Our Holidays here in Orthez are generally pretty quiet;  we usually avoid the crazy holiday travel rush by staying home and most all of our new friends here in France are off celebrating with their families.  But then, quiet Holidays is a tradition with us since the days when I worked in restaurants and Sheila worked in retail fashion.  December was always one of the busiest periods of the years for us both, and any time off is spent just plain relaxing, so elaborate Holiday fetes were never really in the offing.

That being said, one can still put together something delicious and festive.  This year, I kept it easy.  On New Year’s Eve, we took the train to Biarritz to enjoy the festive ambiance of the quarter around its old covered Halles.  Tons of people shopping or craning their necks to check out the lovely things to eat and cook, or enjoying a pinxto and a glass of wine in one of the markets many stalls. Among the fish stalls, the vendors set up tables so that clients can enjoy freshly shucked oysters from Arcachon and a glass of bracing white Cotes-de-Gascogne wine. Outside the Halles, restaurants and bars set up stalls serving all sorts of good things to eat and drink, and bandas (a sort of ambulatory brass and drum band playing tradition music) circulate through the streets, playing for tips and drinks. We made sure to get back on the train for home before the nighttime craziness started…leave that for the young!

Our favorite stall in the Halles to Biarritz is  Maison Chailla, which offers everything from wonderfully aged cheeses, to charcuterie from the Basque countries, to more luxurious items like caviar from the rivers of Aquitaine. Here, we purchased smoked trout from the famous river-fed farms at Banka in the high Pyrenees above Irouleguy. Its a true délice, more delicate than smoked salmon but just as rich and intense.

For my money, the best way to serve smoked trout is the most simple:  with toasted bread, and sides of creme fraîche, capers and chopped green onions.  Open a bottle of champagne and go at it (yes, that is Billecart Salmon rosé you see in the picture…Réveillon only comes once each year).

After smoked trout, we had my foie gras terrine “mi-cuit”, which is whole fattened duck liver, marinated overnight with a splash of port and spices, cooked to very low internal temperature, then pressed overnight again in the fridge.  The low cooking temperature means that less of the fat is cooked out and therefore the liver maintains its silken texture.  The success of this type of terrine is almost wholly dependent on the quality of the foie gras, so I took no chances and ordered weeks in advance from Maison Paris, a small scale producer located in the town of Pomerez in Les Landes, the heart of the southwest’s foie gras region and about 15 minutes north of Orthez. Foie gras has been hard to come by (and expensive when found) the last few years, due to the bird flu epidemic that swept the region and seriously damaged both artisan and larger farms. The good news is that near universal vaccination of ducks has meant more foie gras and of better quality, and less pricey!  Add toasted brioche and maybe a spoonful of fig jam and the terrine is ready. We enjoyed it with a bottle of Jurançon from Domaine Castera.

The arrival of quince on the market stands always signals the beginning of winter for me;  quince are the last tree fruits to arrive at the end of the season and, since they keep well, they are also one of the last available at the end of the year.  My grandma primarily used quince in combination with other  fruits in jam making, as its high pectin content often makes adding pectin unnecessary. Quince are also used to make membrillo, the famous Spanish quince paste that is often paired with cheese. This recipe is for a compote, something like a jam but with less sugar (jam has a pretty high ratio of sugar to fruit for the sugar’s preservative properties. This compote needs to be refrigerated, in a tightly sealed jar).

I served this compote as an appetizer on slices of goat cheese, finished with a chiffonnade of jambon de Bayonne, it was a big hit. Also tried it at the Holidays with terrine of whole foie gras, wow, really delicious!

Confit de canard, or preserved duck, is an indispensable dish of southwestern France and a warm, comforting dish on a cold winter evening. Its origin lies in the culture of duck farming that has shaped the entire region, from the Pays Basque in far southwest, north to Gascony and east to the area around Toulouse. On my first visit to the southwest, it struck me as odd that so much of the land was dedicated to growing field corn, since corn figures very little in the local cuisine. Corn, it turns out, is the starting point for the raising of ducks for foie gras, and foie gras production is king here.

Confit developed from the thrifty farm ethos of whole animal eating. In foie gras duck terms, that means making use of the rest the large framed Moulard duck after the sumptuous liver has been removed. The thick, meaty breasts (or magrets) are usually seared on a plancha grill and served like a steak, or marinated with salt and spices then smoked, thinly sliced and enjoyed cold like best quality cured ham. The fat of the carcass is rendered for use in cooking, representing the the third pillar in the French pantheon of cooking fats (Butter in the north, olive oil in the southeast and duck or pork fat in the southwest).

All that’s left, including the legs, gizzards, neck and wings, are rubbed with salt, spices, garlic and herbs, the slowly cooked in duck fat until very tender. This preparation not only makes the meat very tasty, it also acts as as a method of preservation; covered in duck fat, confit will last for months in a cool larder or refrigerator and served as a invaluable source of protein during the long farm winters.

Breast, liver, fat and confit find there way into just about all of the region’s most famous dishes, including appetizers, salads, soups and main courses (no desserts as far as I know but who can say?).

This recipe for duck confit is roughly based on that offered by Paula Wolfert in her classic “The Cooking of South-West France”, with slight changes for my personal taste. Although it seems involved, the steps are simple in themselves and not particularly time consuming. And the result is definitely worth the effort. At home, I like to put down 10-12 legs in the fall so that we can eat them all winter long.

Duck Confit

Ingredients:
8 Moulard duck legs, about 5-6#
4 Tab kosher salt or fine sea salt
4 bay leaves, crumbled
3 sprigs thyme, stemmed and roughly chopped
1 T ground black pepper
1 t ground clove
1t ground cinnamon
4 cloves of garlic, peeled, halved and germ removed
Duck fat

1. Prepare the legs: Trim any excess fat from the duck legs. Leave about 1/2″ fat from the point where it detaches from the meat. Render the fat, strain, cool and save. Wash the legs under cold water, pat dry
2. Prepare the rub: In a mortar and pestle (or use a food processor or hand blender) combine the salt, bay leaves, thyme leaves, black pepper and ground cloves. Work to mix well and break up the bay leaves. Add the peeled garlic and work until a rough paste.
3. Marinate the legs: Rub the rub evenly into the 8 duck legs on the flesh side only, not on the skin. Work the rub into the nooks and crannies. Place the legs into a large shallow dish in a single layer, cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave for 3 days in the refrigerator.
4. Cook the legs: rinse the legs with cold water and pat dry. Arrange the legs in a heavy Dutch over or roasting pan. Add to the pan enough melted (but not boiling!) duck fat so that the legs are completely covered. Cover the pan and place in a 250 degree oven. Cook until completely tender, about 3-4 hours. The legs are done when a knife stuck into the deepest part of the meat slips out easily and the does not lift the leg.
5. Storage: arrange the legs tighly in a crock or deep pan that will fit in your refrigerator. Strain the warm duck fat and remove any cooking liquid that has pooled at the bottom (note this cooking liquid, though salty, can be used as a flavor booster in soups and sauces). Pour the warm fat over the legs to cover completely. Cool in the refrigerator.
6. To use: Remove the storage container from the refrigerator 30 minutes before using to soften the fat. Remove enough fat so that you can access as many legs as needed. Boil the fat, cool slightly then pour back into the storage container to reseal the remaining legs.
7. To serve: there are many ways to cook duck confit but my favorite is to bake in a hot oven until hot through, then finish under the broiler until the skin is crispy (love that crispy skin!). Serve with French green lentils, simply boiled, drained and tossed with a little butter and parsley, or with potatoes roasted in duck fat. Miam Miam!
   
   

It wouldn’t seem like the Holidays in France without foie gras.  Between now and the end of the year, Le Pichet will be serving our house-made terrine of whole foie gras as a special at dinner, while supplies last.  Here are some photos to whet your appetite.

Perhaps the simplest of recipes for foie gras, this terrine is also the preparation that best highlights the subtle flavor and luxurious texture of the liver.  However, nothing is disguised in this preparation so it is imperative that the best possible quality foie gras be used.  Suggestions for wine to accompany foie gras are many but my favorite is a sweet Jurancon from the Southwest of France.

Note that a terrine of foie gras is a must for any French Holiday Celebration.