Thursday, February 11, 2010

Roasted Duck Purses

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Valentine’s Day. For lots of couples, it’s a special occasion associated with going out to dinner.

Or not.

For me? Going out to dinner is just a little bit stressful. It means making reservations, dealing with traffic, finding a parking spot, waiting for a table, and coughing up big bucks for a nice meal. Oh, and then there’s the acquiring of a babysitter. The only thing really romantic? The fact I’m not cleaning the kitchen.

So my husband and I will frequently opt for a nice meal at home. This can be done, parents of smallish children. It might mean putting the kids down to bed early or having your dinner later, but a home-cooked meal can beat a restaurant all to pieces.

Not sure what to cook for your special evening with your significant other? Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen is here to help with your cooking dilemma. Here’s an idea for a main course for you and your special someone. The dim lighting, soft music, and romance? Totally up to you! :)

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INGREDIENTS

1 ½ C Roasted duck

¾ C Whole milk ricotta cheese

1 t Orange zest

½ t Fresh thyme (remove stems and chop)

½ t Kosher salt (or to taste)

½ t Fresh ground pepper

32 small square wonton wrappers

1 egg

4 T unsalted butter

2 C Tomato Sauce

¼ C grated parmesan cheese

1 small bunch Italian parsley

DIRECTIONS

Combine duck with ricotta cheese, orange zest, thyme, salt and pepper.
Place a wonton wrapper on a dry work surface, place a teaspoon of mixture in the center and brush all four edges with egg wash.
Fold a corner to the opposing corner, press corners firmly together to seal.
Fold remaining corners together pressing firmly to seal. Set purse aside, dry work surface and continue wrapping remaining purses.
Heat butter in a large skillet over med-low heat.
Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil add salt and purses. Cook purses until they float to the top and are tender, about 4-5 minutes. Purses may need to be cooked in two batches. Drain purses and either add to skillet and toss with butter or top with tomato sauce.
Plate purses, top with parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley.

*Tomato Sauce – In a large sauce pan heat ¼ C olive oil over med-high heat, add 1 tsp chopped garlic or shallots. Heat garlic or shallots for 2 minutes; add ½ C white wine and pinch of sugar. Add 32oz. of tomato sauce, 32oz. of crushed plum tomato, a small can of tomato paste, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in a ¼ C cream.

blog27 Enjoy! And I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

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Over the top award The Over the Top Blog Award

The rules state that we must complete the questions with one word answers. Here we go!

Your Hair? – Brown

Your Favorite Food? – Shrimp
Your Hobby? – Writing (Wait—can writing still be a hobby?)Your Fear? – Tragedies
Something You Aren’t? – Mathematical
Where Did You Grow Up? – South Carolina
Your Life? – Busy
Your Mood? – Content
Your Favorite Color? – Yellow

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Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig
Delicious and Suspicious (Summer 2010) Riley Adams

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com

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10 comments:

  1. This dish looks great and the recipe sounds quite easy, a perfect romantic combination. A quite meal at home beats a restaurant meal every time.

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  2. What a delicious looking dish! And it sounds absolutely wonderful. I'll have to try this one.
    I confess, I prefer dining out to cooking in ... pretty much any day ... but *bringing in* often has advantages. Especially when I'm on deadline.
    Thanks, Elizabeth!
    Julie

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  3. PS - Love your answers. And you like yellow, too? There aren't a lot of yellow-lovers out there!
    ;-)

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  4. Mason--Thanks! It CAN be romantic--as long as the kids are upstairs! :)

    Julie--I can understand that..take out is a really good plan on days we don't want to cook, but don't want to go out, either! And...I do really like yellow. :) It's just a happy, sunny color that's grown on me through the years. When I was a kid, I was a blue lover...but yellow always puts me in a happy mood.

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  5. Oh yeah, like we all have leftover roasted duck in our fridge. Hey, I love duck, but short of shooting my own it's all but impossible to find in local markets around here.

    Luckily my child isn't smallish any more--and sometimes she even cooks for us! But our big Valentine's treat this year will be going to a local dance, which doubles as a fundraiser for the town-owned organic farm.

    P.S. I live in a yellow house, which includes yellow wallpaper (try to find that!). But it was like that when we bought it.

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  6. SWEET recipe! Absolutely perfect for Valentine's Day! Love the duck, love the use of won ton wrappers - so inventive. Today is leftover day and I'm ruined! I want those Roasted Duck Purses now! :) RE: the restaurant thing - Marc and I are just like you: we stay in and cook. Restaurants are always booked and the weather usually bad here in NYC. (We are presently digging out of a snow dump.) A few candles, a bottle of wine, the fireplace DVD in our television, and we're all set. Loved your one-word answers, too. (Shrimp IS the best, isn't it?!)

    ~Cleo

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  7. Yum, Riley! Hub and I would like to
    make our Valentine's reservation for your
    house ! I'll bring dessert?

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  8. I agree! The whole reservations and babysitter thing is way too much work. Especially when you know the restaurant will be packed.

    This recipe sounds very romantic and elegant. Thank you!

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  9. Duck is one of my favorites! Unfortunately, I can't find it around here without "enhancing" solutions. It's already frozen harder than a rock. Why do they have to add preservatives? Aargh.

    Your recipe is wonderful. I may have to try it with a duck substitute. I'm wondering about the wonton wrappers, though. Do you have a particular brand that you like? The last ones I bought were horrible.

    ~ Krista

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  10. Sheila--Ha! I know, believe me. But you COULD do this recipe with chicken very easily...and use lemon zest instead. I think I'd love your happy, yellow house.

    Cleo--Hope y'all have a happy one! I KNOW y'all are tired of this snow. Maybe you'll get a break from it soon. Until then--I'd stay inside, too!

    Jenn--Come on over! :) And bring that Newcastle..

    Janel--It's true! Then your meal takes a while, and the servers are running like crazy...staying at home really can be better! :)

    Krista--You could easily use chicken with this recipe and a lemon zest instead! The wonton wrappers were the Harris Teeter store brand...don't know if you have that chain there?

    ReplyDelete