Canette aux gouts d’automne

Hi guys! I didn’t make the boned duck paté. But it was for the best. Okay, that was a bit abrupt, I’m struggling to find nice words! I’m changing styles a bit from here on out. I am no longer going to be recipe cramming, I think I’ll learn a lot more if I take it easy, the trying to get as many recipes done strategy worked great for a while, but I’ve outgrown it now. I am also going to be cooking about twice a week. I know, complete change. ANyway, today I made roast duck with turned turnips, prunes and button mushrooms, brought together with a cider jus and a beurre noisette.

I started by turning the turnips. This took about an hour to do about 4 long long ones. It was harrowing, I’ll never be the same again! After an hour of tedious suffering, I could braise them in some butter and water covered with a round of greaseproof paper. Then, I prepped my duck. I cut off the neck and wingtips, and trussed it. I placed the off cuts in the bottom of a pan, placed the duck on top, added some butter and oil, and placed it in the oven at 180 for an hour, basting and turning every 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I sauteed the mushrooms, soaked some prunes in cider and made a beurre noisette. When the duck was done, I placed it on a plate and made my sauce. I poured some sugar into the juices, cooked down, and poured out the fat. I deglazed the pan with cider, boiled down for a sec, and strained. I placed the veg around the duck, and the beurre noisette on top. It. Was. Fabulous. I didn’t make the pate, because we bought the duck, and the new book arrived, and I saw this dish, and it just looked so much nicer. Anyway, the sauce was wonderful, the beurre noisette was great – it tasted like a caramel – but what was really great, is when you mix them together. It makes the dish complete. The plums were also divine, for an apero, I would soak some prunes in cider, shred some duck, and stuff the prunes with it. Wonderful.

Well that was nice! The type of challenge is changing rather, but for the better. I love this new book, it’s so much better than Julia’s, though to be frank, Julia has taught me lot, and I may not have been able to pull this off without her training, anyway that’s all folks! bye!