Posts Tagged duck
Duck confit salad
Posted by tzuyen in Uncategorized on July 6, 2009
Duck fat is my new butter.
Duck confit:
Duck legs (anything more than 6 is worth the effort)
2 sprigs of thyme, stem removed.
3-6 cloves of garlic, minced.
salt flakes and pepper
A can of duck fat, or more
Combine thyme, garlic, salt and pepper into a mix and rub onto the legs. Roughly 1 teasoon of salt for every 2 legs. The salt acts like a preservative and draws moisture out but you don’t want to eat salty legs after. Place in fridge for at least 12 hours.
Remove excess mix from legs with paper towel and pat dry. Melt the duck fat in a small, heavy based pot and place duck inside. Traditionally an casserole dish is used but as long as the fat covered the duck completely and you cook it at a low temperature(around 100 deg Celcius). It’s basically duck simmered in it’s own fat. Cook for 1-1.5 hours. The meat should be very tender and almost fall off bone. Cook without lid to ensure the moisture evaporates.
Let it cool. Place duck into a dry bowl (glass or cermic or stainless steel pot works best) and pour in the duck fat to cover the meat by at least 1-2 cm. Place in the fridge. I read that the duck can be preserved like this for at least a month. When you want to use it, gently heat the bowl to the fat melts and pull the leg you want. I think if you are making a batch and want to preserve it for a while, then a cooking stainless steel pot is better as you can re-heat easily.
Reserve the fat for the next round. Or I can eat it.
The salad has roasted potatoes, salad leaf mix, baby carrots (sauted in butter), parsley, chives, yogurt and balsamic vinegar.
Meats – the greatest hits
Posted by tzuyen in Uncategorized on May 28, 2009
One of my weakness is that I find it hard to be content with what I have/achieve. A friend of mine said it’s such a ‘medical thinking’. I want to stop taking what society prescribes to me (or what I think society prescribes to me).
Apart from food that is. One thing is for sure, I will keep finding new things to eat: These are the best meat dishes I have tried.
Hida beef – Takayama, Japan: If you wince in disgust at the though of fatty meat then you can leave now. Selective breeding allows these cattle to accumulate lots of intramuscular fat. It’s similar to Kobe beed but not as well known internationally. Served in finger size strips and thinner slices, sizzling on a hot metal grill in front of you.
Duck rillettes – France: Duck legs cooked confit style (slowly in duck fat) then blended in more duck fat. Put it in a fresh brea roll and you have heaven in a bite. Quite easily found in good delis in Australia. Pork versions are also nice.
Roast pork – Bistro Guillaume, Melbourne, Australia: Perfect crackles, thick cut and so so moist and tender meat. I think it was soaked in brine but there was no hint of salt. The waiter said it was cooked slowly. Whatever the way, it was delicious.
Jamón ibérico de bellota, Spain: Free range pigs that live in oak forests and eat only acorns towards the end of their life. The sweet, nutty and savory flavour is dangerously painful to think about at 1 am. Although I havent yet stepped in Spain, in Australia it’s not had to find some fairly good stuff.
Ox tongue, braised slowly in spices and soy – Shoya, Melbourne, Australia. I guess this goes out to most cuts of tuff meats such as ox cheek. Over the past 3-4 years such cuts are getting popular again. A combination of being new to many people (even though in the past such cuts would not be wasted) and riding the economic crisis wagon.
A good pieces of steak cooked at home, with a glass of wine. And on the note of home cooking, pork mince simmered with onions, Taiwanese pickled cucumber, soy sauce, shallots served on a bowl of rice is hard to beat as comfort food. Cheers to that!
Duck duck
Most people who know me well, understand when I suddenly fall into cravings for duck. I brought a piece of duck breast + thigh on bone at the Vic Market to sooth my ache. According to Gordon Ramsey’s Cookalong the duck is place skin side down on a cold pan to help render the fat out. Then finished inthe oven. Certainly works to a crispy brown skin and well rendered fat. I just deglazed the pan with some barley liquer (Chinese cooking wine), soy sauce, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar.