Saturday Experiments: Duck Tales

This is going to sound weird, but I really enjoy breaking down a bird. Sure it takes an amateur cook like me some time to do so, but it's economical and relaxing. If you're a household of two, getting a whole bird is perfect, you can get anywhere from 2-4 meals out of it (depending on how much you eat).

Yesterday we went to Chelsea Market (one of my favorite places in NYC) and stopped by Dickson's Farmstand and picked up a whole Peking Duck. You can probably find duck for cheaper in Chinatown, but if you're already saving yourself the money from eating out, why not go for something a little higher quality?

I haven't really made much duck, but it breaks down similar to a chicken - if you need help, visit Saveur. They have a great tutorial on how to break down duck.

Ducks are the fat kids of the poultry family - which makes them delicious!

Broken down for multiple meals!

With any whole bird, always save the bones for stock! I even do this with rotisserie chickens! Put the carcass, wings, and neck into a 9 x 13 baking dish and season liberally with salt and pepper. Add some carrots, an onion, bay leaves, and parsley (and/or thyme) to the bones. Roast them at 500°F for 45 minutes to coax all the flavor out of them. Dump them into a stock pock and add about a gallon of water and let simmer for ~8 hours. During the first hour, if you have stuff on top, skim it off for a clearer broth. After 8 or so hours, strain the broth into containers. You can use it anywhere chicken broth is called for. Or you can add rice, ginger, scallions, and shiitake mushrooms to it and make amazing congee.

Never throw out the bones! Always make a stock.

My bird also came with some liver and gizzards, so naturally I made paté. My version of paté anyways. Just take some duck fat and sauté one minced shallot and one minced garlic. Once the shallots are translucent add the liver and gizzards chopped up, along with a handful of herbs, salt and pepper, and dried cherries (cherries pair great with duck!). Sauté for a minute or so and hit it with a shot of some brown liquor (I used a Maple Bourbon I had on hand). Flambé! Cook for another minute or so and dump everything into a food processor and run it until it's smooth. Refrigerate and serve with sliced bread or crackers!

I don't always eat offals, but when I do, it's paté.

When you buy a whole duck you're going to end up with A LOT of fat, so LUCKY YOU! To render the fat, just put all your fat and skin into a pot and turn your heat very low. Leave it for about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs and you will have a beautiful pot of hot duck fat. Strain it into a container once it's cooled a bit. The internet says duck fat stores for 3 months, but I highly doubt mine will last that long.

I realize this photo isn't very yummy looking, but trust me, it actually is.

 For dinner last night, I pan roasted the duck breasts.

I reserved 2/3 of the fat that rendered out of the duck breasts for my diced potatoes, and to the other 1/3 I added garlic, 3 T of sugar, 4 T of white vinegar, juice of 2 oranges, and rind of 1 orange. After whisking, I hit it with a shot of Bulleit Rye and let it simmer and reduce for about 10  minutes.

During that time, I sautéed some kale in garlic (and hit it with a little red wine vinegar near the end) and I crisped my diced potatoes in the duck fat until they were tender. I seasoned the potatoes with salt, garlic powder, thyme and paprika.

Dinner is served!

I still have to confit my duck legs and my duck stock is going to make a great soup sometime this week. So many applications for one bird! 

Restaurant Review: Sushi Nakazawa

To be fair, I haven't had many sushi omakases, so I'm by no means an expert here, but what I do know is that I really enjoyed my experience. All my friends have told me, and it's true, you have to sit at the bar on a weekday here. Interacting with Nakazawa is 100% worth the extra $30 to sit at the bar (restaurant is $120/pp and the bar is $150/pp). Nakazawa is absolutely adorable and does his best to keep you entertained throughout your meal.

Also, if you like sake - do the $40 sake pairing. 5 pairings, so a great deal!

We begin.

Chum Salmon.

Lightly smoked, sockeye salmon.

Thanks chef for the scallop!

Squid

This was possibly horse mackerel.

Mackerel torched with lemon and sea salt.

Yellow tail.

Mackerel aged seven days.

He was moving around...but then....

Nakazawa was like "Saynora Shrimp!"

Giant Ebi.

I'm not all that sure what came next.

The sake pairing was getting to my head by now.

Photo break!

Tuna - from less fatty to o-toro!

Santa Barbara Uni...so...good.

Salmon Roe.

Salt water eel. My father would be so jealous.

Tuna hand roll.

Tomago! He took so long to perfect it. Liz and I had no idea that this was what Tomago is supposed to taste like!

Finished off with some lychee sorbet and a hot green tea.

A great meal with even better company.

Gags: 29 going on 45. Older man, even older soul.

This past Saturday, I forced Joe to celebrate his birthday (which he shares with his younger brother Dave). Joe never wants to make a big deal out of it, but I still try to make it special.

It's become a 'tradition' in our household that if it's your birthday, you get to dictate breakfast. I think Joe may miss Hawaii because he requested an Acai Bowl with Homemade Granola.

Birthday Boy reminiscing of waves and warm beaches.

After breakfast we were off to Boston to attend our friend Katie's housewarming party. Before we got to Katie's we stopped for lunch in Boston. Joe chose our lunch spot and naturally he chose Mei Mei's Street Kitchen. They now have a brick and mortar, but when we worked in Boston, Joe would go every Friday to their food truck for lunch. If you go, Joe suggests the Double Awesome (two poached eggs on a scallion pancake with pesto) with Spicy Ketchup.

Traditional dumplings, scallion pancake sandwich, corn fritters, and kale salad.

After lunch we headed over to Katie's condo for some drinks and fun.

Our wonderful host and bartender!

Trying out Katie's delicious Mojito Concoction

Discussing interns.

Can't wait for their wedding in the fall in Portsmouth!

A great spread complete with the most addicting artichoke dip.

Enjoying some pizza.

Learning about why interns are BS.

Gags looks intrigued.

Adorable!

College Roomies!

Post our delicious snacks, drinks, and pizza we headed to the beach for some fun.

Ben introduced us to Waboba? A water skipping ball.

But Gags skipped a little too far and Ben had to go retrieve it.

Team work to catch the ball! Another one our fall weddings we're looking forward to!

Ladies looking lovely with the sunset behind them.

Kudzma showing off her ultimate frisbee skills.

Claire being adorable as usual.

Craig showing off his best Tom Brady (too bad Brady is a baby)

All of us, enjoying our time together :)

We finished the night off with a fruit tart and some sweets from Flour Bakery in Boston. Thanks Kudzma for letting me crash the party and make everyone sing to Joe.

Happy Birthday Gags!

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Gags had an awesome birthday and we had a great time seeing our BC friends.

Bonus recipe: Acai Bowl

Acai Bowl (for 2!)
Acai bowls are super easy to make and super healthy for you. We had them a couple of times in Hawaii and we're hooked on them. How could something so simple taste so delicious?

Ingredients

• 2 Unsweetened Acai Smoothie Packs (by Sambazon, found in the freezer section at Whole Foods)
• 2 Bananas
• 1 cup frozen blueberries/raspberries
• 1/2 cup almond/soy/regular milk (we typically drink almond)
• Honey
• Granola (Recipe to come shortly!)

Put the 2 Acai packs (break up slightly with hands before squeezing out), 1 banana, 1 cup frozen blueberries and 1/2 a cup of milk into a blender. Blend and add more milk if too thick (but should be fine) - you want it the texture of a thick smoothie. Top with a drizzle of honey, the other banana sliced, and granola (homemade if you have it!). Easy and refreshing!