Just ducky

Have had a duck in the freezer for months so I've been waiting for an opportunity to give it its due. Over the holidays I got it in my mind that a roast duck dinner was inevitable and even necessary but as I was flying solo for much of it, I never got around to it. One person can only consume so much duck. So with amorphous New Year's Eve plans in place, I figured this would be a great time to prepare a roast dinner for J and myself.

It has been years since I actually roasted a duck and the last time I had a lot of trouble finding a recipe that didn't have Asian flavours -- in the end, I had to use one from a hunting magazine that began with "firstly, remove any buckshot." My foray onto the internet proved much more fulfilling this time around and I settled upon this Christmas (I know that was so last week!) roast duck recipe from Jamie Oliver. I had everything required on hand in the house so didn't even have to go shopping.

It takes time but is not all that complicated and it turned out even better than could be expected. Roast duck with potatoes roasted in duck fat is not a light meal that you'd want to eat very often but for a special occasion, it really hit the mark. The gravy (which I made gluten free for J) made with port wine was luscious and brought the whole meal together.  Simply added a few steamed and dressed green beans (and a glass of bubbly) to the operation and we had an absolutely divine NYE dinner.

Just ducky

It's not your average work day dinner that I whipped up tonight but since I didn't have the enthusiasm for it last night, I had to do tonight. Sometimes I enjoy the frenetic-everything-has-to-be-cooked-at-the-same-time madness and tonight was one of those nights. I've been having a hankering for duck for quite a few weeks and finally last week picked up a nice magret duck breast at the St. Lawrence Market. Popped it in the freezer and then took it out on Sunday with a plan to make a nice meal for both of us. That planned got a bit scuppered by events of the day, and as mentioned, my enthusiasm for the cooking had waned.

So it had to be eaten tonight, so I got to it. Pan fried duck breast in a red wine and mushroom reduction (based somewhat on this recipe). I get a kick out of making the diamond shapes in the fat of the duck breast and searing it. And then continuing the low-fat meal prep, I used the duck fat to pan fry some gnocchi, which was what J had a hankering for. They come out spectacularly. Even using the packaged ones, they were crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy inside. Nice!!! Along with that, we roasted some broccoli.


There were pots and pans and all manner of things flying about the kitchen. What fun! And a friggin' gourmet feast for a Monday night people!