October 6 Meal: Conquering the Duck

Cooking all the recipes from Bon Appetit has been a lot of fun so far, but blogging about it is a challenge.  Of course, I should have realized this.  Most of the recipes take at least an hour, so after work I come home and get right to cooking.  Recently, I've needed to do some extra work at night, so the blog has taken a back seat.  Please be patient with me as I catch up on this past week and a half.

It was time for the roasted duck and we were having friends over to share in the feast, so I decided to go all out.  The menu was Bruschetta with Kalamata Olives, Braised Greens, and Ricotta, Roasted Beet and Feta Gratin with Fresh Mint, and Roast Duck, Butternut Squash, Cepes, and Green Beans, plus the Maple and Chocolate Chip Shortbread from the night before (see October 5 post).  My mouth is watering just reading those recipe titles!

Bruschetta with Kalamata Olives, Braised Greens, and Ricotta
This is one of the recipes I would have regularly dog-eared in the magazine because it has the word "olive" in it.  I typically ignore whatever else is in a recipe and just start salivating at that word.  This is a fun and farely easy appetizer to make from the At the Market section.  First, you boil some broccoli rabe (or rappini) in salted water.  I laugh every time I hear the words "brocolli rabe" because it reminds me of The Office when Andy refers to his acapella group's nicknames, one of which is that vegetable.  The wilted rapini is sauteed with some garlic and red pepper flakes, which give it the slightest little kick, and then cooled.  Slice up some baguette and toast in the oven, then top with ricotta, cooled rapini, fresh oregano, and (angels singing) Kalamata olives! 

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $9.40 for 6 servings (although 4 of us ate the whole thing)

Time: Bon Appetit said 40 minutes for prep and 1:10 hrs.total.  I spent maybe 30 minutes in prep and 1 hour total.

Was it worth it?: Yes, this was a great appetizer.  If you have several other things your could probably even feed more than 6 if you just want a couple pieces per person.

 

Roasted Beet and Feta Gratin with Fresh Mint

We love beets at our house, so any new recipe for beets is great, but adding in feta just brings it to another level.  This one is a farely easy side from the Back to Our Roots article.  First, the beets are baked in a little water.  Then they are peeled, sliced, and placed in a baking dish.  The only real work is making the cream for the gratin.  This requires simmering heavy whipping cream with fresh mint and garlic and letting it set to steep for 15 minutes.  The cream is then strained, removing the chunks of garlic and mint.  What's left is a mint and garlic-infused cream that is baked with the beets.  Crumble some feta on the tope and pop it in the oven.  The flavor of the gratin is really intersting, almost like the mint from a York peppermint patty.  The beets remain somewhat crisp, not at all mushy like I thought they might.

 

Yumminess: 9 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $5.75 for 4 servings (we had about 1.5 servings left)

Time: Bon Appetit said 35 minutes for prep and 2:20 hrs.total.  I spent maybe 20 minutes in prep and 1:45 hours total.

Was it worth it?: Yes, this was a great side.  A very intereseting, new way to eat beets.

 

Roast Duck, Butternut Squash, Cepes, and Green Beans

Here it was, the recipe I was kind of afraid of.  The only time I ever ate duck was on a cruise ship and it seemed a little oily to me.  Shaun was very excited.  Apparently he's a big duck fan.  I guess you learn new things even after being together for 10 years.  The first job was finding a duck.  I was thinking of ordering one from the co-op market, Weaver Street, but got a clue that I could find a cheap one at Compare Foods.  I'd never been there, but decided to give it a try.  Interestingly, Compare Foods carries a large variety of Latino foods, with a great selection of meats you may not normally find in your standard grocery store.  I called ahead to make sure they had duck.  After going through four people I was assured that they had whole ducks for $2.49 per lb.  Great deal!  When I stopped in I asked the butcher to show me where the ducks were.  They were in the freezer section, so he pulled one out for me to see.  It was a bit large, but the smaller ones were more expensive.  He gave me a 5 lb. bird and said, "I remember talking to you on the phone and I told you the price was lower.  Let me go change this tag for you."  That was really nice of him!

 

The duck hung out in the refrigerator for a day and then on the counter to thaw, but was still a bit icey.  I had to cook it for a few minutes in order to pull the neck and jiblets out.  The duck is roasted until the skin browns.  Then, butternut squash and shallots are added and roasted with it for another hour and a half.  Meanwhile, the green beans and mushrooms are cooked seperately and then roasted together.  The recipe calls for cepes, also known as porcini mushrooms (in fact, that's what the whole article is about: The Great French Mushroom Hunt), but I couldn't find them at Whole Foods.  The only porcini mushroom I found was $49 per lb. from Oregon, yikes!  I settled for creminis.  As a side note, I have since found dehydrated porcinis and will use them in the 2 other recipes in that article.

 

 

The final task was making the gravy.  I'm not usually a gravy person, but this was definitely worth it.  The whole roasting pan is placed on the ovens burners and cooked with chicken broth.  The brown bits from the duck make this sauce deliciously rich. 

 

 

Alll in all, this recipe was like making two sperate dishes.  The payoff was very tasty, though.  It also makes for a beautiful dish on the table.  One roasted bird with veggies surrounding it means no work for presentation.

 

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $25.50 for 4 servings (we had about 2 servings left that we ate as leftovers the next day)

Time: Bon Appetit said 1:15 hrs. for prep and 3:35 hrs.total.  I spent maybe 50 minutes in prep and 3 hrs. total.

Was it worth it?: Yes, if you have the time it was worthy of a meal for a family get-together or just for great friends, like we had.