Thawing out a domestic duck. Not sure yet how I want to cook it. Crispy skin is a priority.

The apple pie is ready.
Hit 175F internal temperature in one hour and 10 minutes at 375.
It's going outside into the cold garage to cool.
Iron fingers took it out of the hot oven with no mitts or gloves.

karstopography wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 12:14 pm Thawing out a domestic duck. Not sure yet how I want to cook it. Crispy skin is a priority.

Look at the way the Chinese do it.
Crispy skin every time.
Perfect weather to hang outside too.
Hang duck up and pour hot boiling fluids over it until skin is cooked then hang out to dry.
More or less.

The last of my pork roast from Christmas.
The roux I made is in the mix as well.
Plus Yukon Gold potatoes.
Pearl barley and rice cook at about the same time too but cooked separately then mixed in.
The leftover rub I made originally for the roast is used as a spicy topping as well.
Stick to your ribs delicious.
Might be Texas blasphemy but I like this about a trillion times better than stringy pulled pork.

Just got home a little while ago from errands, and having a hot cup of homemade beef broth. Warming me up nicely

The pie came out delicious.

Dad, son and I fried a quart of oysters for lunch. Mom came over in time to eat a few. They were good, but could have been a touch more crisp. Next time and soon, I’m going to fire up my gazillion BTU concord banjo burner propane cooker. The fry daddy doesn’t have enough horsepower to keep up the temperature where it should be for extra crispy fried oysters. These fry very quickly.

Anyway, good to be outside dining al fresco on a spotless and glorious day in the sunshine.

All I managed to do is accidentally snort up a line of homemade extra hot curry powder.

Finally made the duck. Dang fridge is too cold and things take forever to thaw out. Overall delicious recipe. Next time, I’ll allow more time for thawing. I’ll also cook the duck a little longer before adding the glaze. Cooked to about 138°. Some minor amounts of pink remained, but it wasn’t raw. Wasn’t dry either.

Cabbage was very good. Used some of the duck fat in that. Yummy.

Made some turkey turnovers this evening. Turkey dressing and gravy was hanging about in the freezer, time to turn that into a meal with a little pastry.

karstopography wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 12:14 pm Thawing out a domestic duck. Not sure yet how I want to cook it. Crispy skin is a priority.

This reminds me of walking through Chinatown in Boston, several decades ago, seeing a little old woman in a doorway brandishing a cleaver. The "noises" only started after I was further down the sidewalk. Back then, the Peking ducks were hung up to dry in the store windows.

I oven roast a duck much like I roast a chicken, for fairly crispy skin. But, it's still not going to come close to a Peking duck.

Once a year is about all that I can take of their gamey flavor. My favorite is cornish game hens.

Starting in on the 2023 processed Tomato Sauces with the lovely and long suffering Mrs. Gotch's signature Raviagna...Lasagna with several layers of Costco Spinach and Cheese Ravioli along with traditional noodles; is that a deep, rich red, or what: Halftime: End Zone: The Gotch

@karstopography
One might consider using panko bread crumbs to fry the oyster for a more crispy crunch.
Not traditional southeast Texas style but who wants to rest on tradition and style.
I've not done it but it would seem to work.
My last two experiences with oysters turned me way off on them.
One bunch from the Louisiana coast tasted like petroleum crude oil or kerosene.
My next batch from Oregon tasted like a rotten fish they were so fishy.
I'm not willing to pay top dollar for crap because I know what a good oyster is supposed to taste like raw or otherwise.
Since they're always in a container I can't taste test them first.
Those Oregon ones really sucked.

I've got fish thawing out.
Weisswurst thawing out.
1 cup of black eyed peas soaking in a plastic sandwich bag with chicken bullion powder.
The same with Anasazi beans in another bag.
The same with black beans.
The above three will be cooked separately for obvious reasons.
I bet you couldn't find a bag of black eyed peas in the store to save your life.
I tried that one year to no avail.
Got a pound of bacon ends and pieces on standby.
The Black eyed peas and black beans will be what you call Texas caviar.
It's a lightly pickled salad made with vinegar and oil with other things in it like garlic onion cumin and so on.
The recipe variation is as wide as the people that make it.
Which reminds me I need to soak some cumin seeds as well.

Black eyed peas in a salad sounds good.
I actually have a bag in the cupboard but so long since I cooked any, I've forgotten any tricks I once had.
They were a favorite and a household staple back in my vegetarian days.
Maybe I should try and make a salad too.

bower wrote: ↑Sun Dec 31, 2023 4:58 pm Black eyed peas in a salad sounds good.
I actually have a bag in the cupboard but so long since I cooked any, I've forgotten any tricks I once had.
They were a favorite and a household staple back in my vegetarian days.
Maybe I should try and make a salad too.

They say not to soak and they say to soak.
I prefer to soak overnight and cook just till not hard.
You can over cook them so fast it's crazy.
Canned ones in my opinion are almost over cooked.
I've got a jar of dill pickle juice I'm going to use in mine.
I almost never throw pickle juice out.

Yeah I vaguely recall they were easier to cook than other beans. I think I soaked them though.
Maybe it's in my old recipe book I will check.

Shrimp tacos with little homemade tortillas. I usually make huge tortillas to use for burritos but wanted some just for tacos tonight.

I'm not going over to a friend's house tonight, because someone there got sick, so I'll be staying home! And no, I won't be eating that whole chocolate banana loaf myself!

I was getting a craving for something Italian, after seeing those basil plants growing so well in the hydroponics! So I took out some Italian sausage flavored venison from the freezer, and soaked about 2 lbs equivalent of dried eggplant, and soaked about 2 lbs worth of dried tomatoes, and used the oldest can of tomatoes from my pantry (the last one from 1-21). I also "brined" a cup of whole mung beans, in hot water with salt in it. And before I cooked anything else, I cooked 1½ c of brown basmati rice, and set that aside (used about 2/3 of it). And while that was cooking, I cut up an onion, a generous amount of garlic, some fresh marjoram, and got 4 fresh bay leaves ready. I blended the tomatoes not totally smooth, then the soaked, dried tomatoes I blended smoother, and poured them into the same bowl, then rinsed the VM out with a little more water, and poured that in with the tomatoes.

The thawed (almost) 1½ lbs venison I put in a sauté pan, in the flat layer, from the vacuum bag, and put about 1/2 c of water in, and steamed it, on medium heat, making a solid layer, then I poured the liquid into a bowl, added a little olive oil, and browned the two pieces - my method for browning this very low fat meat. After that first side browned, I flip it, and it breaks some, but stays together enough that I get a good number of chunks, browned on one or two sides. I set this aside, until later.

This went fairly quickly, once I had everything together! I drained the mung beans and eggplant to have them ready. I heated up a few tb of olive oil in the Instant Pot on sauté, and cooked the chopped onion about 3 or 4 minutes. Then I added the garlic, and about 2 tsp crushed hot peppers, cooked about a minute, then added the marjoram and bay leaves, and cooked another 30 sec, then poured in the tomatoes and the meat juice. I let it start boiling, then stirred in the mung beans and eggplant, and tasted for salt, and hit OFF, then set MANUAL 12 minutes (soaking the beans would make this enough for them), and put the top on. I let the pressure release naturally, so it was about 27 minutes total. While that was cooking, I chopped up a generous 3 c of bok choy greens, plus the rest of the basil, and about ¼ c parsley. When the sauce was done, I turned it off, then stirred in the meat, about 2/3 of the rice, the greens, and the herbs, then set to sauté, to bring it back to a boil. Then I hit off, and set it to slow cook, high, and cooked it about 7 or 8 minutes, while getting everything else cleaned up. I dug out the bay leaves, and tasted for seasoning. It could have used a little more salt, but since I knew I was topping it with grated cheese, I knew that would be enough. Got about 3½ extra quarts of the stuff, so I'm glad it turned out good!

This probably takes more time to post, than the actual work time to do it! lol
Two Thai basil leaves, and some of the other two plants, from the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The tomato sauce, cooked 12 minutes with the soaked eggplant and mung beans, before adding the venison, cooked rice, and the bok choy. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 3 c of chopped bok choy greens, to stir into the dish, along with the chopped basil and parsley, to simmer about 8 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The venison, cooked brown rice, greens, and basils, stirred in, ready to simmer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dish, ready to serve, and top with some cheese. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dish, topped with some grated Asiago. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Prickly Pear margs, sous vide to 129° reversed seared choice beef tenderloin served with a gorgonzola cream sauce and potatoes oven roasted in duck fat. Finished the year with some good victuals.