And not just one, but 30!
A few more times making this and it might be perfect one day!
My signature dish, feels pretty cool to say that.
Eric
Duck Prosciutto Dish: Another step in the right direction
1
Category Archives: Duck
Pappardelle with duck ragu
The perfect dish to make when you want to impress someone….
On Baubles, Bubbles, and Beautiful things:
Whole-wheat shells with asparagus, feta, and mint
Puerto Rican Cuisine: Plan B
I was supposed to teach a Puerto Rican cooking class last night but the weather decided it wanted to take control of the fun and excitement so the people that run the shop where I was going to cook decided to reschedule because of the threat of snow. The forecasters said anywhere between 1-8″ of snow would fall so this freaked the hell out of everyone and well……SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING. There was one problem with this, I was running around all morning buying all the ingredients for the event…yup, enough food to feed 14 people…..now hanging out at my house with nobody to eat it…..
Plan B! Call over everyone brave enough to come over and risk an impending death of snow in order to come and eat some Puerto Rican food. I posted a note on Facebook and within a few minutes I had a bunch of people ready to dine.
Above is a picture of the empanada dough that I stopped making right before I called to see if the class was about to happen. The dough went right in the trash after that….I wasn’t very happy about the class being cancelled….it was looking pretty good too!
I got back in happy mode and starting cooking. I would recreate the entire menu at my house for friends!
Dungeness Crab Mofongo.
Shrimp Ceviche
Sancocho
Ropa Vieja and Saffron Duck Stock Rice
Eric
Gobble Day 2010
Well, it was more like gobble days. I prepped for this year’s gobble day for 4 days….in between work, snow, school, and all that crazyness I got the job done.
I’m not a big fan of the yearly buffet style eating frenzy that has become Thanksgiving so I decided to course it out for my parents, Mindy, and my friend Sean. One reason I don’t like the normal buffet style Thanksgiving thing is that most of the food ends up becoming cold before anyone gets a chance to eat it…yeah, bring a chafing pan with burners and all that but who really has that at their home (me one day)?? My kitchen is tiny and I don’t really have space for people either but once again this little place in West Seattle rocked another cool dinner 
I took the turkey apart and I created several dishes with some being really simple like the buffalo style turkey wings to the complex stuffed breast. I looked back at last year’s Thanksgiving that I cooked and I have come a long way in just a year which is very exciting (click). I just hope by this time next year I’ll be hanging out in Spain or Denmark….
Here it is, Gobble Day 2010.
The picture above is of a turkey leg confit. I cured the turkey leg overnight then cooked it in duck fat for 4 hours at very low heat. I reserved the skin, made it crispy then used both pieces to finish a dish. I’ll get to that later.
First up was Pork Porchetta with roasted pumpkin seeds, pomegranate arils, fresh rosemary, and sherry vinaigrette.
Next up was the deep-fried turkey leg tossed in Frank’s Hot Sauce and clarified butter (the original buffalo wing sauce).
Next up, my winter vegetable clam chowder with rosemary bread bowl.
The meat and cheese course. Brie, chorizo, and fromage with sea salt crostini. Contadina and rosemary.
Saute of turkey tenderloin with cranberry glaze served with “winter ratatouille”, crispy sage, and pumpkin/tonka bean puree.
Turkey leg confit with French lentils mixed with bacon, rutabaga, and potato topped with crispy skin and dill. There is a duck fat pan sauce that was served on the side.
The next dish had a bit more work involved. I took the turkey breasts then flattened them out, and stuffed them with winter vegetables, sage, rosemary, and chanterelle mushrooms.
I wrapped it in turkey skin then tied it up.
I sealed it then threw it in the immersion circulator for a little bath time.
I had originally planned for it to be cooked in the oven but the oven broke midway through dinner so I had to resort to being all awesome and stuff.
Once it was done I seared it quickly in duck fat then let it rest and proceeded to slice it up.
Finally, plated up. I wasn’t very happy with the presentation but the flavors all worked.
Stuffed Turkey Breast served on a bed of roasted cauliflower with satsuma orange glaze on top of parsnip/potato mash with cranberry/black pepper puree and pumpkin/tonka bean puree. Pan sauce of course.
Until next year Mr. Gobble.
Eric
Dinner, My Place: Baking, Science, and Killer Pasta
Aw yes, lobster mushrooms. They look like cooked lobsters on the outside and they have a nice meaty texture when cooked…..
Put some salt and pepper on the ox tail and braise it with some veal stock and smoked ham hock…..yes, excellent. It’s going to be a ragout for the pasta.
Make some fresh rosemary pasta then cut it and work on something else. (Duck eggs, rosemary, “00″, Semolina, Contadina, Water)
Mushrooms, golden beets, and butternut squash go into bags so they can have a meeting with the immersion circulator for a while. I made a terrine with that carrot ginger soup using agar, took about 3 hours to set.
Well, I’m ready to go so let’s start cooking stuff!
First up is a brown butter brioche with sauce rouille and pickled vegetables.
Next is a carrot/ginger terrine with sous vide butter poached lobster mushrooms, golden beets, butternut squash, and shaved fennel served with a caramelized fig sauce with reduced sherry and contadina extra virgin olive oil.
Finally, an ox tail and smoked ham hock ragout over rosemary/duck egg pasta.
Another successful dinner at my place. See you next week!
Eric
Salad with Duck Fat Croutons
Working on salad plating so don’t pay too much attention to all the green stuff. What I want you to pay attention to is duck fat. I’m 100% sure that sauteeing anything in duck fat is the way to go. I’m going to start taking long baths in duck fat…..Confit of Eric….I like where this is going.
The salad has a tomato, tango lettuce, croutons, pickled mustard seeds with a little of the pickling juice worked into an oil and balsamic vinaigrette then of course topped with:
Cube some bread, saute in duck fat, season with salt and pepper. High five yourself.
Eric
Duck Egg McAwesomewich
Stop reading and look at the picture again. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to flavor country. Take a duck egg and cook it in duck fat like so.
Cook some pancetta and use the fat to cook some caramelized onions like so.
Then take a 7 grain onion bagel, cut it in half, toast it then add a tiny bit of emulsified fried parsley oil and white wine vinaigrette. Place the pancetta on top along with the caramelized onions then take a picture.
As the egg is cooking hook up your Dyson vacuum cleaner to your heart and give yourself an angioplasty. Once that is done then take another picture of your creation and prepare to eat the DUCK EGG MCAWESOMEWICH (echo effect goes here).
Eric
Fried Duck Egg over Ham, Leeks, Carrots, over Fingerling Hash with Green Peppercorn Glace de Viande Sauce
Mindy’s dad is building a shed for us outside of our house so we can have extra storage. It amazes me to see someone who can take a few pieces of wood and make something so functional and brilliant out of it. His work inspired me this morning to create this dish.
I started by grating fingerling potatoes then cooking them in a cast iron pat with lots of clarified butter, salt, pepper, and tarragon filler. On the stove for a bit at medium-high heat to get a nice crust then into the oven to finish off the potatoes. I didn’t flip it like I normally did because I wanted to try out a technique my chef at school taught me….it worked. Once it was done I drained the butter off and adjusted the seasonings on it with a little salt and pepper.
(Yes, the contact points on the stove top suck…big deal)
I can make these in my sleep but I wanted something different this time…..something exciting. To the cookie cutter drawer! Round and nice…
I had a couple leeks, ham, and carrots lying around so I prepared them by cutting the leeks and carrots lengthwise the doing a julienne on the ham. I sauteed the ham first in duck fat then added the carrots and leeks with a little red wine vinegar, salt, and green peppercorns. At the same time I had two small cast iron pans going with 1 duck egg in each. Once it was done they received the cookie cutter action.
I removed the vegetable/ham mixture from the pot then deglazed it with red wine and built the sauce with glace de viande. I took the pot off the heat then stirred in some whole butter then sauced the plate.
Potato, leek/carrot/ham, then egg on top. Ready to go.
Thanks for the shed Bruce!
Eric
Sexy Food: Dry Aged Sirloin with Tarragon Butter Poached Fingerlings with Caramelized Pearl Onions over a Triple Stock Merlot-Demi Glace
Sexy food? Yeah, sexy food. Listen up single people on Valentine’s day. You wanna know why you’re still single? It’s because you don’t know a thing about sexy food. Let me help you.
I’m a married dude, I’ve been married for 8 years and my wife and I understand what sexy food is. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it doesn’t have to be expensive, all you have to do is put your passion, soul, and maybe a little bit of sweat into your food before “dessert” happens. Now that’s sexy…
You don’t have to reduce a beef stock three separate times or age your own steak for 15 days or infuse tarragon into white wine vinegar or….. you get the point. All you have to do is say, “relax, I got this” then disappear in the kitchen while your lady relaxes on the couch listening to some fine music and while she has a glass of wine.
But Eric…what kind of music? SEXY MUSIC!!! Come on do I have to spell it out for you? I do? Ok fine. Here is a 30 second clip from Sade’s new album “Soldier of Love” courtesy of Epic Records. It’s also the #1 album in the U.S. right now so take a little listen then go buy it.
Sade “Baby Father” from her New Album “Soldier of Love” (click)
Wow, thanks Eric that Sade song is perfect where can I buy it?
I have to do everything around here
The dish above is perfect for two people. Just a taste or two of food, a little wine then add a little music (SADE!!!) and things start to happen. Good things….wink wink nudge nudge!!
I have two desserts that I will be posting soon that compliment this dish perfectly. Come back soon….please!!!!!
Ingredients:
Dry Aged Sirloin
- Sirloin steak
- Sel de mer (course sea salt
- Crushed black pepper
Tarragon Butter Poached Fingerling Potatoes
- Fingerling potatoes
- Clarified butter and whole butter
- Tarragon, fresh
- White wine vinegar infused with fresh tarragon (take a bunch of tarragon and place it in a jar with about 2 cups of white wine vinegar then let it sit for a few days covered)
- Salt and black pepper
Caramelized Pearl Onions
- Pearl Onions
- Duck Fat
Triple Stock Merlot Demi Sauce
- Triple stock. Make a stock. Make another stock then add some of the previous stock to that towards the end of the process then do it once more. Take the final stock then reduce that to a demi-glace
- Green Peppercorns
- Pickled shallots (click)
- Merlot
- Whole butter, cubed, room temperature
- Side note….the sauce looks lean in the picture but it’s not…crazy lights in the kitchen.
Procedure
Steak
- Rub steak with salt and pepper then place on a plate with plastic wrap over it in the refrigerator for 15 days. It’s important to get high quality meat for this.
- Place a pan on the stove that will handle a little abuse. A conditioned cast iron is great for this then set your oven to high.
- Place steak on pan then sear on each side for 2-3 minutes then finish last minute on each side with a little clarified butter.
- The steak should be medium rare but it will depend on how big of a cut you are using. Practice!
Potatoes
- Place clarified butter and whole butter in small sauce pot. 90/10 ratio of clarified to whole.
- Add infused white wine vinegar and fresh tarragon then place potatoes in on medium to low heat. You want a steady cook of this….not too high or it will fry and not too low or it will be greasy. Practice!
- Remove when potatoes are tender
- Top with parsley
Onions
- Blanch onions, shock them, then peel
- Saute in pan with 1 1/2 tbsp. duck fat until caramelized
Sauce
- When the steak is done cooking immediately pour off fat then deglaze with merlot
- When merlot has reduce by 75% add the shallots and green peppercorns
- Heat for 2 minutes then remove from heat and stir in butter
- Sauce plate by dipping paint brush into sauce (yup) the streaking over plate
Eric
Yes, I ate the green stuff. hahaha
Parmentier of Oxtail with Foie Gras and Quail Egg ala Rover’s
The Chef in the Hat (Chef Thierry Rautureau) visited my blog a week ago so I decided I would try to tackle one of the recipes from his book. My execution of this dish is nowhere near his but I think it’s a step in the right direction. I won’t post the recipe because I think you should go buy his book, it’s amazing. However, here are a few steps from the 3-4 hour process…….all worth it.
I will do this again in a few months to see how far I’m progressing with school, work, and this blog. This dish has now set the bar for me.
Go buy his book!!! (click)
Duck Confit: (Day 3) Duck Confit, Caramelized Pearl Onion, Baby Carrot Vichy, Merlot Demi Sauce
Duck Confit, in all its glory. I would eat this before I ate steak, lobster, or anything else. If this was my last meal I would die a happy man. Good thing I’m not dying anytime soon or else this post would be really awkward!
The three days of duck confit are over. It lasted a little longer than three days (pills made me a little weird so I couldn’t cook) but it was well worth it. It looks very simple on the plate but now you know the work behind it so the simplicity with the presentation is kind of a tongue in cheek moment for whoever is eating it that doesn’t know the process.
Ingredients:
- Duck Confit prepped from the other two days
- Pearl Onions
- Baby Carrots
- Clarified Butter
- Sugar
Procedure
- Heat up pot containing duck confit slowly in the oven at 200F
(Mmmmm sealed in fat) - Remove duck legs and clean meat from end of the bones then sear on pan fat side down
- Flip legs then place in oven at 500F for 5-7 minutes then remove and let rest
- Caramelize onions and so a vichy on the carrrots (search for the recipe on my site)
- Serve with an awesome sauce.
- Enjoy
Eric
Duck Confit (Day 2)
*sexual harassment whistle* NICE LEGS!!!
Day two of duck confitextravaganza is going great (for day one click here). Today comes my favorite part, two jars of duck fat enter the picture…..oh, you dirty duck.
If you can’t find duck fat then do what I did. Search around online and then start asking/calling/e-mailing every butcher you know. It took me three months to find this stuff locally so I’m not just going to say, “go here” to make it easy for you. Another option is rendering your own fat from a duck but you’re going to need a lot to do that. How much? Ugh, you need to start figuring things out for yourself. Eric, you’re awfully rude today…..that’s the pain killers talking…..switched to vicodin….makes me angry….don’t know why. I seriously need to get out of this house….
Anywho, back to business.
Remove the duck from the plastic wrap then brush away salt and spices. Place the duck in a pyrex cooking container as shown above.
Next, heat up the liquid gold (duck fat) slowly in a pot.
Don’t let the fat get hotter than 200F. Just pull it when it’s in liquid form and under 200F, trust me.
Pour the duck fat over the duck legs and make sure they are completely covered with fat.
So pretty. Heat up your oven to 200F then throw the duck in….container, fat, and everything. Cook for 2-3 hours then cool down and store the duck leg in the fat. Create an ice bath to cool it down quickly then place container in the refrigerator overnight. You can do like the French do/did and just leave it without refrigeration in a cool dark place and store it for months until you’re ready to eat it but I want to eat it tomorrow so I’m not going to do that.
There are still a few more steps to finish the cooking on this so I will get to that tomorrow in Day 3 of my Duck Confitextravaganza.
Eric
Duck Confit (Day 1)
I’m taking the basic recipe of duck confit from the book COCO (click). It’s a recipe by Chef Willin Low from Singapore. I will be making a couple adjustments to the recipe since I am not able to run to the store right now so I’ll be sticking with what I have on hand.
The process of making duck confit will take three days to prep but has taken me much longer to get to this point. The first time I had duck confit was at Skillet Street Food (click) and I have been hooked ever since. When I first gad it I wanted to rush out and try to make this dish immediately but it does require a bit more skill than I had at the time. I might not even have the skill to pull this off now but now is a better time than later since I will be wasting away at the house for a while.
I love this because it is indulgent. I don’t recommend eating this everyday but I will probably make this into the yearly holiday food rotation. Turkey? Duck confit! Ham? Duck confit!!!!
I don’t have a sauce or starch picked out for the meal yet but I have two days to figure it out!
Ingredients (day 1)
- 2 duck legs
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- Murray River Pink Salt
- Crushed black pepper……I had to crush it and save it in a tupperware container…can’t use a peppermill with one hand
Procedure
- Rub salt and pepper evenly on the duck legs
- Place garlic, thyme, and bay leaf on top of duck leg
- Wrap with plastic wrap then place in container and leave in refrigerator overnight
More steps coming soon!
