Christmas Part Two

Our Christmas dinner. With it just being us I didn't bother with the fancy china, even using the kids tacky plastic cups, LOL

The duck! Tried duck for the first time. It was delicious! I used the orange sauce included in the packaging which wasn't a big hit with the boys. So next time I'll make up my own or just roast it without any sauce. It was super easy to cook: rinse with cool water, season and stuff as desired, prick the skin all over to allow for fat drippings, and cook in a 375 oven until thermometer in thigh reads 180. I generally don't stuff poultry as I find it requires a longer cooking time and the meat seems to dry out. So I just quartered an orange and placed that in the cavity. Cooking time for the 6.25 pound duck we had was 2 hours.

The wild rice dish. This was good except I should have cooked it a bit longer as the wild rice wasn't as tender as I usually like. This was also a bit of an experiment as I didn't have a recipe to follow.

Ingredients:
1 4oz pkg of wild rice
1 1/2 C white or brown rice (I used white)
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1 shallot finely chopped
2 (or more) cloves of garlic minced
4 C chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Toast walnuts in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the shallot and garlic, sauteing until shallot is transparent. Add both rices and toast, about 5 minutes more. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the wild rice has reached desired tenderness.

The cranberry sauce. And this is from a recipe. I actually have a two in one sauce recipe. This was the Cranberry Mint Sauce version...and I'll be nice and share both versions, LOL

Cranberry Mint Sauce --
Ingredients:
1 C orange juice
1 C sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried or 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh (minced) mint
1 12 oz pkg fresh cranberries

Combine the orange juice and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pick over and wash cranberries. Add cranberries and mint to orange juice mixture. Cook 5 minute until berries pop. Mash berries with a spoon while cooking. Remove from heat and cool.

Gingered Cranberry Sauce --
Ingredients:
3/4 C apple juice
3/4 C sugar
3 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger (I've used 1 teaspoon of dried with good results)
1 12 oz pkg fresh cranberries

Combine apple juice, sugar, and 1 teaspoon of ginger (this is where I used the dried if you're going that route). Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pick over and wash cranberries. Add cranberries to apple juice mixture. Cook 5 minutes until berries pop. Mash berries with a spoon while cooking. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 teaspoons of ginger (omit this step if using dried).