Found this beauty in my garden!
Seasoned up with extra virgin (ev) and garlic and herbs
So I was inspired by the citrus flavors and my 2 little chicken thighs begging to join the party! Bone in that is.
I put them in a dish and they are now marinating in their very own margarita with a few additions, some fresh ground black pepper, sea salt, ground cumin, a hint of paprika and little extra Virgin to round up the flavors.
Will have to grill them before they get too tipsy’
So I love my new Vitamix that I invested in this past summer. Been wanting to try the whole fruit margaritas and decided today was the day! Boy the perfect blend of flavors and it’s healthy too!!
Here was my Friday night indulgence.
Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks, being grateful, family, friends, good memories and EATING fabulous food!
Now I’m not knocking the good old turkey sandwich, that is an American tradition! But with my leftover duck beckoning me…. I wanted to create a fancy little entree with some of the leftovers.
These are duck and cranberry filled crepes. I cut off some leftover duck meet, sauteed it with some finely chopped onion (the rest of the onion is in the pot making soup!), some moist dried cranberries, a little leftover duck gravy and some fresh cracked black pepper, and few pinches of dried rosemary.
The filling is pretty simple, just toss together what you have…..
Crepes are simple too, just a simple egg batter, small non stick pan, patience and wax paper and you’re in business!
I filled the crepes with the duck mixture, drizzled on some leftover blackberry cognac sauce, from Thanksgiving, and garnished with thin scallion slivers and toasted pine nuts.
Awesome and super easy. Wonderful gourmet meals are only a few steps away!
More leftovers to follow! Stay tuned!
Well another Thanksgiving has come and gone. This year I decided to go back to an old family tradition of making a duck. When i was a kid, my dad hated turkey so we always had duck. It’s been a few years since I’ve made duck for Thanksgiving so I decided to make it again this year.
Duck is really a fatty bird, therefore there is a lot of grease after baking it. Several years ago, I did a beer can duck on the barbecue, it was amazing, cooking it outside on the grill is always my preference for cooking just about anything. I’d cook spaghetti on the grill but if it wouldn’t slip through the grill.
This year I again opted to put my duck on a beer can. This method not only keeps the duck out of his own fat but steams the duck from the inside with the hot beer in the can. I rubbed the holiday bird with a lot of fresh garlic, herbs, some good quality extra virgin olive oil and a splash of fresh lemon juice. He baked up quite quickly. You want to keep an eye on a duck and cook it only till medium rare. This is a red meat animal after all.
Thanksgiving would not be complete without all the extras, this year I made cranberry pecan cornbread stuffing… i didn’t want to stuff the duck, as the beer can was responsible for that function but wanted the stuffing to have that “baked in the duck” flavor. I put a couple of teaspoons of duck drippings into a little casserole to bake the stuffing and of course drizzled it with duck gravy once on my plate.
My mom visited and made these amazing green beans with bacon and brown sugar, they will be a new family tradition.
I hope you and your family have a Happy Holiday Season!
So I am now going to delve into the world of mini pie making! For Christmas I received a little mini pie maker, this is just about a dream come true for a single person wanting to indulge in the decadence of pies but who doesn’t want to eat a whole pie and usually, other then the more then grateful dogs around, has no one else to share it with.
I began my mini pie journey this morning making a quartet of perfect little quiches, they are filled with homemade maple sausage, sharp cheddar, green onions, and of course the traditional “quiche” filling, scrambled eggs with some milk. It was a fun little project and I rediscovered the joys of rolling out pie crusts again and the importance of that little bit of flour so things don’t get too sticky. I’m not sure what my next pie creation will be, I have some nice looking green apples begging to be changed into something fancier then their off the tree unadorned natural state. My journey into mini pie land is just beginning. I think I might have to devote an entire chapter to this topic! Bon Appetit!
Jacquie's Cooking! 