Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Duck!


Today was a pick-up day, so we got a fresh new supply of vegetables (but no fruit this week! Booooooo!) Anyhow, we got: 1 head of bok choy, garlic scapes, one head of green leaf lettuce, 2 lbs of purple top turnips, 3 zucchini, 1 head of broccoli, a bunch of red basil, and a pound of red chard.

Nate was home early today, so he was the creative force behind dinner (what else is new). We started with a salad of the farm share lettuce (so good: I cannot say enough about how good, how flavorful, the CSA lettuce is) with almonds, some leftover bouchon cheese and tomatoes with lemon juice and olive oil.



Then we had roast duck with turnips (roasted in the pan with the duck) and red kale sauteed with ginger and garlic. But this was not the original plan: I will let Nate tell the tale.

I just informed Jen that I wasn't sure if I had anything witty to say about my original plan to which she replied, "You could just complain." So I guess that's what I'll do.

My original plan was to make a Pollo Rosso, which is just an overpriced Italian heritage chicken. Mainly I wanted to make it because I wanted to see if it could possibly be worth the hefty price tag. Unfortunately when I got it home I examined the plastic swelling a little (generally not a great sign). When I opened it up I took a sniff and noticed it was a little off. I rinsed it off and the smell, though faint, was still there.

Sadly I tossed the Pollo Rosso (which I assume is Italian for "smelly chicken") into the garbage and decided to go with a half a roast duck instead. Luckily I'd bought a couple of types of poultry while at the store.

I'd already cut up my vegetables and began cooking them so I had to cook the duck with somewhat non-standard seasonings (ginger, garlic, garlic scapes, purple basil, olive oil, salt and pepper) and in a very small amount of time. I would have preferred to roast it a little slower and longer but with time running out and the heat of July invading our apartment it was not meant to be.


Well, in any case, it was delicious. Nate did not take any whole-plate pictures, so here is a series of pictures to document:








And some leftover strawberry ice cream for dessert! Not too shabby at all.