Balsamic glazed duck with lentils

The palate worm struck again.  This time the craving monster wanted duck.  Simple enough--no real curveballs -- just a lovely duck breast with lovely crispy skin with a lovely pink centre.

The only problem?  It's not duck season (for that matter, it may not be rabbit season, either).

Oh, palate worm, you are a sneaky one...making me believe that you can be easily satisfied

I called my favourite butcher and there was no joy--his supplier wasn't able to get any in yet.  Several rounds of telephone tag later and more than 30 minutes on the road and one lovely, plumptious duck breast was in my hot little hands.

So now what?

Part of me wanted to rub it in juniper, part of me wanted to create a spicy masala for it.  Then my mind hovered over orange and cherry.  What to do, what to do...

I thought of the lovely crisp skin...then it hit me.  Even though a lot of duck fat is rendered, there's always a thin layer left (at least when I do it).  That wee bit of richness would do well with a bit of tanginess, tinged with a bit of sweet and punctuated with a bit of a bite.  After some reading and recipe perusing, it was clear this breast should be bushed with a balsamic glaze.

Cooking duck breast is relatively easy, so I didn't really want to make a complicated dish to  accompany it.  Lentils mixed with bacon, sautéed mushrooms and vegetables seemed to be the obvious pairing.

The full meal is really quite simple to prepare (really, if I can do it, anyone can), and once the veggies have been chopped can be pulled together in less than an hour...which, I think, places it within Wednesday night supper party territory (or, in my case, Wednesday night supper territory...with enough leftovers for Thursday lunch).


Balsamic-glazed duck with lentils with mushrooms and bacon
Serves two


Ingredients

For the lentils:

100g (3.5oz/3-4 rashers) rashers of smoked bacon, chopped roughly

Olive oil or butter, for frying

1 shallot, minced

100g (3.5oz/approx 1.33c) sliced mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 celery rib, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, diced finely

110g (9Tbsp/0.5c +1Tbsp) dried puy lentils (green lentils)
1 bay leaf

500ml (2c) vegetable broth

For the duck:
1 duck breast
salt
pepper
75ml (0.33c) balsamic vinegar
1Tbsp (15ml) runny honey


Method


First...the lentils.


In a pot, sauté the bacon until crispy.  Remove to a bowl.  Sauté the shallots in the bacon fat until wilted.  Add the mushrooms (and a bit of oil or butter if you need it), with a good sprinkling of pepper. Add the garlic with the mushrooms are soft.  Stir for about 30 seconds or until the garlic's scent is released.  Tip the mixture into the bowl with the bacon.


Add about a spoonful of oil or butter (or duck fat!) to the pan.  Soften the carrots and celery in the fat.  Add the lentils and the bay leaf and give it a good stir.  Pour in the stock, bacon and mushrooms and stir well.  Over medium-high heat, bring the pot to a boil and let bubble for about five minutes.  Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes or until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.  Stir and balance flavours to taste.


Next...the duck.


While the lentils are cooking, score the skin in a  harlequin (or a diamond) pattern, with the tip of a sharp knife--cut deeply enough to cut the fat, not the meat.  Rub a pinch or two of salt and pepper into both sides of the breast.  


Place the breast skin-side down on a cold, heavy pan.  Turn the hob to low to medium-low heat and let the fat slowly render, while crisping the skin to a golden colour.  This will take about 10-15 minutes.  


Remove the breast to a plate, pour off (but save!) the duck fat.  Brush a tablespoon or so of the fat onto the meat side and return the breast, meat side down to the pan.  Sear over medium-low to medium heat for about two to five minutes.  Remove the breast to a plate and cover tightly with foil (let rest at least five minutes).


While the duck is resting, make the balsamic glaze.  Remove excess fat from the pan and  pour in the balsamic vinegar and honey, add a couple of pinches of salt and a good amount of pepper (enough to satisfy your palate).  Give it a stir.  Over medium heat reduce the mixture by half, until it's thick and syrupy.


Brush the skin side of the duck with the balsamic reduction  (and the meat side, if you wish), and thinly slice the breast.


Serve immediately, laying duck slices over the lentils.


Notes:

• Be sparing when adding salt as commercial broths and bacon can be quite salty
• Don't throw away that lovely duck fat!  Decant to a baggie and freeze it for the next time you roast or fry potatoes.
• The older your lentils, the longer they will take to soften, so check the lentils after 30 minutes to see how they're doing, and go on from there.

cheers!
jasmine
 I'm a quill for hire!

Happy birthday to me: Nigella's margarita ice cream for five food bloggers

Being a food blogger means you are part of a large food-loving community, brought together by pixels, LANs and wireless connections. Over the past five years I've corresponded with hundreds of food bloggers. I've been lucky enough to meet a couple dozen of them, here at home or in transit. Some have become dear friends and we try and get together a few times each year, but there are others whom I feel just as close to, but have never met.

In as much as I'd love to have Chinese New Year dinner, wings and a pint, or spend an afternoon making strawberry jam with pretty much every food blogger, there are a few I'd simply, unabashedly squeal with joy if the stars aligned and we wound up at the same table, stove or check-out queue.

That got me thinking...

Many of us have played the dinner party game where we'd list people we'd most have to have dinner with--my own list includes Artemisia Gentileschi, Stephen Fry, Oscar Wilde, TE Lawrence, Jane Austen, Nigella Lawson (whom I've met), Thomas Jefferson and Abigail Adams--I wondered, since both my blog and I added a "one" to our ages, which five food bloggers I'd never met would I love to have at my birthday supper...

Why these five? There's a connection there that's sometimes hard to explain...but suffice it to say whenever they pop up, they always make me smile.

Why five? A perfectly practical reason: my dining table seats six...

Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar: I think Annemarie and I met through The Daring Bakers a couple of years ago. When my turn came up to host a challenge, I knew I wanted her as my co-hostess. Her sense of humour and clear thinking made her a fabulous colleague and dear, dear friend.

Jeff of A Dork and His Pork: Jeff popped up in my Twitter feed last year. When I visited his blog, I knew he was someone with whom I could relate: he drew an anaolgy to Thelonious Monk when writing about banana bread. 'Nuff said.

Mary of The Sour Dough: There are certain parallels our lives have and because of that, there's little explanation needed. We can email one another at any point and there will be assistance, encouragement and support. That, and she'll answer my inredibly silly questions about bread baking.

Paz of The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz: Oh goodness...Paz is simply one of the sweetest people I've met online. Visiting her site is like going to the home of a long, dear friend. I love the breadth of her recipes and, of course, her slice-of-life photos of New York City.

Shaun of Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow: I can't remember when we found one another, but we recognise in one another a spark and a connection--we're kindred spirits in words, influences and outlook.

And since it's my birthday, what else would I serve alongside cake, but ice cream? I've spied Nigella Lawson's Margarita ice cream recipe in Forever Summer for ages, but have never made it until this summer. It's rich and creamy, with the lime-laced tell-tale tequila buzz of its eponymous cocktail--appropriated served in a sugar-salt rimmed glass. In La Lawson's own words: "This is surely what angels would eat at their hen night."

Margarita Ice Cream
adapted from Nigella Lawson's recipe in Forever Summer

375ml (1.5c) heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1x300ml tin (1.25c) sweetened condensed milk
90ml (6Tbsp) tequila
30ml (2Tbsp) Triple Sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Juice of 6 limes and the zest of 1

First, make a custard by scalding the cream, then dribble it into the egg yolks, and then pouring the mixture back into the pot. Cook it, stirring all the while, until it coats the back of a spoon. Take it off the heat and let cool for at least 20 minutes before stirring in the condensed milk, tequila and Triple Sec, lime juice and zest and then leave to cool completely before pouring into your ice cream maker. Churn according to manufacturer's instructions.

cheers!
jasmine

I'm a quill for hire!

Happy Birthday, Michael

Today would have been My Darling One's 43rd birthday.

Gone, but not forgotten.

Michael adored desserts and cheesecake was one of his favourite treats. He never had an opportunity to eat the April 2009 Daring Baker's version, but I can assure you that he would have whole-heartedly approved.

My time has not been mine own, and as such I don't have a new recipe to post, but instead am leaving you with the lavender-vanilla cheesecake I made last year. It's a fabulous and easy and has become my go-to cheesecake recipe.

Have a lovely few days y'all. I'll be back in a few days.








cheers!
jasmine

I'm a quill for hire!

Feast: Baby 'bella's 9th birthday party

An ice cream party. Our Baby 'bella wanted an ice cream party to celebrate her ninth party. Fifteen flavours were on the wish list.

Hmmm...my ice cream maker has been disconcertingly silent during the past few months...and I do have two inserts taking up room in my freezer. A quick glance at the list and we divvied up the flavours, combined a few and two weeks of churning and we came up with a dozen flavours between the two of us. Thank goodness I now have a deep freezer to store my five flavours.

Nine little girls in total.

Nine squealing little girls.

Were we ever that squealy when we were that age? I'm sure we carried ourselves with grace and decorum...always walking from one place to the other, never raising our voices and never, ever jumping up and down like jackhammers riding on pistons. Hmmm...maybe age has fuzzed the little grey cells a wee bit.

Being one of the "official adults" on site I was to help keep things going and spot for any troublesome issues. But I received an invitation...which meant I was allowed to be a squealing little girl. I decided to be a squealing adult. Okay. I was squealing on the inside...those girls could squeal for Canada. Really.

Six hours.

Six hours of frenetic kitten cavorting, chinchilla chasing, snake spying and budgie bugging interspersed with games, food and foodish games. Heck. I was the "world famous food expert" who judged the cupcake decorating contest.

As a non-parent it was very interesting watching the dynamics and the personalities within a group of people this age. There was the nurturer, the forty year-old disguised as a nine year old, and...of course, the ever-so-precious-in-only-her-parents'-minds child.

The cake itself was Dorie's Perfect Party Cake (March '08's DB challenge) and I think my friend did a lovely job with the cake. Yes...the blessed thing did not rise but no matter. It's still a delicious cake. Loved the mauve daisies that set off the primrose of the buttercream.

And the ice creams? We had French Vanilla, Lemon, Butterscotch, Chocolate, Strawberry, Coconut-Mango, Ginger-Lime, Chocolate Chip, Banana Cream, Coconut Custard, Pink Peppermint-Oreo and Orange Sherbet. The young guests weren't too enamoured with the more...exotic flavours and left them for the grown ups (and Baby 'bella), and stuck to chocolate chip, chocolate and the Oreo-mint (hmm...all chocolate-based...who knew?)

Umm...yeah. The grown ups had a little extra help to get through the day (in case you were wondering, the wine glass was not part of the place setting...and the grown ups were not walking around the house with glasses of reisling during the party....AFTER the party was a different story).

Okay: yes, I know I should stop referring to her as "Baby 'bella" but I just can't. She'll always be "Baby 'bella" to me.

cheers!
jasmine