard Rôti aux olives vertes - Slow cooked duck with green olives
Purée de pomme de terre - potato purée
Hericots Vertes - Green Beans
vins:
Coteaux e Pierrevert (from my region, grenache and syrah are the main grape varietals)
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fromage - Salad and Cheese
Salade Verte - simple green salad
Fromage - Four local cheeses
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la dessert - Dessert
Tarte aux Prune - Plum tart
Developing the menu, flavors and Recipes
My Portland friends visited Germany before driving down to Mison. That is a long day’s drive ! I knew we would spend a bit of time talking before they brought in their luggage. So I wanted something salty and savory to offer them while we sat on the terrace with a view of the landscape. I decided on a classic pissalidière with an aperol spritz or a glass of rosé.
hors d’œurvre - Pissaladière
Onion Tart
Authentically, this should have an anchovy in each piece. But my mother doesn’t like anchovies, so I forwent them. It was still lovely!
Method: Slice onions thinly and put in a large pot with thyme and bay leaves. Cover and cook on medium for about 10 minutes or so until soft. Then uncover and turn to low and cook for another 30 minutes or so until all of the liquid has evaporated. the onions should not have color at this point. Take bay leaves and herbs out and season.
Roll out your dough.. there are options. A pizza dough is nice. Traditionally the dough has olive oil in it. But you can use pie dough if you prefer. After rolled out, prick dough with a fork all over.
Put onions on dough, sprinkle with thyme, place olives in each piece (and anchovies if you are using them). Cook in a 200C oven for 30 to 40 minutes.
L’Entrée - Melon au Prosciutto
I wanted something light without being too filling before the main course. It is such an elegant beautiful and simple dish. Just slice the melon and put on the plate with the prosciutto. Serve with black pepper.
A nice simple course before the big, rich main course
Le Plat
I chose this dish for a couple of reasons. First, I simply love duck! Second, I had lunch with my friends from the region a week earlier. He told me one of his favorite dishes from the region is duck with a rich green olive sauce. So, my mind was set. Duck was the main course and I chose to serve it with a potato purée. It was sublime!
Canard Rôti aux olives vertes
Slow cooked duck with green olives
Duck is simply my favorite meat, and with the rich duck and green olive sauce, it paired perfectly with the potato purée
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I’m currently in the process of writing a recipe for the duck. Check back soon to see. But here is the basic method.
Duck Method - cut duck in half and prick skin all over with a sharp tip of a knife. Rub all over with salt and herbs de Provence. Place on top of aromatics in a roasting pan. Cook in a hot oven uncovered for 30 minutes, then cover and turn the oven to low. Slow roast for 3 hours. Rest duck under a tented foil until you can handle it with your hands. Cut each duck half into two pieces: hind leg is one piece, and the breast and wing is the other. Place on a baking sheet and broil for 5 minutes until skin is crispy. Serve with sauce.
Sauce Method - While the duck is roasting, make a duck stock and sauce. First render the fat from the bones on a very low simmer. Then, remove the fat from the pot and brown the bones with onions. At this point, basically make a duck stock by adding other vegetables and aromatics. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmering for 2 or 3 hours while you continuously skim off the impurities and duck fat. Then strain and discard the solids. Simmer the sauce and skim off any more impurities. Add pan juices (no fat), olives, and a splach of vinegar. Simmer until you like the consistency.
Salad and Cheese
I forgot to take a photo, but we enjoyed four local cheeses with crusty bread and a simple green salad.
Tarte Rustique - a rustic tart was the finalle
So many plums around that I wanted to do more with them. After the rich main course and then the cheese, I wanted something light with the plums. A rustic tart was the solution.
