Posted by johngl
I like duck. You may even have seen the duck burger I whipped up a couple of weeks ago. Well, I had the breast left over and last weekend, I made it up for our 18th wedding anniversary lunch. Not a bad thing to cook for someone who’s put up with me for a lot of years.
People tend to rush cooking a duck breast. It is really a relatively long, slow frying process.
Posted by johngl
Labor Day is upon us! Time to wrap up this Burger Quest.
You might wonder: Why would anyone in their right mind grind a duck into burger meat?
Well, I like duck and I think duck is under-appreciated in this part of the world. Why not burgers? We burger everything else! Is it really such a stretch? I’ve roasted it, confit’d it, grilled it, and made stock out of it. I hadn’t yet tried burgering it (spell check is trying to turn “burgering” into “buggering” which would give that last statement a whole new meaning).
So when Brittany (aka: Stems) suggested that for my finale, I should do “duck burgers and fries cooked in duck fat” it took about 10 seconds before I said: “OK! You’ve got something there.”
I hereby introduce to the world: The Maple Leaf Farms Duck Burger!
What do you mean it looks just like a hamburger? Of course it does, that is the whole point.
Posted by johngl
Technically, I am still vacationing. My cell phone is in the off postion. However, I am back in Austin for the recovery phase of the trip. You will hear about my “Great Adventure on the High Seas” ad nauseum in future posts.
Besides going back to work, about the worst thing about returning from a great vacation is that one now needs to think about cooking one’s own food. And grocery shopping. And emptying the cat’s litter box.
Wanting to keep it simple (in the food prep area), I decided I would whip up some classic Fettuccine Alfredo:
Classic Fettuccine Alfredo (along with some chicken)
Posted by johngl
A couple of posts ago, in Petite Tenderloin, I mentioned that I have a new kitchen toy: a temperature controller. This piece of equipment has exceeded my expectations and even the most glorious spousal unit has approved of it by saying “That’s a $150 well spent!”
Sous-vide is the French term for “under vacuum” and is a cooking method that helps maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them at about the same temperature you would normally serve the food. For instance, if you wanted to serve a chicken breast that wasn’t overcooked, you would want the meat in the 150-160 degree range. In sous-vide cooking, you would simply cook it at that temp until it was ready. For chicken breasts, this takes about 45 minutes.
This chicken breast is seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, a little cognac and brushed with olive oil. The quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), is hydrated with chicken stock and seasoned with salt and pepper. It is amazingly easy to prepare.
Posted by johngl
For the uninitiated, we’re now into the second round of recipes provided by Chef Tre Wilcox. If you are interested in background information, check out round 1, if not, let’s carry on.
This is my rendition of the grilled fish and celery root with a Bearnaise. I duplicated this dish in it’s entirety so certain friends of mine couldn’t accuse me of “weenie-ing out.”
Posted by johngl
Bourbon Reds, sometimes called Kentucky Reds or Bourbon Butternuts, are a heritage turkey breed that originated in Kentucky and Pennsylvania back in the late 1800′s. It officially became an approved breed in 1909. It’s been around a while.
Posted by johngl
If you hadn’t figured it out by now, I like duck. My friends like duck. Old MacDonald had a farm (and all that).
Posted by johngl
Regardless of the date on the calendar, summer has officially arrived in Texas with Austin temps easily reaching the high 90s and the last thing you need to do is heat up the house by doing a lot of cooking. And I never really need an excuse to play with fire.
Last Monday, the work holiday known as Memorial Day, gave me the extra day I needed to do some serious fire roasting. Brats, Italian sausage links, tequila chicken, and finally some loin-back ribs were all slated for sizzling contact with hot steel. We’d have ready to eat goodies for the rest of the week.
Of course, having a bbq loin-back rib dinner for Memorial Day wasn’t bad either:
Posted by johngl
By now y’all know I like duck. Duck has that little sumthin that just makes it meatier. Maybe it is the slightly gamy flavor. Maybe it’s the texture. I can’t really put my finger on it. Unfortunately, duck is a bit spendy. It can also be difficult to find outside of the holiday season.
And ducks are cute. People don’t like to eat cute animals. We shouldn’t have any problem with this:
Posted by johngl
By now you are probably thinking, “Duck, again? You need to get some variety in your life johngl!”
What, the pig head wasn’t enough of a diversion? I got some interesting comments on that one: “a bit much” said one friend. “Awesome!” said another. Yet another proclaimed, “THAT’S DISGUSTING!” Hey, I do what I do and if you want to come along for the ride, so much for the better.
Anyway, this is about duck, not pig heads…so, let’s get started with the basics. First, you need a couple of ducks:
Meet Muscovites George and Ringo. George knows what’s coming. Ringo is clueless.
Posted by johngl
My much beloved spousal unit coins meals such as these free dinners because everything to make them is already on hand. I just call them yummy.
Skillet seared ribeye, bruschetta of duck confit, and mashed potatoes with bordelaise sauce
Posted by johngl
“What is sauce for the goose may be sauce for the gander but is not necessarily sauce for the chicken, the duck, the turkey or the guinea hen,” said Alice B. Toklas, author of a 1950′s cookbook that popularized a recipe for cannabis brownies.
While I haven’t executed that recipe (or its variants) in over three decades, I have recently explored many variants of roast duck, one of which is pictured below:
Duck breast atop a hash-brown potato pancake. A little crispy duck bacon, a segment of Cara Cara Orange, and a rich sauce rounds out the presentation
Now, some folks might say that I am being absolutely wasteful by roasting a duck breast and to them I say…
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A spirited and irreverent journey into the world of food, alcoholic beverages, and the innovative use of construction materials
