DUCK BREASTS FOR DINNER

I love duck breasts, although I do not have them that often.  Spotted this recipe in NYTimes a few weeks ago and have been waiting for the right moment to cook them. Our supermarket doesn't always have them either but I saw them there last weekend and the plan stated taking shape!
January is a quiet month for us usually, have been doing a no alcohol month for a few years now and that goes along perfectly with catching up on movies prior to the Oscars. We had a DVD to watch last night, The Ides of March, which was enjoyable, almost as much as the duck! Here is the recipe link., Peppered Duck Breast with Red Wine Sauce

Few notes: They were not Muscovy duck breasts which I don't think mattered at all except mine weighed closer to half a pound rather than a pound.  I did one each which was really a bit too much but no-one was looking!! I still used the same timings and they were done exactly as I like them, I did the second side for 5 minutes, which was supposed to be fore medium-rare.
The sauce was exceptional and easy.  This would be a great dish for entertaining as you can do the sauce ahead of time.  And yes, it was very tempting to drink a glass of the red wine I opened for the sauce but I managed not to!

MOM, THIS COULD BE BEST BIRTHDAY CAKE YET....

Most of my friends know that I always do a chocolate cake for Joseph's birthday. For years I had been cheating and using a Duncan Hines mix!!!!! Shocker, I know.  It all started when I asked a friend and chef for a good chocolate cake recipe when Joseph was around 4, as I was finding that my English recipes didn't seem to work so well here, and truthfully, I hadn't baked too many chocolate cakes. The friend knew it was for a 4 year old's birthday party and said I was crazy to bother to bake one from scratch, and so the cake from a mix thing started.  I did always make my own Butter icing/frosting, honest!  A year ago I made a wonderful cake, recipe from Rosalind,  who had brought it to my birthday party earlier in the year. (I was sure I had posted it but it seems not!)  This cake was a labour of love for sure, but well worth it in my opinion, here is a pic, looks pretty similar, suppose it is my frosting style but it was much bigger and it was really delicious!

So, as the birthday drew nigh I asked Joseph if he would like me to repeat the cake this year and he said: 'No, let's go back to the one you used to make',  so disappointing, I LOVED last year's cake.  However, I really wanted to improve on the packet mix cake and looked for a recipe for traditional chocolate cake.  Turned to Cooks Illustrated, of course and there found an 'Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake' recipe that looked about right to me.  As I have said before, I cannot post a link, you need to subscribe to CI, most annoying.  I even followed the icing recipe, no brainer, it had lots of chocolate and butter so of course was yummy.  BINGO!  Joseph loved it, no fretting next year, I will know exactly what to do!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

We pretty much did 5 party nights in a row, starting on the 23rd with the wonderful relaxed evening hosted by the Lees,  a great traditional we have enjoyed most years for the past 7 years or so. I took a Panettone Bread and Butter pudding, which I repeated on Christmas Day, luckily to a different crowd and Alan was sworn not to  let on! This recipe, like the best of them, has evolved over the years.  I had cut the starting point out of the London Sunday Times a long while ago.  The column was written by Elizabeth David and she said she had adapted the recipe from Anton Mosiman, now brought to you with my  updates.............

I am not a big fan of Panettone but had received one as a gift and was wondering what to do with it and the best, in my humble opinion, bread and butter pudding was born!  Use the recipe link above but substitute the rolls for panettone; once you have poured the custard around the bread leave it to soak for about half an hour (this was Ms David's suggestion and I'm sticking with it) before cooking. I have never done the pressing down part after 30 mins either, this is a very forgiving recipe, don't fuss over it, it is always delicious! Serve with a rum butter sauce:

Combine in a small saucepan, on medium heat:

• Half stick of butter (2ozs)
• quarter cup of brown sugar (any sugar is fine!)
• half cup of heavy or whipping cream

when butter has melted remove from heat and add

• 4 TBSPS dark rum.  

Reheat gently before serving.
This pudding is best served warm, or at least room temperature, not cold. I would not recommend heating in the microwave as you will overcook the custard.  I usually put back into  a warm oven for about 20 mins before serving.

ROAST CHICKEN - AGAIN, SERIOUSLY?
Its Sunday, Alan wants roast chicken, Joseph is out for dinner so turned to Epicurious and found this recipe, Chicken al Mattone.  It was delicious and took less time than my usual stuffed and roast chicken, mostly because it is butterflied. Apparently the recipe is from a restaurant Sfoglia in NYC which I have never been to.  It is not on their site so here is the recipe:

Cut the backbone from a 4 lb chicken, press down on breast to flatten it.  In small bowl mix 2 Tsps lemon juice, 2 Tsps olive oil, 1 Tsp chopped rosemary and 2 crushed garlic cloves.  Rub mixture all over chicken and marinate at least 4 hours or overnight in fridge,
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, season chicken with kosher salt and fresh pepper.  Heat 1Tsp olive oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium/high heat.  Add chicken, skin side down and cook until golden brown, about 7 minutes - do not turn over. Place something heavy (foil wrapped brick, cast iron skillet) on top of the chicken and roast in oven for 30 minutes.  Remove weight and turn chicken over, continue to roast for about another 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with  another 2 Tsps lemon juice,  chopped Italian parsley and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.  Let rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

Really enjoyed it but did miss the gravy!  Best served with a vegetable dish that is moist or saucy, I would suggest.  Full disclosure, I did not bother with the weight, maybe I will next time and see if it makes any difference!  Also, the one pictured here I cooked on the grill for about 40 minutes and it was perfect but I have done the saute/oven method too. I have substituted sage for the rosemary as I have a lot in my garden and I like that version just as much as rosemary.

ROAST PORK

Pork is just not what it used to be!  It has been bred to be lean and now has no flavour, we all know you need some fat for deliciousness.  When my fabulous son-in-law was here for Alan's birthday he made superb Pork Burritos for our beach party.  We started with boned pork shoulder (from Costco, of course!).  He had a chunk left over and prepared it for me to roast at a later date.  The piece was about a foot square, probably about 3 pounds of meat.  He added some orange peel, sage leaves and garlic then rolled it.  I was able to use my new 'food loops' which had been a Christmas gift from Charlotte's glamorous Mum, Anke (thank you Anke, I love them!).  He gave me the following instructions to cook it:

Sear the meat over a medium/high heat.  Transfer to oven at 300 degrees F.  Add some chicken stock to the roasting pan with some booze and aromatics. I used a halved medium sized onion and some more sage leaves.  Roast for about 3-4 hours, basting frequently. His instructions were to cover the pan while roasting which I did not notice at the time.  I did have to top up the stock in the pan but it meant that the meat got really crispy and I have decided it is the way to go.  So with all this learning I did a roast pork shoulder today and it was also fabulous, if I say so myself!  As it had skin (later yummy crackling) I did not brown the meat before roasting and cooked it for a total of 5 hours.  I scored the skin in a diamond pattern and inserted slivers of garlic into the meat.  I peeled and halved 2 medium onions and added those to the pan along with  2 sprigs of sage.  I upped the temperature to 375 for the last hour, mostly because that was when I put in the potatoes.

Gravy:  take the meat out about half an hour before you plan to serve it, transfer to a heated plate, tent with foil and put near the stove to keep warm.  I slice off the skin at this point and return to oven on a new roasting pan to  crisp up. You should have at least a cup of juices in the pan the pork roasted in.  Pour it into a separator if you have one, improvise with a small jug.  Keep about 2 TBSPS oil in the pan and add one TBSP of flour to that.  Stir to combine the fat and flour then cook over a medium heat for about 3 minutes.  Now you need some liquied to add.  The juices in the pan were pretty flavourful so water would probably do.  If you are steaming vegetables you can use that water, I did from my cabbage.  A big dash of red wine is great too, chicken stock also works.  This is one of those recipes you need to get a feel for and it is never the same twice.

I apologize for my attempt at garnish, hey ho we can't all be perfect all the time!

BABY LAMB CHOPS - YUM!
Not much going on today, watching the tennis and looking for something new to try for dinner for just the 2 of us. Decided to rifle through the recipes I cut out of NYTimes, there are always plenty of those.   A good co-incidence happened, I asked Alan what he fancied for dinner, he responded 'lamb chops',   I had just come accross Seared Lamb Chops with Anchovies, Capers and Sage .  I have a very healthy sage plant in my garden and am always happy to find a recipe to use it. I changed this recipe a bit, only because at the end it says 'spoon the sauce over the chops' and I had no sauce.  I had a pan with a lot of capers and sage leaves but no liquid, so I deglazed the pan with some red wine.  It was delicious, but not for those who are dieting! For those who do not like anchovies please do  not be put off, these really just season the dish, it does not have a  strong anchovy flavour.  I liked the lemon squeezed over.  I served with green beans, as you can see, and corn, which filled the gap on the plate.  The corn is so good at this time of year, I serve it with little encouragement!

Here is what you need for 2 servings:

• 6/8 baby lamb chops
• 3 Tbsps olive oil
• 3 anchovy fillets
• 1 Tpsp drained capers (more if desired, recipe called for 3, I thought too much!)
• 15 sage leaves
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• splash of red wine
• lemon wedges for serving

Season chops with salt and pepper, but go easy on the salt, the anchovies are salty.  Heat a skillet large enough to take chops in one layer and heat the oil til it shimmers.  Add the anchovies and capers, stir and cook for a couple of minutes, anchovies will break down. Add the chops and brown for about 3 minutes on first side and 2 minutes after turning over. Time will vary depending on thickness of chops and your preference of done-ness. Transer chops to serving plate.  Add garlic to pan, cook for about a minute, til starting to brown, turn the heat off the pan then add the wine.  Cook for about a minute then spoon over the chops.

Jenny's Smashed Potatoes

We were so excited to welcome our great friends, the O'Connells, back from Argentina.  They chose an interesting week to arrive, an earthquake and a hurricane welcomed them back to Connecticut!
I popped in for a cup of tea with Elizabeth yesterday, while she was prepping for having some friends for dinner.  She was making these potatoes, which I saw the start of the prep but not the finished result.  But, sounded easy enough, I had a few fingerlings in my cupboard so decided to make them for the 3 of us tonight.

So easy I will describe it rather than write an a recipe format.  Start with new potatoes, cutting any large ones so they are all about the same size.  Put on a roasting pan, add olive oil, salt and pepper and then you can choose: maybe some red pepper flakes, or a herb, depending on your mood and what you are serving them with. Roast the potatoes at 350 C for about an hour, depending on size,  til feeling done when prodded with a knife. This can be done in advance.  'Smash' the potatoes with something heavy.  About half an hour before you are ready to serve, heat some butter in a frying pan and fry the potatoes for about 20 minutes, on a medium/high heat,  shaking the pan frequently to cook them evenly on all sides. Fry 'til they are lightly browned and crispy.  Add a little more salt and enjoy/