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Finished dish |
I like to think that I'm not a very picky eater, but the FFWD choices for November seemed to hit on all of the foods that I don't like. I'm excited for chef's choice, but the other ones are all problematic. I don't eat red meat, so I'll be skipping the lamb recipe. (I have no real reason for this, my parents just stopped eating it before i was born and I've never been very interested in starting.) Until a couple of years ago, fennel was on the VERY short list of of vegetables I don't like (the only other one that I can think of is mushrooms). I've been making a (somewhat successful) effort to learn to like fennel, though, so I will try the squash and fennel soup recipe next week and hope for the best. I was also very nervous about trying the duck recipe.
I don't remember eating duck growing up. I vaguely remember trying it a couple of times and not liking it, but it was definitely something I only saw in restaurants. Last year I ordered a tasting menu at a restaurant and the main course was meat. When I declined that they offered me something with mushrooms, and when I declined that again the waiter offered me duck. I felt bad saying no three times in a row - especially when the waiter said "would the lady enjoy a duck?" in such a great french accent - so I agreed to the duck. Maybe it was the wine, but I loved it. It was served very rare, and much closer to red meat than anything I'd ever tasted, but it was delicious.
Since then I've ordered duck a couple of other times at restaurants, but it had never occurred to me to cook it at home until this recipe was selected. I read it over and it sounded straight forward enough, and twenty minutes sounded great for a weeknight, so I decided to give it a shot. This was also my first time purchasing duck and I was shocked by how expensive it was. The two pounds the recipe called for also seemed like a lot for four servings, but I decided to trust Dorie.
Once I made the decision to try it and purchased the duck, the cooking part was easy. I found Dorie's precise instructions very helpful, and quickly realized why she called for two pounds of duck - so much of it is fat! I saved the duck fat, though, and am pretty excited to cook something in it. I'm thinking potatoes, but need to look for a recipe.
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Duck cooking away |
I wanted something healthy to serve with the rich duck, and also needed to use up all of the turnips and turnip greens I've been getting from my CSA, so I made a turnip soup recipe (from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food) to serve with the duck. I was please with how the soup came out. It wasn't the best soup I've ever had - probably because it was so healthy - but it did use up the turnips and nicely balanced the rich duck. I don't think I'll be making the duck recipe too often because of the cost, but we definitely enjoyed it. It's something I'd pull out again if I had company coming over and a short amount of time to cook.
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Soup, homemade chicken broth, and duck |
Though this is easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner, I think it's better for an easy, though elegant, meal for company. Turnips are one of the vegetables I have to work at liking, though for some reason, I don't mind the greens. Your dinner looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteYour duck looks simply juicy and delicious. I'm with you. I'll be sitting out the next few ffwD myself.
ReplyDeleteI was definitely surprised at the amount of fat that came out - I wish I thought to save it. I am sure duck fat fried potatoes would be heavenly...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you gave it a try! Definitely too expensive for every day, but fun to try nonetheless. Yours looks cooked perfectly!
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