“When someone talks about soul food, I think of cold rainy days sitting inside next to the heater with a big loaf of crusty bread and a dish just like this. A dish that’s not pretty or delicate in flavour like you would find in spring, more like a dish that you can break apart and destroy. Mix all the ingredients together into one ugly mess and then lap it up with loads of freshly baked crusty bread.”
Ingredients
Duck and chestnut kofta
Method
Main
1.For duck and chestnut kofta, combine ingredients (except chestnuts and caul) in a bowl. Pass twice through the mincing attachment of a mixer into a bowl. Knead the meat with your hands until elastic (2-4 minutes). Add half the chestnuts (reserve remaining), season to taste, then roll into 16 golf-ball-sized koftas and transfer to a tray. Wrap each ball in a piece of caul, set aside.
2.Preheat oven to 180C. Heat ghee in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add kofta and cook, turning occasionally, until brown (3-5 minutes). Add onion and pepper and cook until onion colours (2-3 minutes). Remove kofta and onion from pan and set aside. Drain excess fat from pan, add 35gm butter and cook until melted (1-2 minutes), then add flour and stir until light brown (1-2 minutes). Gradually add stock, stirring until smooth and combined, then bring to the boil and cook for 2-3 minutes. Keep warm.
3.Meanwhile, remove bases of four mushrooms, thickly slice tops and set aside. Finely dice bases and remaining mushroom and set aside. Heat remaining butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add shallot, garlic, thyme and cumin seeds and sauté until tender (1-2 minutes). Add diced mushroom and sauté to combine (1-2 minutes), then add to liquid with reserved chestnut (reserve a little for serving). Add kofta and onion to pan and cook over low heat until braised (30 minutes), adding sliced mushrooms during last 10 minutes of cooking. Season to taste with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and lemon juice, then serve topped with pea shoots and yoghurt and bread to the side.
Note Ghee is available from most supermarkets. Aleppo pepper is hot dried Turkish chilli, available from Turkish grocers. If unavailable, substitute roasted chilli flakes, available from Asian grocers. Ask your butcher to mince the duck meat for you. Vacuum-packed peeled chestnuts can be bought from select delicatessens. Caul fat is available from select butchers and will need to be ordered ahead.
This recipe is from the April 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Drink Suggestion: Bold young Central Otago pinot noir. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
