Jealous? Who Me? Nah.

I assume you are familiar with my usual Oscar party?  Pajamas, sofa, disinterested husband?  Making scintillating observations about fashion which go entirely ignored?

What I may not have mentioned is that my parents spend Oscar night at a party in New York City thrown by friends of theirs, one of whom is an actual voting member of the Academy (this is simultaneously less cool and more cool than it sounds).  However, I have set aside all feelings of jealousy.  I do not require a party thrown in the city that never sleeps; I do not require a fancy guest list (or in fact, any guest list). So long as my food is better, I have won.  And since I know they had standard issue delivery pizza, I win.  Because my pizza was soooo good. The nutty gruyere was balanced by the gooey mozzarella, the mushrooms sauteed with garlic and oh, the duck.  The sweet, scrumptious duck.  The heavenly crispy duck cracklings.  Now who's jealous?


OSCAR NIGHT PIZZA

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 recipe of dough
8 oz assorted mushrooms (I used a prepacked blend of shiitake, baby bella and oyster mushroom)
1 T olive oil
2 t balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 store-bought fully cooked duck half - see below
1 1/2 T hoisin sauce
1 1/2 C grated mozzarella
1 C grated gruyere
salt and pepper

Store bought duck - you don't need quite this much, but there's no harm in leftovers.

DIRECTIONS:
Heat up the duck as directed on the package.  Remove the skin, and cut the rest into bite sized bits. Toss the bits with 1 1/2 T hoisin and set aside.  Increase the oven temperature to 450 F.  Take the skin and slice it into 1/4" strips.  Place the skin on foil, sprinkle with salt and pop in the oven for about 5-10 minutes or until crispy. Set these duck cracklings aside (really, they are SO good). Rinse your mushrooms off.  Chop them into smallish pieces. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil to medium.  Add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Then add the mushrooms and cook until soft. This should take 5-8 minutes.  You want them tender.  Add the balsamic and some salt and pepper (taste to see how much you need).  Set the mushrooms aside. In another bowl mix your mozzarella and gruyere.

Roll out your dough.  I usually sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom of the pan I'm using to make the pizza, so do that, then transfer your dough.  Top it with the cheese mixture.  Then even sprinkle the mushrooms over, then then duck bits and finally the cracklings.  Cook at 425 or 450 for about 7-8 minutes depending on how done you like the crust.

Christmas Presents

 

One of my very best presents this year did not come in a box under the tree, wrapped in pretty paper and tied with a bow.  It arrived instead, by plane, from Seattle. My aunt, uncle and cousin came to stay for the holidays!  Not only did this mean excellent company, it meant that once I finished my marathon baking extravaganza, I barely cooked a thing for the rest of December. Better still, the food was delicious.  Because Ryan doesn't eat red meat, he had a special Christmas dinner, duck breast with a soy balsamic glaze.  The rest of us were begging for scraps around the cutting board and once we'd tasted our quarry we insisted that the duck make another dinner appearance.  Luckily my husband is very easily convinced to eat the same thing two nights in a row when it's something he really loves. 

DUCK BREAST WITH SOY BALSAMIC GLAZE

recipe from Uncle John

INGREDIENTS:

for 2 people

1 duck breast - we buy D'Artagnan brand, preferably the Moulard, but the Muscovy will work as well, it will just give off more fat.

kosher salt

pepper

1/3 C soy sauce - if you want to make this gluten-free, please be sure you use a gluten-free soy sauce.

1/3 C balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

Fat side up, score the duck breast by making diagonal cuts in the fat (you can see this in the picture above).  Make sure you do not cut deeper than the fat.  On your stovetop, heat a stainless steel or cast iron pan to medium.  Once hot, place the duck in the pan, fat side down.  It should sizzle, if it does not, the pan is not yet hot, so remove the breast and return it once hot.  Cook for 6-8 minutes until the fat side is browned and tasty looking as shown above.  Then flip the breast and cook another 3-5 minutes or until the duck reaches an internal temperature of about 110 F.  You will be letting the duck rest under foil for 10 minutes or so and it should come up to 120.  Slice the duck and drizzle the glaze over the slices.

For the glaze:

In a shallow pan, combine the soy and balsamic.  Heat on medium-low until it reduces and becomes syrupy in consistency. 

Insert Pig Joke Here

A few years ago when we had that whole swine flu scare, I ended up in a very serious pig-based discussion with my third grade class. My contributions were limited to helpful observations such as: "Um, we're calling that H1N1 now." and "You know you can't get it from eating pork or bacon or ham right?" As the children paused to reflect on these pearls of wisdom, S, a terrific kid with impeccable timing said (and I quote!) "I just love pigs..." then she sighed audibly and added, "they're so adorable...and they taste delicious!"

I could not agree more. However, I am married to one of the many people out there who does not eat pork. You could say it's because he's Jewish (he is, but it's not) or because he's Muslim (he's not, so it's not) or because he's watched Pulp Fiction too many times and over associates with Samuel L. Jackson's character (although he hasn't and he doesn't). The fact is, it doesn't matter why he won't eat any tasty swine products, all that matters is that he won't.

And of course, I'm the one who suffers. Oh sure, I buy poultry sausages and I eat turkey bacon now without too much complaint. If it's hidden in a recipe, it usually won't pain me too much. But as much as turkey bacon is a cheap and slightly sad substitute for bacon, it's just painful to use it in place of pancetta. So I've been suffering along (in silence, I promise) until something better came along.

And that something better is... duck bacon. Okay, so it's pricey. But duck bacon is actually delicious. And gives off delicious fat just like pancetta would. And has a texture that is pleasing and not sort of leathery. It's not for every day, but if you've got a dish where the pancetta should shine and you're pigless? Duck bacon.

I made this Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks with turkey bacon the first time, but it is far more delicious when made with duck bacon. I can only dream what it would taste like with pancetta.

PASTA WITH DUCK BACON! AND LEEKS
adapted from The Pioneer Woman
serves between 2-4 depending on how hearty your appetites are - we had a fair amount left over

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz farfalle
4-5 slices duck bacon
2 leeks, sliced and properly cleaned (cut into rings, push rings apart with your fingers, soak in cold water, lift out the rings leaving all the sandy ick on the bottom of the bowl) - use only the white to light green parts, don't use the thick dark green leafy parts
1/4 C vermouth
1/4 C light cream (Oh for crying out loud, I usually add a smidge more. I'm a bad person)
1/4 C - 1/2 C parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus more for garnish.
reserved pasta water

DIRECTIONS:
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Chop your duck bacon into small tasty bits. Drop them into a large skillet and cook on medium-high until cooked (5-7 minutes). They will give off tons of fat, so you won't need any other oil/butter nonsense. Add the leeks and cook 8-10 minutes. You do not want them to crunch (well, I don't anyway). I like them nice and tender. They will likely not stay a pretty green like on Pioneer Woman. They are cooking in a pan full of delicious duck fat. They will become golden. Add the vermouth. Cook 1-2 minutes. Add the cream, toss well to combine. Add the pasta (I did say a large skillet). Add the grated cheese and toss. If it seems dry, feel free to add a bit of reserved pasta water, or some more cream (come on, I'll never tell). Serve and garnish with some shaved parm (use a potato peeler for pretty curls). Be very grateful that being pig free is no longer a hardship.

Beginner's Duck

I did manage to rally last night, and pull together a nice dinner. Certainly not worthy of Julia, but a bit fancier than the usual - Pan roasted duck breast with green beans, polenta and mushrooms in a balsamic red wine glaze. This duck recipe is absolutely the most simple one I've seen and it turns out perfectly every time. The duck is juicy and flavorful and the skin is crispy, salty and delicious. If you like duck it's a wonderful preparation for guests or a special occasion because it takes less than twenty minutes and almost no fuss. You'll feel like Julia without having to struggle with deboning your own bird, use a chinois to strain sauce or deprive the tri-state area of its butter supply.

PAN-ROASTED DUCK
courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

INGREDIENTS:
duck breasts

• the number you cook will depend on how hearty your eaters and are the number of sides you are making. With my husband I assume he gets his own, but my parents would probably split one between the two of them.
• duck breasts are available in some grocery stores now and many specialty stores. D'Artagnan is a good brand. We usually get the Magret breasts, which should be a bit over $10.00 a pound. Online they sell the breasts in four packs for around $50.

essence of emeril - you can find the recipe on the food network link or here.
1 scant tablespoon olive oil.

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 400 F. First rinse the duck and pat it dry. Then coat both sides in essence. Your ducks will look like this:

On the left is the underside of the duck, on the right, the delicious layer of fat. Mmm. Duck fat. In an ovenproof skillet, warm the oil. You really don't need a lot of oil because the duck will give off tons of fat. Have the pan on medium heat and when the oil is hot, place the ducks in the pan skin side down. Cook them for 6 minutes. At the end of six minutes flip them over. The skin will be browned and shiny and crisp. Pour off some of the duck fat*. Emeril doesn't mention this, but I'd rather not have any oven fires, so I drain probably three-quarters of what's in the pan. I drain into a metal mixing bowl just because it's so darn hot and I'm afraid glass would crack and plastic would melt. Once you've flipped the ducks and poured off some fat, place the pan in the hot oven for an additional 8-10 minutes. You can use a meat thermometer to check for doneness if you worry about that sort of thing, the final temperature you want is 120 F. Remember the duck will come up a few degrees while it rests so you can pull it around 110 F. When you remove the duck from the oven, cover it and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. Mine was still giving off quite a bit of juice after that time, so it really does need to sit. Slice it on the bias into quarter inch slices. Feel very gourmet and impressive indeed.

*Duck fat is great to freeze and use later to make Coq au Vin or other chicken dishes richer and more flavorful. Use duck fat as you would butter.