Prawncrackers
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Posts posted by Prawncrackers
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Purnells' restaurant is amazing and i'm so glad he's got through, proper brummie lad! Cheesy pineapple is a signature dish but i think that it's his desserts that are consistently top-drawer, can't wait to see him in action against Sat Bains.
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Does the duck need to be rotated during the cooking or will that ruin the beautiful lacquer coating?
No need to turn or rotate. I get a nice even colouration with just the rack and a regular fan-assisted oven.
As for just roasting just a leg or breast i've never tried it. The only problem i see with it is the scalding part of the process. It'll be difficult to scald the skin without affecting the flesh. Probably work better with legs rather breasts, give it a go and report back.
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Black vinegar works a treat doesn't it, gives just the right hue to the skin. Did you get your hands on a Silver Hill duck? No photos
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Lemon sole is still the freshest fish available in the market at the moment. Gorgeous ruby red roe and pearly flesh is so appetising. Also it finally dawned on me how to take the whole fillet off each side, see you can teach an oldish dog new tricks! Breaded, fried with peas and boiled baby new potatoes, simple and tasty:
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Prawcracker: Do you put any liquid inside the duck before you roast it? I used meen see - the brown bean sauce with whole beans - along with star anise, ginger, scallion, and garlic cloves. I guess the five-spice powder would do the same job as the spices.
I had the same problem as you did with hanging the duck to roast. I tried to roast it on a rack, but never seemed to get the beautiful all around colour as you do. Haven't made one for years - too lazy when I can get it in Wpg.
Besides, a frozen duck costs me more than one from the BBQ shop!I know exactly what you mean, a whole duck from the bbq shop is about £13 whereas a frozen one is £7 so sometimes i think why bother with all the effort! But it is one my favourite things to eat so for me worth the effort. I've never used meen see though i think a lot of recipes i've seen include it. For me the predominant flavour for me is five-spice with the emphasis on anise.
That looks fantastic-a dish I'd given up on-the glaze is new to me, and I've not tried with a Silver Hill Duck before. I shall try again next week.Do you prefer honey to maltose?
It's one of those things, i always have honey in the cupboard so it's always to hand when i make this dish. If i bought maltose what else could i use it for? Anyway the honey and black vinegar mixture gives such a wonderful finish you must try it.
Talking about the bbq shops around here they do a version of roast duck (Pai Pa Ap) that is spatchcocked and has a more hoi-sin flavour though the meat is drier but crispier. I never hear it mentioned anywhere, any ideas how these are made?
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In response to the Siu Yook thread and in order not to throw that thread off topic... Here is a brand new topic on cooking one of my favourite dishes ever, Cantonese Roast Duck. Been making this dish for many years but i think it's only recently that i've been able to get it as good as shop-bought! After the last time i posted some pics of this dish i some got very positive responses. Well, i suppose it would be churlish not to share the recipe with one and all
The most important ingredient is the duck, it just has to be a Pekin. I have tried with other breeds such as Gressingham or Barbary which are delicious but unsuitable for this preparation. The best ones that i've found are the Silver Hill (!click!) ones. I don't know if they are available globally but if you ever see them in your freezer section, snaffle a couple immediately! They are very special, the quality control is amazing, every duck i've bought so far has been perfect.
The recipe is as follows:
1. Defrost your duck thoroughly and pat dry - this may take a day. Rub the cavity with a heaped tablespoon of fresh five-spice powder and a teaspoon of salt. Insert three scallions, a knob of ginger, 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, couple bayleaf and star anise. Zip the cavity up with a skewer.
2. Prepare in a large wok the basting solution: in four or five ladlefuls of boiling water add two tablespoons of honey and a splash of white vinegar.
3. Now comes the fun part, hang your duck over the wok and ladle the boiling liquid all over the skin for around five minutes. Try to avoid getting the liquid inside the duck, (this is why head-on ducks are preferable). It is at this stage over the years that i've accrued many duck hanging implements but a butchers hook is quite adequate. Keep the liquid boiling and be very careful.
4. Transfer to a cool dry place, let hang and dry overnight. I actually like to dry the duck with an automatic fan for as long as possible i.e. before i go to sleep. The next day your duck skin should be very dry and like parchment paper.
5. Roast on a rack in a large roasting tray in a preheated oven at 200C for 20min then turn down to 180C and roast for a further 60min. During the roasting you will need to lacquer it...
6. Prepare the lacquer as soon as the duck enters the oven: warm two tbsp of honey, one tbsp Chinese black vinegar and some water in small pan. Reduce or let down to get a good coating consistency and glaze your duck with a brush three or four times during the roasting.
7. Let your duck rest for at least 30mins before you attempt to carve it Chinese style. During resting, unzip the skewer, remove the aromatics and drain away any liquid.
I used to hang my duck in the oven to roast, but it was incredibly fiddly and i found that the top always cooked faster than the bottom - especially in a domestic oven. The honey and black vinegar mixture is my own personal trick to give the skin the perfect mahogany colour. The resting is very important, the longer the better. All in all i'm very happy with the results, the flesh is flavoursome & succulent and the skin crispy & sweet. Though of course there is always room for improvement, any suggestions would be very welcome. Always wanted to try pumping the skin to see if it makes much difference (might be one for origamicranenthal to try!)
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Thanks Ah Leung Gor! Best not to hijack this thread methinks, I will start a new topic and share my recipe, hopefully Origamicrane will post the results of his experiments on there too.
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Oooh that looks the best roast yet. Any chance of seeing how it looks chopped up? Using the jaccard gives definitely a better finish than scoring. Where did you get your jaccard from? I fancy using one as my spiked stamp is a real pain to use sometimes. Vodka is going on my shopping list too.
I'm in on the duck experiment btw, my favourite roast to make and the one i'm most proud of ....
However it doesn't mean that it can't be improved with experimentation! Let me know if you'd like any pointers to start off with though
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I've only in the past year gotten into beetroot too. One of my favourite things to do with them is potato & beetroot dauphinoise. Simply substitute one beetroot for every third potato in your standard dauphinoise recipe and enjoy. Make too much and it's even better the next day. Here is some leftover i had this week with some lambs liver:
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Are you absolutely sure it isn't Camargue red rice? When i hear red rice in relation to French food i always assume it is this type of rice. I've only just discovered it in the past year or so and i think it's delicious. Here is a monkfish dish i posted around xmas time on the Dinner thread that was served on a bed of Camargue red rice, does it look similar? The taste is incredibly nutty and moreish:
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Weirdest roe product that I've had recently was uova di seppie (cuttlefish roe) while in Rome last month. Anybody else had this?
Nope but i've eaten squid roe plenty of times, do they have the same waxy texture, look colourless and little transparent?
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Haddock and Cod roe is still quite common and popular in Fish & Chips here in the UK, where of course it's battered and deep-fried. There is a difference between the processed stuff and fresh though, the fresh unsurprisingly being much better.
I think all fish roes are very tasty but also very easy to overcook. I don't like that grainy dry texture when it has been overcooked. That's probably why i like the soft-roe or milt from the male fish more. It's not technically speaking roe (you work it out) and the texture is fantastically creamy. My favourite way of eating roe is simply steaming them along with the fish.
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The soda bread is my favorite thing on this page!
I would have to agree with that statement, great looking loaf!
My butcher turned up some wonderful stuff this weekend. Aside from the usual rare-breed pork that he specialises in, of which i couldn't resist buying some Tamworth shoulder, he had some Irish Moiled beef. I'd never heard of this breed before so my interest was instantly piqued and bought a couple of sirloin steaks. Wonderfully tender meat with a very rounded flavour, had it with some white asparagus, spinach and saffron fondant potato:
The asparagus was horrendously out of season i know but i'd never seen it available before and it was such an impulse buy!
Then to top it off, he also had some North Ronaldsay lamb. He gets it in once a year and it's very special he says. How could i resist? Bought half a shoulder, i have never seen should fabulously marbled dark coloured lamb before. Apparently they feed exclusively on seaweed in the remote Orkney islands, as soon as i got it home and handled it i knew it was something special. Simply slow roasted, with spinach again, potato & beetroot dauphinoise and salsa verde:
My wife and i are in complete agreement that this is by far the best lamb we have ever had. The flavour was incredibly deep, the meat tender and the fat was rich and buttery. If you ever see North Ronaldsay lamb for sale, you must must try it.
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Congrats to the winner James, out of the three finalists he is the most worthy.
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It was all very good. Everyone just loved the dates, but I think I'll try something 'meltier' and more assertive next time for the cheese - any one have any ideas?
Dates stuffed with cheese sounds absolutely heavenly! This is going to the top of my 'things to try' list. How about tallegio and maybe add a little walnut? Dates and walnut are a classic match. The combination of the three might just blow your socks off! Mind you i could eat medjool dates till the cows come home.
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All the talk about scallops on the other thread had the obvious effect on me at the market this morning. I was irresistibly drawn to them!
Pan-fried with roasted peppers, chorizo, pureed peas & roasted anya potatoes:
I've never made pureed peas. How do you make them? Blended sorta like mashed 'taters?
Your scallops look divine, btw!
Thanks Shelby, they tasted divine too! Pea puree is dead easy; boil frozen peas till they float, drain, add a knob of butter, season and blitz with a hand blender.
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All the talk about scallops on the other thread had the obvious effect on me at the market this morning. I was irresistibly drawn to them!
Pan-fried with roasted peppers, chorizo, pureed peas & roasted anya potatoes:
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Poached chicken for me is one of my ultimate stand by dishes, it's so easy and so satisfying. Basically poach for 40mins and let it cool a little before chopping into bite-size pieces. For condiments I always have the ginger-scallion dip and on occasion a chilli dip.
Here is an example of poach chicken, steamed fish and stir-fried veg from a couple of months ago on the Chinese Forum. These are my midweek dishes, i get home from work and i know i can get dinner on the table with next to no fuss! In a way, this is my comfort-zone cooking, i enjoy sometimes not having to work to hard to cook a decent meal.
But to move back to the point, if i was entertaining mid-week and was pushed for time there is no question i would do this. Whilst your chicken is poaching you have all that time to prepare and cook the other dishes. Prepare fish, a couple of stir-fries, you could even use the poaching liquid to make a quick crab, sweetcorn, egg flower soup last thing whilst the fish is steaming. Bingo, 5 dishes and rice in the rice cooker in a little over an hour. What do you think folks?
As for dessert ideas though - your on your own!!!
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I think a lot of Asian foods fit the bill here especially Chinese as you cook each dish as a standalone and can adjust the quantities very easily to suit the number of people. So with that in mind here are some typical quick midweek Cantonese dishes that I would cook for guests:
1. Pick up a whole chicken and poach it, whilst the chicken is poaching you can prep and cook the rest of the meal….
2. Prepare condiments for the chicken
2. Prepare a whole fish to steam, nothing too big i.e. a bass/bream/sole or whatever your supermarket has midweek. Steam this last thing as it only takes 10 mins and you want to eat this straight away
3. A plethora of different stir-fries – vegetables, thinly sliced pork, beef, whole prawns, squid – again whatever you can get your hands on! Keep these warm in the oven if you are doing several dishes.
Of course serve it with rice and basically you have your typical Chinese home cooked meal in a little over an hour. Then assuming none of your guests are Chinese it would be a very different and memorable meal for them.
As the cook Chufi, it may seem a little daunting at first but once you get the knack of timing the different dishes I have no doubt you will find it a breeze. Your guests will always be amazed
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It's not unusual to find scallops in the shell here in the UK. Of course, there are also the 'fresh' ones that you can buy that are packed into plastic tubs and are sold by weight. Surely you can find oysters, mussels, clams etc in their shells over there, isn't unusual that you can't find scallops in the shell?
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Oh dear you have my sympathy. Nothing worse as a cook to find the ingredients you’ve lavished your hard-earned time and money on are sub-standard. Especially with a precious ingredient such as scallops.
Sometimes though it can very difficult to gauge the freshness of seafood when it is sold already prepared. For example with fish fillets and in particular with scallops out of the shell. I buy scallops when I can afford them but i always buy them in the shell. That way i know exactly how fresh they are and that they haven’t been pumped full of preservatives and water. Fresh scallops are always tightly closed. I don’t mind paying a little extra as I do see them as a ‘luxury’ ingredient. Besides, paying less for an inferior product is a false economy (as everyone knows – I hope!).
You definitely need to have a word with your seller. In your position if the goods where as bad as you described then I would do more than have a wee word to the nice man!
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I would be very grateful if anyone can help, I shoot a few deer a year, where can I find (or can you post) pictures of the glands, so I can try these beautiful morsels again.
I have been out to a local restaurant and tried open ravioli with chicken and sweetbreads with portabello mushrooms with a truffle velute sauce....... superb.
Henry, i love sweetbreads, my butcher was kind enough to procure me a load last year. These are about a dozen lamb ones and he said they are specifically from around the throat area. I'm assuming deer sweeetbreads will look similar, hope it helps:
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big bite!
Bravo!! You were there for only two days? You must have been eating every 2 hrs or so!
I think you should change your avatar to the picture above, it says it all!! Brilliant crisp photos too.
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Prawncrackers, that lemon sole looks great. Is that roe I see?
It is indeed the roe, when it's so fresh i think it's a shame to waste.
Dinner! 2008
in Cooking
Posted
It's been a nice long weekend, nothing much a-doing except to just cook and eat. Hence very enjoyable so far!
Friday, Chorizo crusted cod, serrano ham crisp and butterbeans:
Yesterday, Mutton chops, sweetbreads, purple kale & salsa verde:
Today, Chicken Rice, braised Nyonya pork, a little leftover lamb rendang & fried gailan: