Duck Confit Part 2

The Duck Confit Collective met again a few weeks later, after the duck legs had had sufficient time to cure. We met on a snowy day that was perfect cassoulet weather.

Once again Sam did a better job of posting about this event. I went pickle-crazy and pickled several types, as I anticipated it would be nice to have something with a sour note to cut what would otherwise be an extremely gluttonous spread.

A soy-based jalapeno pickle.

Threw in a few coriander seeds for this carrot radish pickle with rice vinegar and white vinegar.

This daikon pickle tasted bitter to me. I love these daikon pickles at Korean restaurants, so I really want to learn how to get the recipe right.

Homemade sausage for the cassoulet. I want a KitchenAid with a meat grinder attachment too.

Duck prosciutto - traditional blend. For more on the making, go here at Sam and Abby's blog.

This is the one with the five spice blend. I could not get enough of this. Super fatty and salty, I revisted the prosciutto spread again and again.

Duck cassoulet ready to simmer.

Shredded duck confit for a pizza and for some Chines-style buns.

Prepped pizza with fig spread, shredded duck confit, and slices of Morbier cheese.

All burners on Sam's stove were going full force.

The finished pizza. Ain't it beeeeautiful?

Accompaniments for the Chinese buns. I sliced these. Aren't I a good slicer?

Beets and beet greens. Someone wanted these beets to go in the duck confit frisee salad. I am very very glad that he lost that battle. Beets are all very fine and well, but one need not meld all great things in life.

The finished cassoulet. This is a stick to your ribs, heavy-hitter of a dish.

Duck confit risotto. A lot of it. One easily forgets how much rice expands in liquid. I know I do every single time I make risotto.

The whole spread. Ah, the joy to sit down and see the following sight. It's usually at this point that I make a note of how much of my belly is straining against my jeans and make a not-so-subtle fit adjustment: stand up, grab waistband, shimmy bottom, sit back down.

And the first thing I got to try was this duck confit frisee salad with duck fat croutons and poached duck egg. The fantastic thing about poaching duck eggs instead of chicken eggs, is the significantly larger yolk. Gotta love the runny yolk!

Okay, back to it.

Hello folks,

I've had some foodie friends visiting lately, so there has been lots of yummy eating to share. Unfortunately, I got sick and lost my voice over the weekend. Thank the sweet lord I didn't lose my sense of taste as well.

Anyways, let's get to this duck confit. This happened back in February, but I was so overwhelmed by the whole experience that I've been dodging writing about it. My friend Sam did a pretty good job documenting it in a more timely manner.

We processed 3 ducks and 40 duck legs this sunny Saturday. Our hosts cured the legs in advance.

One participant is taking culinary classes, and I drooled over her knife set. We all brought our own cutting boards and knives. Several folks admiringly surveyed my silver briefcase carrying my knives, but the wonder soon fell away to pity when they discovered my knives were dull. To this day, I can't help but blush in embarrassment. How mortifying!

We needed some chorizo, cheese, and chocolate to provide sustenance. Can you tell that I like the way these people roll? Throw in some homemade baguette, and I'm thinking, "These are mighty fine folk."

A lesson on how to properly debone a duck. Apparently one should use the weight of the carcass to help guide your knife. My cut-up duck pieces were not so pretty.

We took the bones to make a duck stock.

The legs cooking in their fat bath. hehe.

Duck sausage making! The sausage attachment was a Christmas present. Nice present.

Finished sausages. We ended up putting the duck livers in there, and it was a bit too much for the ratio of duck that we had in there.

Finished duck confit. Ready for curing.

Lots of legs. Oh yes. These were saved in preparation for the Confit Collective's dinner that happened a few weeks later. Another epic meal.

Sausages with a red wine braised onions.

Seared duck breast.

With a cherry glaze.

Salad with duck fat croutons.

Duck tartare. Not the prettiest ring, but impressive considering the Sam-aka-MacGyver fashioned it out of a paper towel roll and some aluminum foil. Delicious, especially with some oven-crisped duck skin cracklings.

Roasted duck. The remaining duck breasts went for two different types of prosciutto.

Closeup of the duck sausage.

And here's the sliced roasted duck breast.

It was an amazing day, where I got to meet some great Chicago food enthusiasts. It made me feel much better about the city in the heart of winter.

Indian Potluck

I've always been skittish about hosting potlucks. The control freak in me has problems letting go. What if the dishes don't match! Potlucks with a theme may be the solution. At an Indian-themed potluck I attended, everyone chipped in. First up, Mango Lassi.

I brought some spicy snacks that I had picked up in Devon on a recent shopping trip. Hello friends with cars.

Homemade somosas with homemade dough. The dough was very hearty and probably took healthy for me, having been made with whole wheat flour. Still, it's always nice to eat food that has been prepared with care.

Chutney aka orange sauce for the somosas. I still think of chutney as something sticky and chunky, but I'm trying to let go.

Raita

Rice. I only just discovered at this dinner is that the trick to get the orange color is to drizzle some saffron infused water over the rice when it's done.

I brought this Eggplant Bhurtha dish - very spicy and fun to make.

This Mutter Paneer starts with a cashew puree, which was surprising but really lent a nice rich aromatic quality ot the dish.

Chicken prepared by our host, courtesy of his mother-in-law's recipe.

And a vegetarian dish from the same source. The image of mother-in-law and son-in-law bonding one weekend over old recipes is sweet. Our host is a bit of a precise fellow, and his mother-in-law has just made these dishes the way she has always made them. So he would consult an Indian cookbook that would call for a cup of a particular ingredient, and then she would proceed to pshaw him and say she just threw in eight spoonfuls. He couldn't take it, I suppose their love doesn't go that far, and measured our her eight spoonfuls, which equals exactly one cup.

And a homemade mango cheesecake. Everyone participating is incredibly busy, and it's such a treat to have people take time out of their packed schedules to make something delicious for you.