Salmis of Wild Duck
Oct 11th, 2008 | By Hank | Category: Wild Game | Comments | 8 Comments |
Salmis (Sal-me) is one of those classic French preparations I love to make whenever the weather turns cool. We’ve actually had cold weather here in Sacramento — the mercury dipped to 42 degrees this morning. That’s cold for here at this time of year.
As we are on our “empty the freezer” binge, I thought a random smattering of legs and wings done as a salmis would be in order. Is there wild duck in this? Uh…sorta. It’s in the stock. The leg you see is from an Aleutian goose, which is basically a little Canada goose. I also tossed in some pheasant legs and the wings from a whitefront goose.
What makes a salmis a salmis? To my mind, it’s the red wine, the meat — typically game, but at the very least domestic duck, goose or rabbit — and the repeated cooking and reheating that makes the dish smooth and luxurious. I know some of you are wondering about the radiator pasta; not very traditional. Yeah, I know, but I was too tired to make polenta or mashed potatoes, which would have been better, and I thought of Peter over at Qui Si Mangia Bene (Here One Eats Well) who made a similarly opulent dish with wagon wheels. Don’t like it? Sue me.
I have cooked many, many recipes for salmis and have developed my own notions of what works well. But Paula Wolfert’s recipe in her The Cooking of Southwest France
There are two ways to eat a salmis: You can do as we did last night and eat the sauce with a starch and slip the meat off the bones as you go — it will be literally falling off the bone — or you can eat it in more of an Italian method, like a sugo, and pick the meat off the bones beforehand and serve the salmis as basically a pasta sauce or topping for your starch. Either way is good.
One addition I require: Something fresh and herby at the end. Salmis makes a murky sauce, and the dish as it is lacks any sort of bright notes. The easiest way to get these is with some chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives or in this case minced green onions.
If you happen to have wild bird legs or cottontail rabbits or hares lying around, you must try this recipe. If not, I’d do this with domestic rabbit, duck or goose; and remember, high-end grocery stores (like Raley’s around here) sell pheasants. That, for the non-hunter, would be the best of all choices.
Next: North African venison stew.
nice salmis.
and thanks for the reminder of pheasants. we actually have a game farm around here, and i bet this is about the right time to go looking for a bird to hang
Oh, that sounds fabulous. Maybe we’ll have to try this with our Christmas pheasant this year.
Gave my last duck — a Suisun Marsh wigeon — to my mom yesterday. That’s it for last season’s game. Our freezer is empty and ready for fall’s bounty.
Sounds like just the thing for chilly weather. I’ll have to see if I can get my hands on some good duck.
Thanks for the shout-out. When it gets cold again, I might just make that; our friends with the duckies are about ready to dispatch them.
Hey Sportingdays: You have plans for opening weekend? If so, good luck! Shoot straight so you can come home and make this dish!
You have hunting friends, Peter? If so, be nice to them — there is nothing quite like a roasted wild duck…
Thanks for the recipe. I’m going to set aside some pheasant, grouse, and duck legs this year and give this a try later in the year.
Oooh, Armagnac in the sauce… this sounds like an amazing dish. No hunting for me this year, we just had a baby! Oh well, if you feel like sending me a bird or two express and packed in dry ice, I would be very grateful.