The Crows Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Set rack on the bottom third of the oven so the roast will fit completely inside.
• In a small mixing bowl or mortar and pestle, combine thyme, sage, garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste, and mash to break up herbs and garlic. Add oil, about 1 cup, and combine with pestle.
• Take crown roast of pork and if your butcher hasn't already prepared it, clean the bones of meat with a boning knife (French them) and make a small cut into the meat in between each rib so you can wrap it into a circle easily; save the scraps. Rub the pork all over with the herb mixture. With the ribs on the outside, wrap the rack around onto itself so the ends meet and secure with kitchen twine so it holds its crown shape. *Cook's note: if you are doing this by yourself, using a skewer to help hold its shape while you wrap the kitchen twine around the roast.
• Place in a roasting pan. Add the scraps into the bottom of the pan alongside the roast. This will help add flavor to your sauce. Set aside to bring the pork to room temperature prior to cooking.
• Fill the cavity with Apple Pecan Stuffing.
• Cover the stuffing and the tips of the rib bones with foil then place the whole roast in the oven and bake for 2 hours and 20 minutes, an instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should register 150 degrees F when done. About 30 to 45 minutes prior to doneness, remove the foil to brown the stuffing and create a crust. Remove from the oven, loosely cover with foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes before cutting. Serve with Apple Pecan Stuffing and Gravy. Garnish with watercress, if desired.
• Set a large saute pan over medium heat and add olive oil, sage and thyme sprigs. As the oil heats up the herbs will crackle and fry, infusing the oil. Remove the sage and thyme and set aside on a paper towel to drain - these can be as a garnish, if desired. Add onions to the pan and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes until caramelized. Season with salt and pepper. Remove onions from pan and add apples. Crush the pecans and add to the pan. Add more oil, if needed and season with salt and pepper. Gently saute until pecans are lightly toasted and apples are just cooked slightly - about 3 to 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl whisk together egg, cream, chicken stock, and salt and pepper, to taste. Add torn sourdough, caramelized onions, apples, pecans and chopped parsley. Using a wooden spoon, mix the stuffing until well combined.
• Place carrots, onion, celery, turnip, apple and garlic in a food processor and pulse until you have a coarse textured puree. Once roasting pan comes out of the oven (and meat is removed) set it over medium-high heat on the stove. Add a 2-count of olive oil then add vegetable puree. Sweat for 7 to 8 minutes until most of the moisture has cooked off, then dust with flour. Cook for 2 more minutes stirring well to incorporate all the flour with the fat in the pan. Add the apple liqueur and scrape the bottom of the pan. Gradually add chicken stock, stirring as you go to ensure there are no lumps. Bring to a simmer and season well with salt and pepper. Simmer then remove from heat and strain through a sieve - it's okay if some of the pulp goes through as this will naturally add body to the gravy.

Steps:

• 1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with 12 large paper cupcake liners. Put the egg whites, 2 tablespoons of the milk, and the vanilla extract in a medium bowl and mix together with a fork.
• 2 Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar. Add the butter and the remaining milk and, using an electric mixer, beat together until combined. Gradually beat in the egg white mixture. Spoon the batter into the paper liners. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning once halfway through baking, until well risen and firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
• 3 Dust the counter with cornstarch and roll out the fondant to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Using a 2 1/2 to 3-inch round cutter, cut out 12 circle s that will cover the cupcakes.
• 4 Use a teaspoon to create an indentation in the center of each cupcake and spoon 2 teaspoons raspberry jam into each. Cover each jam circle with a fondant circle.
• 5 To make the crows, divide the black Half & Half into 12 equal-size pieces. Reserving a tiny amount for the lower beak, roll one piece of the Half & Half into a ball. Squeeze and pinch the top of the ball to form the head. Squeeze, pinch, and flatten the other end of the ball to create the tail. From the head, squeeze and pinch out a long, pointy beak shape. Roll the reserved piece of Half & Half into another beak shape, but curving down at the tip. Attach below the upper beak with water, to make the beak appear open. Repeat to make another 11 crows.
• 6 With a craft knife, cut a long slit from just inside the edge of the fondant circle to 1/2 inch away from the edge on the opposite edge of the circle. Make a second cut that starts at the same point as the first and is the same length, but ends 1/4 inch apart from the first cut.
• 7 Pull up the fondant strip to expose the raspberry jam below, then use water to attach the point of the strip to the inside of the crow's beak.
• 8 Attach the crow to the fondant circle with water. If necessary, anchor the crow to the cupcake with a small piece of toothpick. Using a pastry bag or parchment paper cone fitted with a fine plain piping tip, pipe red Royal Icing eyes onto the crow. Use a craft knife to score crow footprints on the fondant. Place the Maggots in the raspberry jam. Repeat to decorate the remaining cupcakes.