Experimental food corner

(cross-posted to off_recipe)

Fifth anniversary dinner menu:

Large red caviar of unknown type (the label is in Russian).
Carr's black pepper crackers.

Roast duck with cranberry-red wine sauce.
Steamed baby asparagus.
French bread & butter.

Grand vin de Bordeaux Lussac Saint Emilion (2000)

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My first duck! It turned out remarkably well, given that I sort of cobbled several recipes together. Here's what I did:

I washed and dried the duck and rubbed it inside and out with a little salt. I removed the big lumps of fat just inside the body cavity, and then pierced the skin (but not the meat) all over with a fondue fork. The idea was supposed to be that the fat would melt and drip out through the holes, and yet the meat would stay unpierced and juicy. It worked pretty well, actually. I perched the duck on a rack in a roasting pan, cooked it at 425 for fifteen minutes, turned the heat down to 350, and roasted it for about an hour and ten minutes. Somewhere in the middle I turned it over, which is not as easy as it sounds.

Meanwhile, I put the neck and gizzards in a saucepan, covered them with water, added black pepper and a bay leaf, and simmered for about forty-five minutes. Towards the end I discarded the duck parts and let the broth boil down to a very concentrated quarter-cup. I poured half a cup of dry red wine and added a couple of handfuls of sweetened dried cranberries. I let the cranberries soak up the wine to reconstitute themselves - they were yummy right out of the cup, but mostly I restrained myself.

When the duck came out of the oven, I let it rest for five to ten minutes while I made the sauce. I mixed the duck broth, the wine, the cranberries (now not so dried), about a quarter cup of water, a slosh of balsamic vinegar, and a couple pinches of dried thyme, brought them to a rolling boil, and let them cook down by about half. I served it at the table and we spooned it over the duck.

It was quite tasty: tart and richly fruity, a nice contrast with the rich, slightly smoky flavor of the duck. The cranberries were quite soft but still retained their shape. After I'd had all the duck I wanted, I ate some more cranberries with my fork - it was that good.

If I had it to do over, I would have made more duck broth. The meaty flavor was lost, overpowered by the cranberries, so I wound up with more of a fruit compote than a meat sauce flavored with fruit. Adding a splash more wine right at the end might've also been good. But I love the combination of fruit with duck, and I love sour/tart flavors. It was really good.

Tonight's menu: leftover caviar. Duck soup.

(no subject)

"Maybe LJ wasn't the best place to go for impartial advice," I said to curiousangel after a few hours had passed and a few comments had appeared. But by then it was too late. We've decided to go to Worldcon.

Now the attack of anticipatory shyness occurs.

But seriously. Worldcon seems like the kind of thing we should do at least once in our lives, and given that (a) if we miss this year, the next two Worldcons are both thousands of miles away, and (b) we're hoping to be burdened with small, expensive, difficult-to-transport creatures in the not-too-distant future, the Boston Worldcon seems like the one to try. So there we go.

Plus, I haven't seen papersky in way too long, and I want to meet ailsaek, and I want to attend one of marykaykare's famous parties, and I want to hang out with pnh, and so on for probably zillions of other people. And Michael has gaming people he's been corresponding with for years who will probably be at Worldcon, and... and... and so.

My sister lives a bus ride away from the Convention Center, so we're thinking we'll stay with her on Thursday and Sunday nights and get a hotel room for Friday and Saturday nights. (Anyone interested in quiet, nonsmoking roommates who have good personal hygiene?)

Yay! Worldcon! I'm excited.

Anyone have helpful advice for a Worldcon newbie, though? I'm pretty inexperienced with cons.