Any excuse for a celebration, right? But as a person of little faith who has a general suspicion of moments of national glory, I don’t find it easy to rally behind the official reasons for a feast.
This is why Thanksgiving works for me. Despite its religious origins and often controversial history, I like the idea of stopping for a night to be thankful for what we have; to acknowledge how lucky some of us are (and by no means everyone). Particularly in these times, where the spirit of generosity and gratitude is such a rare commodity, it seems pertinent to remind ourselves that nothing should be taken for granted. Happy Thanksgiving.
Jerk duck roasted over black-eyed beans (pictured above)
The punchy jerk marinade is the star here, holding its own against the strong-tasting duck. The skin is not the glass-crisp, mahogany skin of Cantonese dreams, but the marinade roasts into a great crust, with plenty more to serve alongside. You’ll need to marinate the ducks for at least three hours, and ideally 24.
Prep 10 min
Marinade 3-24hr
Cook 95 min
Serves 6
2 x 1.75kg ducks, with gizzards and necks, ideally
1 litre vegetable stock (or water)
4 spring onions, roughly sliced on an angle
200ml dry white wine
3 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
350g dried black-eyed beans
1 tsp picked thyme leaves
1 tsp parsley leaves, finely chopped
For the jerk marinade
2 tbsp allspice berries
2 tsp black peppercorns
10g fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp mild paprika
2 bay leaves
5 small garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped (20g net weight)
1 scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded (or ½ chilli, if you prefer less heat)
75ml soy sauce
60ml maple syrup
1 tbsp red-wine vinegar
Flaked sea salt
In a spice grinder, blitz the first six marinade ingredients to a coarse powder. Add the garlic, chilli and half the soy sauce, and blitz again until the garlic and scotch bonnet have broken down completely. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the maple syrup, vinegar, and the remaining soy sauce.
Pat the ducks dry with a clean cloth. Cut away and discard any excess fat around the cavity, then prick the skin lightly about 10 times, especially around the fattiest parts of the breast, being careful just to pierce the fat and not the flesh beneath. Rub a teaspoon and a half of flaked salt on to each duck, then massage one and a half tablespoons of the marinade all over each bird. SetKeep the rest of the marinade for serving. Refrigerate for at least three hours – preferably overnight.
Take the ducks out of the fridge at least two hours before you want to cook them, so they come up to room temperature – they shouldn’t be at all cold when they go in the oven. Heat the oven to 185C (165C fan)/330F/gas 4½ and position an oven rack in the bottom half of the oven (remove any other racks).
Put the stock, spring onions, wine, bay, garlic, black-eyed beans, two and a half teaspoons of flaked salt and 450ml water in a high-sided, 40cm x 30cm oven tray, along with the gizzards and necks, if you have them. Stir together.
Set a wire rack over the contents of the tray and put the ducks on top, breast up and spaced apart. Roast with the legs facing the back of the oven for an hour, turning the tray after 40 minutes, so the breasts now face the back. Turn up the heat to its highest setting and roast for 12 minutes more, until the ducks are cooked and the skin has browned. Transfer the ducks to a board to rest for 15 minutes, but leave the tray of beans to continue cooking until soft – about 10-15 minutes longer.
Spoon the bean mix and some of the cooking juices on to a large platter with a lip (discard the gizzards). There will be quite a lot of cooking liquid, so save some as a stock for another recipe. Sprinkle over the thyme and parsley, then carve the duck and arrange over the beans. Sprinkle generously with flaked salt and serve with the remaining jerk marinade alongside.
Red rice with mushrooms and cavolo nero
Feel free to make this your own by swapping the red rice for a different rice or grain, or by using whatever mix of mushrooms or leafy green you can get your hands on.
Prep 15 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 6 as a side
220g red rice
2 cinnamon sticks
8 cardamom pods, skins discarded and seeds roughly crushed in a mortar
Salt and black pepper
30g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
60ml olive oil
30g unsalted butter
300g portobello mushrooms, cut into 5mm-thick slices
300g oyster mushrooms, roughly torn into large pieces
5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
½ tsp chilli flakes
200g cavolo nero, stems discarded, leaves roughly shredded (130g net weight)
1 lemon, zest finely grated, to get 1 tsp, and juiced, to get 1½ tbsp
2 tbsp dill, roughly chopped
50g crisp shallots (store-bought or homemade
Put the rice, cinnamon and cardamom in a medium saucepan and cover with a litre of water. Bring to a boil on a medium-high heat and cook for 30 minutes, until the rice is cooked through but still retains a bite; add a third of a teaspoon of salt 10 minutes before the end of the cooking. Drain, discard the cinnamon and set aside.
Meanwhile, blitz the parsley, three tablespoons of oil, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper in a food processor until smooth – about a minute – scraping the bowl as you go.
Melt half the butter and a tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add half the mushrooms, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden – about seven minutes. Add half the garlic and a quarter-teaspoon of chilli flakes, cook for a minute more, then transfer to a large bowl.
Cook the remaining mushrooms for seven minutes, then add the cavolo nero, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and the remaining garlic and chilli. Cook for four minutes more, until the greens have softened and browned in places. Transfer to the mushroom bowl, then add the rice, lemon zest and juice, dill, half the shallots and the parsley oil, and toss to combine. Transfer to a large platter and top with the remaining crisp shallots.
Mochi pecan roulade with praline and cream
If you’ve never had it before, the texture of mochi is an unexpected surprise. Made from glutinous rice flour (available in any Asian supermarket; don’t confuse it with rice flour), it’s chewy, sticky and not what you expect in a roulade. With the pecan cream and praline, it makes for something you never knew you needed in your life. You’ll need to start a day ahead, to infuse the cream. The roulade will keep in the fridge for three days.
Prep 5 min
Infuse Overnight
Cook 80 min
Chill 55 min
Serves 6
300g pecans
Pecan-infused cream
300ml double cream
30g caster sugar
¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
For the mochi cake
50g unsalted butter
380ml coconut milk (at least 70% fat content)
180g glutinous rice flour, sieved
1¼ tsp baking powder
1 egg
120g caster sugar
½ tsp Chinese five-spice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tsp coffee extract
⅛ tsp table salt
For the praline
120g caster sugar
75ml double cream
Flaked sea salt
Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/335F/gas 5. Spread out the nuts on an oven tray and roast for about eight minutes, until deeply toasted and fragrant. Finely chop 80g pecans and put in a medium saucepan with the cream, sugar and vanilla. Gently cook on a medium heat for five minutes, until warm (take care not to let it overheat and boil), then leave to cool, transfer to a covered container and refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/350F/gas 6 and grease and line a 20cm x 30cm Swiss roll tin. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on a medium heat for six minutes, until it begins to foam, turn brown and smell nutty and caramelised, then leave to cool.
Finely chop another 80g pecans and put in a bowl with the other cake ingredients, including the cooled butter. Bring together with a spatula, then pour into the tin and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the heat down to 190C (170C fan)/335F/gas 5 and bake for 15 minutes more, until set and golden brown; it should still feel quite soft and springy. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then cover with a clean tea towel, put a wire rack on top, flip over and peel off the baking paper. Trim the longer edges to remove the crisp edges (this will make it easier to roll without cracking).
With one of the shorter ends facing you, roll up the still-warm cake with the tea towel inside, then leave to rest for five minutes, before unrolling. Leave golden side down.
For the praline, melt the sugar in a medium saucepan on a medium heat for 10-12 minutes. Don’t stir; instead, swirl the pan every now and then, until you have a light caramel – don’t let it get too dark or it will taste bitter. Add the remaining whole pecans and stir very quickly to coat in caramel. Tip out on to a plate or tray lined with greaseproof paper and leave to cool and harden. Once solid, break into small chunks, and put two-thirds in the small bowl of a food processor. Add the cream and a generous pinch of flaked salt, and blitz to a smooth paste.
Warm the infused cream in a small pan, then pass through a sieve and refrigerate until chilled (discard the cream-soaked nuts or blitz them with a little sugar to add to porridge or spread on toast). Once cold, transfer to an electric mixer and whip on a medium-high speed for two minutes, until it forms soft peaks (don’t over-whip, because you will work it more when you spread it on the cake).
Spread the praline evenly over the cake, right up to the edges, then top with three-quarters of the cream, leaving a 2cm border around the edge. With the short side facing you, roll up the cake, then cut a thin slice off each end (use a sharp bread knife, ideally), to make clean edges.
Spread the remaining cream along the top of the cake, then refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roughly chop the remaining caramelised pecans, scatter on top and serve.
