Dinner 2017 (Part 6)

[Okanagancook]

Stir fry for one.  Shrimp and snap peas mainly.  Pretty boring.

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Pretty boring.

It doesn't look boring, and I'll bet it doesn't taste boring either. I would be happy to have this set in front of me any day.

[David Ross]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 5:37 PM, David Ross said:

After 80 days of searing heat, (for Spokane) with no rain, finally Fall weather has arrived.  Which for me is a blessing as it's my favorite time of year for cooking.  This is the third batch of duck confit I've made so far.  This time served with a Cassoulet Bean Stew I came up with.  The beans are from our friends at Rancho Gordo.

Over the years I've gotten to the point where I've perfected the curing process for my duck confit and it couldn't be easier.  I buy fresh duck hindquarters at a local Asian market, and if those aren't available, frozen from Maple Leaf Farms in the supermarket works just as good.  A good measure of Kosher salt, some black peppercorns, fragrant bay leaves, crushed garlic and some crushed juniper berries.  That gets sprinkled generously on both sides of the duckies, then covered and into the fridge to cure.  This batch cured three days, which is my standard.  Then rinsed off before going into the pot for cooking.  I'm not a man of great means, i.e. in terms of spending shards of money to buy great vats of duck fat.  So I use pork lard that I buy at the local Mexican market.  Does a fine job in my opinion.

   So I melt the lard in a Le Creuset pot, in go the duck hindquarters covered in pork fat.  Into the oven at 275 for four hours.  Then I take the pot out, let the lard congeal, and the duck confit goes into the fridge until ready to use.  I just reheat the pot to melt the fat and gently pull out one of the hindquarters.  Then on a rack over a cookie sheet in a blistering hot over to crisp the skin on the duck.  This was a good batch, not overly salty and the meat is so tender.

   Rancho Gordo beans are very easy to work with.  Just a soak for about 4 hours in water.  Then keep the soaking water to cook the beans, maybe add a little fresh water.  Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer.  This time I cooked them about 2 1/2 hours with a large smoked ham hock.  The greens went in about the last 30 minutes.  These beans stew off their own delicious bean broth, so you don't need to add much seasoning nor add something like chicken or vegetable stock.  That's it. 

[Tropicalsenior]

9 minutes ago, David Ross said:

I buy fresh duck hindquarters at a local Asian market,

 I can't buy duck in any form here. This looks so good. Could I make this with chicken? What changes would I have to make?

Edited September 22, 2017 by Tropicalsenior
Addition (log)

[David Ross]

3 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

 I can't buy duck in any form here. This looks so good. Could I make this with chicken? What changes would I have to make?

 

Oh I'm so glad you asked about chicken and yes!  I do it with chicken.  I keep the rub the same, but I'll probably cut down the cooking in the fat time by an hour.  And it's delicious pulled apart and served with pasta.  Sometimes I'll pull the skin off the confit and then crisp it under the broiler. 

 

I've always thought it odd folks, especially in my neck of the woods, don't eat more duck.  We have many hunters who harvest wild ducks, but not many folks buy farmed duck.  It's so delicious but I concede spendy.  The Asian market sells two hindquarters for about 4 bucks.  The frozen is about 11 dollars for two hindquarters.  You can buy it online, but the darn shipping is nearly, or sometimes more, than the cost of the product since it has to be shipped overnight.

[Tropicalsenior]

4 minutes ago, David Ross said:

I'm so glad you asked about chicken and yes!  I do it with chicken

Thank you so much. We have wild duck here but if I shot one, I'd probably gets strung up by my toes. I did see a whole frozen duck in an Asian market once and it was $55. We have great chicken here and I can get lots of good fresh lard so I am all set. How long will it keep in the refrigerator?

[mgaretz]

Hamburger steaks, cooked SV then seared, served with sauteed mushrooms in cream sherry and fresh snap peas, cooked ALV.

 

 

 

[shain]

Makloubeh - rice with chickpeas, roasted vegetables (eggplant, carrot, cauliflower), browned onion, tomatoes.

Spiced with baharat (allspice, cinnamon, pepper), cumin, turmeric, garlic and herbs. 

And a crisp top (or should it be considered bottom, since it's facing down until served).

Served with yogurt-tahini sauce.

[David Ross]

5 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Thank you so much. We have wild duck here but if I shot one, I'd probably gets strung up by my toes. I did see a whole frozen duck in an Asian market once and it was $55. We have great chicken here and I can get lots of good fresh lard so I am all set. How long will it keep in the refrigerator?

I keep my duck confit congealed in the lard in the pot in the fridge for about a month.  But it can go much longer.  I just can't store it long because it's so delicious.  Remember this is a very, very old classic French method of preservation long before there was modern refrigerators like we have today.  I'd venture though to say it will keep in the cools of your fridge for about three or four months.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

4 minutes ago, David Ross said:

I'd venture though to say it will keep in the cools of your fridge for about three or four months.

Thank you very much, David.

[Anna N]

 

Fried potato and cheese pancake from Six Seasons.

There is a reason that I'm showing you this still in the pan.  I knew without a doubt that any attempt to remove it from the pan would not end well.  There is a reason you are advised to read a recipe!   This one called for a nonstick pan.  Missed that part. This is a very well seasoned cast iron pan but it was not quite up to a mixture of cheese, onion and potato.  But it was very good and I enjoyed it with some tomato chutney. (The pancake not the cast-iron pan.)

 

 Edited for clarification after I read it through and wondered if I would've broken my teeth on the cast-iron pan. 

Edited September 22, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[mm84321]

I enjoy making this dish around this time each year: lobster with lemon verbena, potatoes, chanterelles and apricots. 

[kayb]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

Fried potato and cheese pancake from Six Seasons.

There is a reason that I'm showing you this still in the pan.  I knew without a doubt that any attempt to remove it from the pan would not end well.  There is a reason you are advised to read a recipe!   This one called for a nonstick pan.  Missed that part. This is a very well seasoned cast iron pan but it was not quite up to a mixture of cheese, onion and potato.  But it was very good and I enjoyed it with some tomato chutney. (The pancake not the cast-iron pan.)

 

 Edited for clarification after I read it through and wondered if I would've broken my teeth on the cast-iron pan. 

 

OMG. That looks stunningly wonderful. I may have to get this book on the strength of this recipe (which I have found and saved) alone.

[Anna N]

34 minutes ago, kayb said:

OMG. That looks stunningly wonderful. I may have to get this book on the strength of this recipe (which I have found and saved) alone.

The photograph in the book  is stunning. 

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, kayb said:

OMG. That looks stunningly wonderful. I may have to get this book on the strength of this recipe (which I have found and saved) alone.

 

Where did you find this?  I looked for it too, obviously your sleuthing skills are better than mine. When @Anna N posted this I wanted to take a big bite out of my tablet screen.

[Kim Shook]

@chromedome – re: brining pork.  That is true.  I honestly don’t know if it was pre-brined or not.  It was not cryovaced – just the regular Styrofoam tray and plastic wrap.  Does that make any difference?

 

Tonight was salad (SURPRISE! ):

 

Käsekrainer sausages from Wegman’s, sourdough rolls and green beans:

Käsekrainer is an Austrian smoked pork and beef sausage studded with Swiss cheese.  Really good!

[HungryChris]

Fish and chips. I think haddock is best.

HC

Edited September 23, 2017 by HungryChris
Haddock, not halibut! (log)

[Ann_T]

David, thank you for sharing your method.  I've saved your instructions and this is definitely going on my must try soon list.

I love duck and it isn't something that I cook often.   If I can't find fresh duck legs in Victoria's Chinatown, I know I can 

buy them frozen in a number of our local grocery stores.

 

Last night's dinner.  

Escargot for Two.

[chromedome]

7 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

@chromedome – re: brining pork.  That is true.  I honestly don’t know if it was pre-brined or not.  It was not cryovaced – just the regular Styrofoam tray and plastic wrap.  Does that make any difference?

 

The pork is typically brined (ie, "seasoned," and filled with water) at the packing plant, rather than the supermarket. The label from the original packaging probably has to say something about that (I don't know the corresponding laws or nomenclature Stateside) but if it's portioned and store-packed it might not. 

[rotuts]

HungryChris

 

no green tabasco ?

 

I really like the little metal tartar sauce container

 

very Dinner-ey

[Tropicalsenior]

40 minutes ago, Ann_T said:

Escargot for Two.

OMG, that looks so good! They are absolutely impossible to find here. The one time that I brought some down from the states they got confiscated at customs. The explanation that I was given is that they are an invasive species. I tried to point out that they weren't likely to crawl out of the can and propagate. They were dead! Didn't matter. They kept my snails.

Edited September 23, 2017 by Tropicalsenior
Typo (log)

[HungryChris]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

HungryChris

 

no green tabasco ?

 

I really like the little metal tartar sauce container

 

very Dinner-ey

No green tabasco, but, truth be told, I did add a few dashes of Crystal to the onion and dill relish tartar sauce.

HC

[Duvel]

Grilled cheese (mozzarella, manchego, parmesan) on rye ...

 

[liuzhou]

Sad that so many of you can't find duck or it's mega-expensive. Here it is one of the cheapest meats - at least half the price of chicken. I eat it often because I like it, but cheapness doesn't hurt. I also almost always buy duck eggs  -also cheaper than chicken's babies and, in my opinion, much better.

[dcarch]

17 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Sad that so many of you can't find duck or it's mega-expensive. Here it is one of the cheapest meats - at least half the price of chicken. I eat it often because I like it, but cheapness doesn't hurt. I also almost always buy duck eggs  -also cheaper than chicken's babies and, in my opinion, much better.

 

I like dark meat. Ducks, 100% dark meat.

I like duck eggs, they are larger and the yolks are also much larger than chicken eggs.

You can find in NYC stores duck tongues. Interesting, one day I will buy some. You can find smoked ducks. 

I also like duck liver sausage.

Another interesting thing in NYC stores, deboned duck feet. How do they do that?!

 

dcarch

 

Edited September 23, 2017 by dcarch (log)