Vanilla Frozen Custard

We had our foray into ducks last year. I did not like it to say the least. They were dirty and smelly. The only perk to having ducks was cooking them for dinner! Thankfully, there are many people who enjoy having ducks on their farms and (even better) sometimes they share their excess eggs with me. Yay! That was exactly what happened to me recently. To get an idea of how big these are, they are sitting in a "jumbo" egg carton and it wouldn't close.

Crock Pot Roast Duck

For some crazy reason, we decided to raise ducks this year. I must admit, I much prefer ducks in the freezer than in the back yard!

I enjoyed watching them in their little pool. But they were stinky!! I was ready for them to go to freezer camp. 

We've cooked a couple of them now and we've decided our favorite method is in the crock pot. When we butchered, we didn't pluck them; we skinned them instead. It made our job a bit easier, but we lost some of the flavor and the fat that the skin offers. 

To cook the duck, I put a layer of sliced onions in the bottom of the crock pot, then put the seasonings (fresh sage leaves and thyme) in the cavity and salted the outside of the duck. Then I added carrots and potatoes around the duck. We turned the crock pot on low for 6 hours and let it cook away!

When I got home from work that day, the house smelled delicious! The meat just fell off the bones and was so tender and juicy! To finish dinner, I all had to do was pour the drippings out of the crock pot and make the gravy. 

Not only did this dinner taste great, but the duck, onions, carrots, potatoes and sage all came from our back yard! I don't know if it's because of the October Unprocessed challenge or the fact that we just grew more in the garden this year, but we've realized we are eating a lot more local food this month. And as much as I like eating the animals we raised, I'm going to let the folks at Maple Leaf Farms take care of raising the duck we eat in the future! 

Made From Scratch Tuesday 2/21

It's time for another Iron Chef Challenge from Ott,A! Maple Leaf Farms is sponsoring another round of Iron Chef with the theme ingredient Duck.

Last year, I did several duck recipes. So while searching for some inspiration, I came across their sausage recipe and I was intrigued. I set off to make duck sausage! My local grocery store doesn't sell ground duck, so I started with a whole duck, cut it up and did a fresh grind. (I saved some of the skin so I could render the fat and used the carcass to make stock)

To the fresh ground duck, I added 2 1/2 T onion flakes, 1 T toasted fennel seeds, 1 T sage, 2 cloves of garlic (chopped fine), 1 T breadcrumbs, 2 T rendered fat, and salt and pepper. 

Mix well and shape into patties on parchment paper. Wrap tightly and freeze about 4 hours. 

To cook, place sausages on baking sheet in a cold oven and turn the oven to 325. Bake about 30 minutes, or until cooked through. 

We enjoyed our duck sausage with english muffins and scrambled eggs with feta cheese and green onions!

Make sure to enter your duck recipes over with Ott,A. And check out Maple Leaf Farms for your duck needs!

Now it's time to link up all of your creations!
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. The post has to be made from scratch.
3. The post you link up MUST CONTAIN A RECIPE! 
4. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.  

Ott,A's Iron Chef Challenge-Pâté

Hi. My name is Jen, and I'm addicted to Food Network.

As if you guys didn't already know, right? Anyway, they're always showing all these foods using parts of the animals that I'd normally throw away. Like today, I watched Chopped and the first basket had goat brains! Yes, you read that correctly...GOAT BRAINS. I'm all about trying new things, but I have to say, I cannot and will not cook brains. That being said, maybe I go a little over board with what parts I will or won't eat, and I recognize that I should broaden my horizons. So, I finally broke down and decided I shouldn't keep throwing away livers just because I think I don't like them. When the meat is processed, they leave the livers in there for a reason. Obviously, at least some people like them. While perusing the internet for recipes using duck liver, I found a few recipes for pâté, all with many different ingredients. I wasn't really sure how so many different ingredients could all make pâté, so I did what any reasonable person does...I searched it in Wiki.

Pâté (French pronunciation: [pɑte]; UK: /ˈpæteɪ/, US: /pæˈteɪ/) is a mixture of ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste. Common additions include vegetables, herbs, spices, and wine.

 Ah, problem solved. Basically, it's a meat paste. Real appetizing, right? The problem I had with all these different recipes is I was short an ingredient or two. Then I found one that kind of seemed like a cheeseball with liver instead of chipped beef. So is it pâté? Or liver cheeseball? You decide!

 

Here's the recipe I started with:

8 oz. liver sausage (liverwurst Braunschweiger)
8 oz. cream cheese
1 clove garlic
2 pinches heavy curry powder
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Thin toast & butter to serve with the pate

Remove the skin from the liver sausage, then put into food processor or mixer with cream cheese and garlic and beat together until they are thoroughly mixed. Stir in  Worcestershire sauce and curry powder. Pack the pate into small dishes and mash the surface of each with the blade end of the knife. Serve with thin toast and butter.

Well, I didn't have liver sausage; I had liver from the 2 ducks I cooked. By the way, here's a pic of duck #2-Pineapple Glazed Duck

The blended pineapple and brown sugar glaze was yummy! Anyway, on with the pate...

To start, I cooked the livers with about 1/4 of an onion.

 

 

When livers were fully cooked, I tossed out the onions and set the livers on a plate to cool. Meanwhile, I pulled out the food processor and  tossed in the softened cream cheese and clove of garlic. I also added about 1/4 of the onion to give it more flavor. When the livers were cool, I added those in processed away. 

 

 Mmmm...meat paste. Next, I added the Worcestershire and some salt and pepper. I opted out of the curry. I honestly didn't think the husband would eat it with the curry, but if I told him it was just liver and onions with some cream cheese, he'd be all over it. Now, scrape all this out and set it in the fridge for a while. 

A couple hours later, I pulled out some Italian bread and sliced it thinly. 

Now, pop it into the oven on the "high" broiler setting to get a nice toast. Just a few seconds on each side.

Spread on the pate, and enjoy! 

The husband loved it! I really didn't think it had a bad flavor, I just didn't particularly like it. If someone served it to me and I didn't know it was liver, I probably would have loved it.

Tasty Tuesday

Ott,A's Iron Chef Challenge-Stuffed Mushrooms

So I've done a few recipes using duck from Maple Leaf Farms for Ott,A's Iron Chef Challenge. I had just a little bit left over, so I figured I'd try out some stuff mushrooms. WOW! The duck and mushroom go so well together. The husband and I inhaled them with our salad tonight!

What you'll need:

1/3 c cooked duck, cut into small pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c chopped spinach
1/3 c monterrey jack cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, well beaten

6 "baby bella" mushroom caps

In a medium bowl, mix duck and garlic

 

Add spinach, cheese and salt and pepper

Add in egg and mix well.
Wash mushrooms well. Scoop out inside of caps. This can be tricky. My secret? Use a grapefruit spoon! Just be careful not to tear through the cap :)

Scoop in 1/8 c of the stuffing into each cap

 

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. 

 

I'm not really a huge fan of mushrooms. Odd that I would make stuffed mushroom, right? It's no secret I have a little OCD. I like the taste of mushrooms. I just don't like the look and feel of the stuff under the cap. I don't know what it's called, or if there is even a name for it. But the great part about stuffed mushrooms is you scoop all that out! 

I've had a blast trying out all these new recipes. I've been experimenting with new foods and found some new favorites. Big thanks to Ott,A and Maple Leaf Farms!

Ott, A's Iron Chef Challenge-Appetizer Round

Have you entered Ott, A's Iron Chef Challenge yet? These month is sponsored by Maple Leaf Farms in northern Indiana. The theme ingredient is duck. I made my first duck teriyaki style...Ducky-yaki! You can find the recipe here. You can also see my Duck Soup recipe here.

One thing I've always wanted to make is fried wontons. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out.

 

What you'll need:

Wonton wrappers

Cooked duck, cut into pieces- about half a cup to three quarters of a cup, depending on how full you stuff them

One egg, seperated

Bean Sprouts (a few tablespoons)

Splash of Sesame Seed Oil 

Soy Sauce for dipping

Hot oil for frying

In a small bowl, mix egg yolk, duck, bean sprouts and a few drops of sesame seed oil. Lay out wonton wrapper and spoon in just under a teaspoon of the filling.

 

Brush egg white around the edges, fold into a triangle, and seal. Pull the corners up to the top and pinch together. Repeat!

 

This took a few times to really master. I have to say, I had some deformed wontons. 

Heat oil to about 360. Drop in wontons and fry 2-3 minutes on each side.

 

Remove from oil and put on paper towel lined plate to absorb excess oil. Serve while still hot with soy sauce to dip.

I honestly don't know if I can eat wontons at the Chinese restaurant any more. These were AWESOME, even if I do say so myself. 

And score one for me-the husband ate tons of bean sprouts and didn't even realize it! Shhh...don't tell him though :) 

As you can see, we ate quite a few of them!

Ott A's Iron Chef Challenge-Soup Round

Have you entered Ott, A's Iron Chef Challenge yet? This month is sponsored by Maple Leaf Farms in northern Indiana. You can check out my first entry, "Ducky-yaki" here.

We had a little left over duck, so I figured I'd go all Iron Chef style and make a few other duck courses. Today's recipe is Duck Soup.

What you'll need:

Cooked duck, cut into pieces - about a cup
Duck stock made from the duck bones - enough to fill a 2 qt sauce pan 1/2 -2/3 full
Diced carrots, green onions, celery, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts - about 2 cups total, adjust according to taste
Sesame Seed Oil - a few splashes
Salt to taste
Rice noodles

Bring stock to a light boil and add diced veggies.

Cover and simmer on low until veggies soften. Add cooked duck, salt, and sesame seed oil. Continue simmering, covered, until heated throughout.

While soup is heating, prepare rice noodles. I love these things! Just place in a glass bowl, cover with hot water and let stand for 10 minutes! Too easy!

When noodles are prepared, chop coarsely and place about 1/3 cup in the bottom of soup bowl. Ladle hot soup on top and serve!

I can't believe it! Not only was the soup amazing, the husband even ate the entire bowl without complaining about the celery!

Linked to the parties shown on my sidebar

What's for Dinner #7

Have you checked out Ott,A's Iron Chef contest?

Maple Leaf Farms is sponsoring this contest and providing some awesome giveaways. Make sure to check it out and join in!

I've never had duck. Maybe I lead a sheltered life, or maybe I'm just a picky eater. It's not that I had anything against duck, it just never occurred to me to cook it. So when Ott,A told me about the recipe contest, I was all over it, ready to experiment. Here's what we had for dinner the first time I made duck:

Ducky-yaki (recipe follows)
Steamed Carrots
Mashed Potatoes (gravy made from duck drippings, not pictured because I don't like gravy)
Stuffing (made on stove top with duck stock) not pictured because I don't like stuffing!

It would have been great to have a shot of the fully cooked duck, but I didn't get to it before the husband started carving!

Ducky-yaki, or Teriducky if you prefer :)

What You'll Need:

1/3 of a large pineapple
1 (10 oz) bottle soy sauce
1/2 t ground ginger
1/3 c dry white wine (I used Huber's)
1 large clove garlic

Core and cut your fresh pineapple

 

You'll only need about a third of it, so go ahead and chop the rest of and give it to the drooling husband and kids. They're standing right outside the kitchen begging for it anyway!Yes, I know I need new cutting boards.

Put the pineapple and the garlic cloves in your food processor and puree. You'll need about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the pineapple puree. If you really want to, you could use canned crushed pineapple. I've made it that way before; it's just not as tasty in my opinion.

Pour into bowl and add remaining ingredients. Stir well.

Pour a cup of the mixture into a container with a lid. Put this in the fridge; you won't need it until it's time to cook the duck.

Pour remaining marinade into a Ziploc bag and put duck in with it. I was able to get the duck inside a gallon size Ziploc bag, but it took some work! Let it sit for 24 hours. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but honestly, I forgot to take pictures of it marinating.

Time to cook!

I cooked this in my table top roaster. I had heard that duck was a bit fatty and I would need to watch it during the cooking process. I also have my reserved teriyaki sauce that I would need to add and I thought this would just be easier.

I prepared the roaster by putting a baking rack covered in aluminum foil, then slit in several places, in the bottom. Then, preheat to 350. I scored the skin in a few places on the breast and sides, as well as the back. When it's ready to go, I put the duck inside and let her cook! Maybe I should have called this Ugly Duckling...it's not very pretty. Good thing it ends up being so tasty!

After about 2 hours, check the temperature in the thickest part of the meat. At this point, my duck was reading 160 degrees. Add the remaining teriyaki sauce and continue cooking. I let it cook until the temperature read 180. After resting on the platter for a few minutes, the husband carved away. I wasn't able to get pictures of this as I was working on the stuffing and potatoes.

The husband and I had never eaten duck, so we invited Audrey from Friday Night Dinner Date over to offer her opinion. She's a big fan of duck, and free food. I have to say, I really like duck! It has such a rich taste that went quite well with my marinade. The meat was so tender and juicy! I wasn't the only one...the husband and Audrey really like it as well. For dessert that night, we had Banana Eclairs. Super yum all the way around! A big thanks to Maple Leaf Farms for sponsoring this contest and making duck fans out of the husband and myself!

Full Plate Thursday