Food

[Henry Krinkle]

I think I've mentioned before that one of the things Mrs. K and I have done since the whole pandemic thing started is that in lieu of travel we have had food days or weekends based around places we've visited. We do Jamaica and Austin days on a regular basis but have also done New Orleans weekends, Chicago weekends, etc. Well this weekend we switched it up a bit and I took on a sort of Iron Chef Challenge. Duck specifically. One whole duck and at least four completely different dishes. After I broke down the duck , the carcass and these:



became the basis for an Italian duck stock with spinach ricotta ravioli and fresh spinach.



Day 2 was crispy skinned duck breast with green peppercorn and pear sauce.



As soon as I broke down the duck I made a salt and sugar cure seasoned with Quatre épices, garlic, shallot, thyme and cloves. After a 48 hour cure the legs simmered in duck fat for three hours.



then another 8 hours chilling in duck fat, finally to be reheated and have the skin crisped. Technically dish 3 and 4 combined. Confit duck leg with duck fat fried potatoes and red cabbage & spiced apple braised in red wine. A central European classic.



Finally, yesterday I baked a super dark pumpernickel bread. Today, dish 5, is warm spice oven roast duck breast with manchego, arugula and some other things on toasted pumpernickel.

[skywatch]

Chicken tagine with olives, chickpeas, dried apricots, meyer lemon on saffron couscous.

[Henry Krinkle]

The green ones will go towards some kind of run down and (maybe) pumpkin rice, the ripe ones will go towards jerk with pickled green bananas and possibly a quick batch of fermented pineapple hot sauce.

[gnuyork]

Taco Tuesday

[Henry Krinkle]

A bit of what we've been enjoying this last while. Jerk chicken, pickled bananas, jerk sauce and what we call Antiguan corn since that is where it was introduced to us. It is steamed in coconut milk with green Scotch bonnet, scallions, thyme, cinnamon, allspice, cinnamon bay leaves and a tiny bit of brown sugar. This is the best corn you can eat that hasn't been exposed to wood fire.



Cider smoked beans, back ribs smoked for 5 hours, tahini chopped slaw and cheesy mac n cheese.



I finally made a good red peas soup. Fantastic four onion stock with a bit of chicken for a base then christophene, yam, chicken poached in the stock, scallions and sweet onions, black eye peas instead of the usual kidney beans and Scotch bonnet. I also made coco bread for the first time in a long while. Really great with the soup. Better than putting spinners in it, in my opinion.

[litlmn]

@Henry Krinkle Pickled Bananas? Is that a thing or jut a random experiment?

[Henry Krinkle]

@Henry Krinkle Pickled Bananas? Is that a thing or jut a random experiment?

It's a thing! I got it from a NYTimes jerk recipe. We never make jerk without them now. The heat from the Scotch bonnet and the acid from the vinegar go fantastically with the just ripe banana.

6 cups white vinegar
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 branches fresh thyme
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chile, split, seeds and stem intact
6 cloves
6 just-ripe bananas

Add all ingredients except for the bananas to a nonreactive saucepan and
boil over high, 10 minutes. Chill completely. Once brine is chilled, peel and slice the bananas on the bias.
Add to the brine and chill, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

[litlmn]

It's a thing! I got it from a NYTimes jerk recipe. We never make jerk without them now. The heat from the Scotch bonnet and the acid from the vinegar go fantastically with the just ripe banana.

6 cups white vinegar
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 branches fresh thyme
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chile, split, seeds and stem intact
6 cloves
6 just-ripe bananas

Add all ingredients except for the bananas to a nonreactive saucepan and
boil over high, 10 minutes. Chill completely. Once brine is chilled, peel and slice the bananas on the bias.
Add to the brine and chill, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

Interesting. I might need to give that a try.

[Mediocre]

We miss the sausage and cheese plates from an old home city, so my wife surprised us with this

[gnuyork]

Dinner outside this evening. She Crab soup.