Along with the bees, and our mint and tarragon , I cook often to incude what we have outside.
We lost 77 trees to Katrina and so we started replanting Citrus. The bees have made the citrus tree so much more productive!!
H ere is one of my favorite Honey / Citrus recipes
- quick and easy- low salt , and the oranges come from right outside of our door!
CARRIE LEE'S HOT HONEY DUCK
WITH SWEET POTATOES & DRUNKEN PECAN RELISH
Serves two very hungry people.
Instructions and ingredients are general to leave room for your creativity.
It is best to make the Drunken Pecan Relish a day ahead of time. See below:
CARRIE LEE'S HOT HONEY DUCK
GENERAL INGREDIENTS
One nice duck
One fresh pineapple, cored, peeled and sliced into chunks.
2-3 Large Oranges ( we use our own Louisiana Sweet or Navels) , cut into 1/2s
2 sweet onions ( we like Vidalia, but sweet yellow is fine. )
peel and cut into slices.. ( my husband likes to dice them , but I like to slice them thin)
2 bulbs of garlic sliced thin.
Fresh ground cayenne pepper.
4 medium sized Sweet potatoes peeled and cut into quarters. ( lengthwise)
1/2 cup to 1 cup of delicious raw honey ( dark raw buckwheat honey if possible , but and rawhoney is fine)
Handful of fresh chocolate mint to garnish for serving
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
Wash Duck and place into a very large coated or non stick pan- large enough to accommodate all the ingredients
Place duck in center and stuff cavity with half of garlic and onions and close with half orange with peel facing outward.
Place remaining onions and garlic on bottom of pan surrounding duck
Place sweet potatoes on top of onions around duck.
Peel remaining citrus and add to pineapples , fill areas around sweet potatoes in pan surrounding duck.
Coat duck entirely with honey let sit 5 minutes, recoat with honey again.
Sprinkle duck generously with cayenne pepper.
Bake at 325-50'F until leg bones come free, 45 min.. to an hour depending on size of the duck
DRUNKEN PECAN RELISH
GENERAL INGREDIENTS
1 cup of finely chopped pecans ( make sure pecans are well cleaned of any shell)
1/2 cup of finely chopped golden raisins
3 Tbs of finely of finely chopped chocolate mint ( regular mint will work just fine if chocolate is not available)
1/2 cup or less of raw honey ( lighter honey is best, but any raw honey is just fine)
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
Finely chop pecans and golden raisins
Add to glass bowl and mix
Add Bourbon to cover and let sit overnight ( we use Maker's Mark )
Before serving, strain bourbon and add honey and mint to mixture until texture is of your liking.
Makes a great spread for leftover sandwiches too!
TO SERVE:
Cut duck in half,
Serve each side with two quarters of sweet potatoes with a spoon full of the pineapple onion on top or inbetween.
Top duck with Drunken Pecan Relish add a sprig of fresh Chocolate mint to the plate.
Enjoy!
