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More fun with Food!
Hi All!
I love to cook, and this new WOE has been a good test of my creativity. I have had a lot of fun in the three weeks since committing to a healthier life. I would like to share today’s culinary adventure. While reading The Making of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman, I became intrigued by the account of one Chef’s love of Duck fat for cooking. He claims it is the best of all fats in flavor and cooking properties.
While at the local fish/meat market Saturday, I saw that they had fresh duck. I bought one on a whim. Yesterday I thought about how I might use it. I eventually decided to cook it in the Crock Pot.
This morning I cut the duck in half, and put it into the pot with 1 quartered medium onion, 3 stalks of celery, a tablespoon or so of poultry seasoning and some salt. I covered it with water, turned it on low, put the lid on and walked to work.
I returned this afternoon to a house that smelled wonderful! The duck was tender and the broth a beautiful tea color. I siphoned off the fat and got about 1 1/2 cups (fatty birds!) I put this into a Tupperware and stuck it in the fridge for later experimenting. The now lean broth, I strained and put into three 2 cup Tupperware containers and put them in the freezer. The remaining broth, about 2 cups, was put on the stove in a saucepan to reduce. While the broth was reducing, I pulled all of the meat from the bones and put it into Ziplocs, setting aside one of the breast portions. The bones I discarded, but I kept the skin and the liver.
The liver, I mashed with a fork and added chopped green onions, a dash of curry powder and mayonnaise until it was a nice spread consistence. Once chilled this spread will be used to fill celery for tomorrow’s lunch.
The skin went into a hot no-stick skillet to crisp like bacon. Even after being in the slow cooker all day I was surprised by the amount of fat that came out as it sizzled away. When it was getting close, I added two cloves of finely chopped garlic and stirred until it was just tender. The skin was removed and placed on paper towels to drain. The hot oil and garlic I kept on low on the stove.
When the broth on the stove had reduced by about half, I added about a half cup of fresh cut okra. Okra thickens a sauce further than reduction alone. I cooked this for about 8 minutes at a simmer.
For plating the meal, I sliced the breast portion thinly and strained the reduced sauce over it. The Okra was a small side dish. I then took the hot oil from cooking the skin and poured a couple teaspoons over 2 cups fresh spinach and sliced mushrooms. This is the same as making a wilted spinach salad except using duck instead of bacon. I crumbled a bit of the crispy skin over the salad and finished it with a squeeze of fresh lime and ground pepper.
I have to say that I was pretty happy with tonight’s dinner!
I now have great broth in the freezer, cooked meat in the fridge and of course, that fat for future experiments.
Happy eating!!
Dave
I love to cook, and this new WOE has been a good test of my creativity. I have had a lot of fun in the three weeks since committing to a healthier life. I would like to share today’s culinary adventure. While reading The Making of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman, I became intrigued by the account of one Chef’s love of Duck fat for cooking. He claims it is the best of all fats in flavor and cooking properties.
While at the local fish/meat market Saturday, I saw that they had fresh duck. I bought one on a whim. Yesterday I thought about how I might use it. I eventually decided to cook it in the Crock Pot.
This morning I cut the duck in half, and put it into the pot with 1 quartered medium onion, 3 stalks of celery, a tablespoon or so of poultry seasoning and some salt. I covered it with water, turned it on low, put the lid on and walked to work.
I returned this afternoon to a house that smelled wonderful! The duck was tender and the broth a beautiful tea color. I siphoned off the fat and got about 1 1/2 cups (fatty birds!) I put this into a Tupperware and stuck it in the fridge for later experimenting. The now lean broth, I strained and put into three 2 cup Tupperware containers and put them in the freezer. The remaining broth, about 2 cups, was put on the stove in a saucepan to reduce. While the broth was reducing, I pulled all of the meat from the bones and put it into Ziplocs, setting aside one of the breast portions. The bones I discarded, but I kept the skin and the liver.
The liver, I mashed with a fork and added chopped green onions, a dash of curry powder and mayonnaise until it was a nice spread consistence. Once chilled this spread will be used to fill celery for tomorrow’s lunch.
The skin went into a hot no-stick skillet to crisp like bacon. Even after being in the slow cooker all day I was surprised by the amount of fat that came out as it sizzled away. When it was getting close, I added two cloves of finely chopped garlic and stirred until it was just tender. The skin was removed and placed on paper towels to drain. The hot oil and garlic I kept on low on the stove.
When the broth on the stove had reduced by about half, I added about a half cup of fresh cut okra. Okra thickens a sauce further than reduction alone. I cooked this for about 8 minutes at a simmer.
For plating the meal, I sliced the breast portion thinly and strained the reduced sauce over it. The Okra was a small side dish. I then took the hot oil from cooking the skin and poured a couple teaspoons over 2 cups fresh spinach and sliced mushrooms. This is the same as making a wilted spinach salad except using duck instead of bacon. I crumbled a bit of the crispy skin over the salad and finished it with a squeeze of fresh lime and ground pepper.
I have to say that I was pretty happy with tonight’s dinner!
I now have great broth in the freezer, cooked meat in the fridge and of course, that fat for future experiments.
Happy eating!!
Dave
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