Success! With Duck!

Some dear friends of mine, Fred and Linda, were coming into town to spend the night and since both of them really love and appreciate good food, I wanted to have a dinner worthy of the celebration (good friends are not easy to find and when they move away...) I made venison for them the last time they came to town so I looked in my freezer and found some ducks that we stockpiled when they were on sale for $1.29/lb at Harris Teeter and that seemd a good candidate for a celebratory dinner.

Now before I go further, let me say that I have had mixed reults with duck. Duck, if prepared right, can be rich and moist. But if cooked wrong... greasy and stringy. When I took the ducks out of the freezer, I thought my son, the chef, would be here and he would have some good ideas for how best to cook it to help me get closer to the rich and moist end of the spectrum. However, his plans changed and he had to return to Rockville and so I was on my own, and I did what any self-respecting foodie would do... go to the files of the Epicurious recipe files and looked for a highly rated duck recipe!

I found a recipe that looked promising and I had to make some adjustments (it called for dried lavender, which I neither had nor could find) I called my son who was en route back to MD and asked what I could use as a substitution and he informed me that lavender is an aromatic and so rosemary (though less of it) would be an acceptible substitute. This recipe called for you to score the skin and fat (not the flesh) with a knife in order to allow the fat to be rendered and crisp the skin, a new technique that I had never used. I followed the recipe, and the duck was fabulous, the meat was rich and moist and the skin...ah, the skin... This recipe is enough to make one get over fear of duck (AFLAC-phobia) A bonus? You put the liver into the cavity and cook it with the duck, then when the cooking is complete, you remove the liver (the dreaded foie gras) and mash and serve spread on baguette. When I mashed the livers I added a bit of the strained duck fat, and a bit of the cooking juice to make into a moist spread, and it was a hit as well! One warning: there is not a lot of meat on a duck, so if 1 chicken feeds your family, it will take two ducks.

I served the duck with Feta Potatoes (basically, cubed cooked potatoes with butter and chunks of feta), and my pear and dried blueberry with goat cheese salad. For dessert... I cheated- tiramisu from the shelves of Costco, but good nonetheless (and after picking at the duck skin, no one had much appetite left for dessert.

After dinner, Molly (after all, she is the ruler of the universe) made our guests play charades, a game entered into somewhat half-heartedly, but ended in hilarity (thanks Molly!) All in all, a wonderful visit with wonderful friends, and delicious food.

Epicurious-style Roasted Duck with Honey

1 whole duck, rinsed and dried with giblets removed (reserve liver)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (I used lemon thyme from my garden/cart and I used about twice as much)
1 1/2 tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp black peppercorns
4 tbsp dried lavender (I substituted 3 tbsp fresh rosemary)

1 cup low fat chicken broth
3 tablespoons dry red wine

4 tablespoons honey ( I used clover, but wildflower or orange would be lovely)

Rinse and dry duck thoroughly. Put all the herbs, salt and pepper in a morter and grind until somewhat uniform and well-blended. Rub the ducks inside and out with this mixture and place on a rack in a pan (I use my broiler pan). Cut through the skin and fat layer in a criss-cross pattern (careful not to cut through the meat) on the breast side of the bird. Place reserved liver in cavity. Roast for 2 hours in 330 degree oven. Remove from oven, drain liquid from pan and separate the fat from the meat juices adding juices back to pan with broth and wine. Put ducks in the pan, and baste the skin with the honey. Put back in oven and roast until ducks are a rich brown and the internal temperature is 180 degrees.

Remove liver from cavity, and mash with a bit of the duck fat and some of the meat juices to make a spread. I also removed the little squares of crisp duck skin (they were incredible) and put them on the serving platter with the sliced duck breast and duck legs. I am sure you could make a sauce with the pan juices, but I didn't even find it necessary.

Give this a try, it is a decadent and delicious meal!

P.S. I apologize for no pix. I was so distracted about getting dinner on the table for guests (and delighted that it turned out) that I didn't take any pictures!

Taking Inspiration from Kalyn- Weekend Herb Blogging

When I heard that Anna of Anna's Cool Finds was hosting while Kalyn is at the Blogher Convention, I had a recipe from Wednesday night's tapas. I saw a recipe by Kayln for an herb rub for fish and since the theme for this weeks tapas was lowfat, healthy food, I decided to take a page from her book, and make something similar. I used cilantro I bought, fresh basil from my "moving garden", lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh parmagiano reggiano. I ground it together by pulsing it in my Magic Bullet, spread it on mahi-mahi fillets and baked for 15 minutes, then broiled for a couple of minutes to make a bit of a crust.For those of you who have not yet succumbed to the Magic Bullet infomercial, you can use a blender or food processor instead.

This turned out to be delicious, almost like a pesto, but a little lighter than traditional pesto with a citrus-y taste that went very well with the delicate flavor of the fish. This lends itself to a milder flavored fish, but I think it could also be a great base for a salad dressing, or served over hot vegetables like zucchini or cauliflower , or even used on chicken as well. This is more guidelines than a recipe, so grab some herbs, some oil and play with food to come up with your own spin!

Herb-Crusted Mahi-Mahi

1 bunch cilantro, without stems
1 handful fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 lemon squeezed

2-ounce chunk of parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic minced

6 small mahi-mahi fillets (3-4 ounces a piece)

Put all ingredients together in Magic Bullet or food processor.Pulse until well-mixed, adding more olive oil if necessary to get to the consistency of pesto. Spread on top of fish fillets. Bake in ove for 15 minutes or until fillets flake with a fork. Broil 2-3 minutes to toast cheese and then serve.

Waiter! There's Something in My....Sauce

I haven't participated since the WTSIM... Easter Basket, so I saw over at SpittoonExtra (unlikely a name as that is for a food blog)that the subject was sauces and this Wednesday's Tapas night with the additional challenge of selecting dishes that are low fat (my husband just got his bloodwork back, and cholesterol and blood sugars are an issue!) And thanks to Andrew I had enough time to play with some candidates (he moved the deadline). So Evil David and I developed a menu that was heavy on vegetables and light on fat and processed carbs.

So here is what we came up with - David's dishes: Huge Garden Salad with heirloom tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette, Edamame Italian style and Miso Soup. My dishes: Mahi-Mahi with Green Sauce and Whole wheat pasta with a Rustic red clam sauce. Since the green sauce was inspired by a dish I saw on Kalyn's site, I am saving that one for Weekend Herb Blogging. I am featuring the Rustic red clam sauce because besides being a sauce meeting the criteria, it also featured some fresh herbs from my garden and some local tomatoes I got from my favorite farmer we affectionately call "Tractor Joe". This sauce is a version of one I used to make all the time and it takes the regular clam sauce and lightens it up for summer, using fresh tomatoes. This sauce also lends itself to experimentation to make it a little different each time (you know how I love to play with food!) While I used canned (gasp!) clams because that is what I had in the house, it would be even better with fresh shucked clams, or I would imagine you could make the rest of the sauce and then add fresh clams in the shell (mahogany or littlenecks would be best) cooking until they open. Something I would definitely do next time would be to add an anchovy or two when sauteeing the garlic for a richer taste.

Rustic Red Clam Pasta Sauce

3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced (or you could use a can of stewed tomatoes in a pinch)

2-4 garlic cloves , minced (to me, more is better)

1 medium onion, chopped coarsely

1 cup artichoke hearts, chopped coarsely

1/4-1/2 cup sundried tomatoes chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1 can baby clams, drained, liquid reserved

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Freshly grated parmesan and fresh basil chiffonade

Heat olive oil and saute garlic, being careful not to brown. Add onions and cook until onions are translucent (here is where I would add an anchovy). Add all the rest of the ingredients (including the clam liquid) except clams. Cook on medium heat until sauce is reduced by about half, or until sauce no longer looks watery, but still a bit soupy. Toss with your choice of cooked pasta, and serve with shaved parmesan cheese and a chiffonade of fresh basil (I used purple basil from my garden). (If you are not watching carbs, this sauce really lends itself to mopping up (isn't there a more sophisticated term for this) with a delicious rustic bread!)

Food Blogga's 5 things meme

The overachiever in me has to close old business before I can start new business. Susan over at Food Blogga tagged me for a meme with a lot of questions right before my internet service crapped out, so before I regale you with new food tales, I am yet again opening up and sharing more things than you probably want to know about me. I won't be tagging anyone, but feel free to pick this up if you want to share.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was working at Jefferson Lab for a visionary lab director helping scientists push the frontiers of nuclear physics (impressive, huh?) and had five children at home including Molly, who was only 2 years old then (they really do grow up so fast!).


Five snacks you enjoy:


Popcorn with butter and parmesan

Peanut butter and nutella

Cream cheese and pepper jelly

Veggie sticks

Cherries (I love cherries!)


Five songs you know all the lyrics to:

I love music and can remember the words to lots of songs as diverse as the Star Spangled Banner, Thriller by Michael Jackson, Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, almost anything by Chicago and Killing in the Name Of by Rage Against the Machine!


Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

Quit my job (call in rich!) and pursue writing for a living full-time

Buy a house at the beach as my own Dowd family compound

Start a scholarship for non traditional college students (I was one once)

Travel to New York, San Francisco, Paris and eat some great food

Take my entire family and go to Disney World!!


Five bad habits:

Singing in the car when I'm driving

Sitting on my legs (bad for the circulation)

Grinding my teeth

Channel surfing on TV and the car radio

Decompressing in front of the TV (though with my kids)


Five things you like doing:

Playing badminton with my family

Camping

Working in the garden

Going somewhere new

Reading in my hammock



Five things you would never wear again:

Mini skirt

Bikini (after baby #3, just not happening)

Tube top (can't believe I ever wore those...)

Polyester anything (if I can help it!)

Bra without underwire (menopausal woman's best friend!)


Five favorite toys:

Bubbles (I still love them to my kids' chagrin)

Kite

The Game of Life

Bejeweled (the computer game)

Barbies (when my brothers got GI Joes, my Barbie cut her hair and became an army nurse!)



Okay, Susan, I hope you're happy! If you feel inclined, you too can tell the world that you know all the words to Disco Duck. Back tomorrow with my entry in this month's Waiter There's Something in My...

Ilva and the Interview Meme

I may be the last person in the blogosphere to participate in this meme that is making the rounds, but I was intrigued by Ilva's of Lucullian Delights offer to write a set of tailored questions if you would like to be interviewed. I have read many questions and responses and it was interesting to see fellow bloggers, what they honed in on in developing their questions and the responses. I received Ilva's questions today, and so I am closing the loop. Here are her questions and my answers.

1. How has your view of children's food or the way you feed your children changed since you had your first one?

First of all, I am a big proponent of breast-feeding, though I hear it is losing favor among young mothers. I breast-fed all of my children for at least 3 months, and I think the fact that none of them suffer from allergies can in large measure be attributed to that. Once real food came into the picture, I made a lot of my own baby food (have you tasted jarred baby food- wallpaper paste tastes better!) Most of my children are adventurous eaters, mainly because when they were young, I insisted on making only one meal for everyone, no special requests and you had to take a "brownie bite" (an old Girl Scout expression) of anything on your plate. Now that I only have one child under 18 at home, I am more flexible with this rule. If I make something Molly doesn't like she can have any leftovers we have on hand or something she can make herself (salad, grilled cheese, sandwich, egg or chicken salad).

I also love to make food an occasion- for example, we have "Chinese New Year's Eve" when we have homemade Chinese food (one of my early posts) and eat sitting on the floor around our cocktail table with chopsticks. During the Olympics, we have food from a different country every night (this is a lot of fun with questions about participating countries, history of the Olympic games etc. and prizes from the Dollar Tree for those with the most right answers). I want my children to appreciate other cultures and one of the best ways is through food.

2. Which is the dominating colour in your house now when it's been painted?

Well, since I have been blogging lately about our rental home and I believe that is where Ilva came up with this question, I have to say that we have painted the interior primarily shades of Ivory and White, since a home you rent should use neutral colors so any potential client can see their furnishings at home there. However, I am a real color person and when we lived in that house my master bedroom was painted a midnight blue with white glossy trim, and our dining room trim was painted a marine blue, which I loved.

Since this house was our family's home for 17 years, we had lots of memories there which flooded back as I was prepping and painting rooms. I remembered before Katie was born climbing on a ladder at 8 months pregnant during my "nesting" phase handpainting a stencil of yellow tulips above the picture molding. Perhaps the weirdest color combination was when Colleen and Katie were young teens and were sharing the same room and couldn't agree on colors- the compromise was dark lavender, almost purple walls (Colleen's choice)and green trim (Katie's choice). It sounded a lot better in principle than it looked in practice! To this day, we call that room the "Barney" room after the famous dinosaur!

In my own home, we have only painted three rooms (many of the new rooms in the addition were painted builder's beige and white, and we have not gotten around to them yet) and my pride and joy is my dining room which is painted Martha Stewart's Barn Red with her Glass of Milk trim. I had to put my foot down since my husband was totally opposed (when it was being painted he called it "the artery"). It is a gorgeous room and provides a great backdrop for our antiques. With all my new well-honed painting skills and I am anticipating putting more colors on my walls (after a respite from marathon painting, of course!) You can see it in the picture on the right, decorated for the Katie/Molly birthday celebration!

3. Do you have a secret vice that you are prepared to share with us?

If I told you it wouldn't be a secret, now would it? I think it is not a secret that I am a wicked stress eater and when nobody's looking (and sometimes when they are!) I can eat a movie-sized box of Nerds or a canister of Pringles(mea culpa).

4. Do you collect something? If yes what and why?

My husband and I love antiques, and we have furnished our home with pieces from his parents, and from auctions and antique shops. While some people think of antiques as used furniture, I think of them as furnishings that come with a history. While our pieces wouldn't make us rich on antiques roadshow, they make our house into a warm and comfortable home (and frankly, for a great deal less money than new furniture would cost!) At left, see Bridget dressed for a formal, posing in front of our favorite bargains, a Chinese wedding cabinet (Bridget's one of our favorite's too!)

5. The best thing you have ever eaten, why and where!

Wow, this is a tough one! I have not been to culinary Meccas like New York or San Francisco or Paris, or Santorini, but I have eaten some great food. The best meal I ever had was at James Haller's Blue Strawberry Restaurant in New Hampshire almost 25 years ago. It was a fixed menu dinner, and my husband and I were young marrieds with a new baby and we scrounged all the money (including change) we had to afford this dinner with the rest of his family. To be honest, except for meals I have made myself, it is the only multi (more than 3)-course meal I have ever had in a restaurant (horrors!). I was so impressed with James Haller's no-recipe approach to food, that I bought the cookbook, and I incorporated his philosophy into my own way of cooking. The best single dish- A venison backstrap with a drunken cherry sauce made by Evil David on what we affectionately called "The Mother of all Tapas Nights". Simple food pleasure (unparalleled) - a s'more made around the campfire on a cool fall evening!

If any one is out there that hasn't yet participated in this meme and would like to be interviewed by me, send me an email and I will send you several questions specifically tailored to you and you too can bare your soul to the blogosphere!

I'm Back!!

I thank all of you who kept coming back faithfully during my (unintentional) absence from the blogosphere. My DSL service, which had crapped out, has now been replaced with new Verizon Fios service. For those of you who follow this blog, our renovation of our rental house is coming to a close, so I am anticipating that life will return to semi-normal (meaning I will within a week finally have the smell of oil-based paint out of my nostrils). As soon as everything is done, I will post some pictures so that those of you who have shared the trials and tribulations (complaining... bitching...) of renovation with me.

So what have I learned from this forced vacation from blogging? That I miss connecting with all of you! I missed reading the preparations for Shauna's wedding, and offering a last congratulations and best wishes bfore she starts her married life with the Chef. I got tagged with a meme from Susan right before my service went down and I missed the fun of closing that loop (Blogga... by the end of this week, I swear!) I missed reading my regular blogs, corresponding via comments with Tanya, keeping up with the erudite conversation at Ruhlman and Hunger Artist, the everyday moments at Cooking with Anne, Ilva's gorgeous photos that transport me to places I may never be fortunate enough to visit (you still owe me questions, Ilva!). At the risk of seeming over-dramatic I have missed the stimulation, the inspiration, the encouragement, the joy, the laughs, the recipes, descriptions and photos that make me drool and head for my pantry to see what I need to make Dave's latest ice cream or Heidi's delicious veggie dishes. I missed reading Shelley's latest food discoveries that I can get to here in my own town. While my life over the past two weeks has been as busy (if not more) than ever, it just was not as full without all of you.

So here I am, back in the blogosphere, and I will be back here... and visiting your sites... as long as my Fios holds out!

Happy Independence Day! Post about the "black meat" tomorrow!

My Girls Play with Food- A Dinner Surprise

A full time job, a blog, freelance work and now the renovation of our rental property has depleted my energy resources, and it is no more evident than when I walk in the door and have to decide on and fix dinner. Imagine my surprise this evening when I walked in the door and smelled the aromas of cooking food and caught Bridget and Molly preparing a surprise dinner for the family! The dinner table was set, and the counter and the stove were full of the fruits of their preparations. (Chefs pictured right on a recent trip to Washington, DC!)

First of all, I have to say this was quite a challenge, since we have not taken time out to go grocery shopping in the past two weeks, just picking up a loaf of bread or hamburger buns as necessary. The girls on their own looked for recipes, searched for the ingredients in our "mother hubbard" pantry and made substitutions as necessary so their dad wouldn't have to go to the store (he spent the entire day pulling down and hauling the plaster ceiling that started falling in!)

I have to say that almost as much fun as eating their food was watching them cooking together in the kitchen- the horseplay, giggling, teasing, (loud music and dancing). But also the teamwork, Molly working independently and Bridget knowing when to help out without being controlling (like frying the fritters in hot oil!) And the pride that they had it what they achieved, both individually and together!

So here is the menu that we had. As an appetizer we had bruschetta with sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, the entree was pork chops with a spicy peanut sauce (this after Bridget tried a cream sauce that sounded good, but ended up "tasting like butt" in Bridget-ese) and mashed potatoes, and for dessert, banana fritters with honey. Now, I took pictures of each course because I wanted to post the results, but in transferring them, I somehow lost the pictures (somewhere in cyberspace, I guess), so the food pictures here are from other sources (the banana fritters pictured are from Allrecipes.com).

So, for all moms (and foodies) out there, you know the pleasure I took in this meal and the consideration that it showed by my daughters. And for young people who are still living at home (or even young adults living near home), consider what it would mean to your parents to come home and see that their children took the time to make a meal for the family (even if that was just homemade tuna salad!) by playing with food!

Weekend Herb Blogging-Veal chops with white wine and fresh sage

If you are following this blog you know that my days and nights lately have been taken up painting, scraping, priming a rental property that my family owns, and that after 8 hours of said activity, food has to be fast, simple and light. It turns out that necessity is the mother of invention, because some of my dinners in the last week have been, well, inspired (or maybe the food tastes good because we are so hungry!)

Last night, I made a dish that turned out really well and seemed a perfect entry for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging, so here I am! First, let me start with the star of this meal- a pair of veal chops. Okay, call me a bohunk, but I had never had veal chops before, because they don't show up often where I shop, and when they did, they were incredibly expensive. However, with the number of people I have to cook for declining, when I saw a two-pack of these chops at Harris Teeter marked down from $11.45 to $1.97, I bought them and popped them in the freezer for a day when only Gavin, Molly and I would be there for dinner. Last night after 8 hours in rental renovation mode was the perfect night to play with these chops (and for $1.97, I could afford to have fun!)

In the supporting role was some tricolor sage that we have been growing as part of our "rolling garden" (pictured right) Because we do not have a lot of sun in our backyard, my husband started a container garden and put it in out old garden cart which he can move around to get maximum sunlight! The added advantage is that the multitudes of bunnies cannot reach my tender herbs!

I browned the chops in a pan in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and a chiffonade(this means I stacked the leaves on top of one another and cut into thin ribbons) of the fresh sage. Once the chops were browned on both sides I added some white wine and cooked until the chops were medium-rare. The chops were light in flavor (like a moister pork chop, with a more delicate flavor), and really delicious, so if you find some chops marked down to $1.97, you should give veal chops a try! I served these with a mixture of spinach and canellini beans cooked in garlic, and it was a big hit! I just wish I had taken a picture!

Veal Chops with White Wine and Fresh Sage Chiffonade (doesn't this sound really complicated!)

2 veal chops (or one per person if you are cooking for more than two)

12-20 sage leaves

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

Put oil in pan and heat until just starting to smoke. Add chops and brown on both sides, adding a grind or two of salt and pepper. Lower to medium heat, add sage leaves and slowly add white wine, and cook covered for 10-15 minutes. Serve chops with the pan juices poured over.