, a renowned French oak cooper, Nicholas Keeler, says that the trick to understanding oak aging lies in knowing the qualities of the varying oak forests and regions from where the wood originates, the duration of time seasoning the oak outdoors, the looseness or tightness of the wood grain, and how lightly or heavily the wood was toasted..
Remove the duck breasts from the marinade and pat them dry with paper towels; discard the marinade.Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat.
Add the duck breasts, skin side down, the whole cardamom pods and the broken cinnamon sticks and cook for three minutes.Scatter the coffee beans around the duck breasts and cook, gradually increasing the heat as the duck breasts render their fat, for about 4 minutes longer, or until the skin is crisp and brown..Transfer the duck breasts to plate and discard the coffee beans and spices.
Return the duck, skin side up to the skillet, add the port or Madeira and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.Braise the duck breasts for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes to finish cooking.. To serve, cut the duck breasts into 1/2-inch thick slices and fan them out on four plates.
Drizzle the pan juices over the duck and serve immediately with the.Gather the scraps, re-roll and stamp out more cookies.
You should have a total of 48.. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, until golden; rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking.Transfer to a rack to cool..
In a small saucepan, warm the jam over moderate heat, stirring, until runny, about 3 minutes.Brush a thin layer of jam on 24 of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies..
(Editor: Automatic Wallets)