We just did an Earl Grey smoked duck the other night. It was fantastic!
It was based off of a recipe in Bon Appetit magazine (November 2004) for "Grilled Tea brined Turkey". I had done this turkey for Thanksgiving that year, but we liked the duck even better.
First you make a brine by steeping 18 tea bags, the peel (yellow only) of 3 lemons and 6 sprigs of rosemary in 6 1/2 quarts of boiling water for 20 minutes. (Bring water to boil - then remove from heat and allow items to steep covered 20 minutes.) Remove tea bags. Add 2 Cups kosher salt, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, and 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice.
When brine is cooled to room temperature add 12 ice cubes to bring tem down further and add duck (or turkey). Don't let brine in metal container, either put in plastic container in refrigerator, or put into 2 turkey bags and place in ice in a cooler. Allow to brine at least 1 day, up to 2 days.
Remove from brine - stuff cavity with cut lemon, onion, celery, rosemary sprigs, and garlic cloves (2 -3), rub with olive oil, tie legs together and smoke on grill at 350 degrees (approx) until meat thermometer registers 175 degrees in thickest part of thigh (About 2 1/2 hour for duck, 5 -6 hours for turkey) remove to platter and let rest for 30 minutes before carving (this keeps the meat moister).
This recipe was adapted from the Thanksgiving issue (November 2004) of Bon Appetit magazine. There are a bunch of other great ones in there, including a gravy made from tha drippings of the bird. Here's the
original recipe link .
Elsewhere on this board I've also got recipes up for Earl Grey ice cream, Earl Grey truffles, and Chai Creme Brulee.
So as you can tell - we
LOVE cooking with tea!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/heart.gif" alt="" />