The Family Meal: No. 16
Yesterday we loaded up the car with duck breast and various other goodies and headed to my Ps for a “family meal” (but not before stopping for lunch). We’ve had a rough few weeks, which are going to turn into a rough few months. Some time in the kitchen with my mom, a kickass dinner, lots of wine and some good laughs were in order.
Number 16 was the plan:
- Noodles with shiitake and ginger
- Duck with chimichurri
- Pistachio custard
My mom made homemade egg noodles:
Shiitakes, ginger, scallions, and BACON!
Tossed with bean sprouts, oyster sauce, soy and sake (we will DEFINITELY use low sodium soy next time - this was more than a little salty!)
Finished first course. SO good. (Salty, but damn good.)
On to the duck. We skipped Ferran Adria’s cooking method in favor of a tried-and-true pan roasted duck prep. The pic in the book looked a touch rare for our taste.
Look at all that faboosh ducky fat. You bet your ass we saved that for future frying use.
Chimichurri sauce! This condiment would be fantastic on anything you pull off a grill - steaks, salmon, chicken, pork, duck!
Plated duck. This was spectacular!
We totally failed to take pictures of the custard prep phase and finished dessert. I blame this:
If you’re looking for an AMAZEBANANAS decently priced red, this is the business. My mom is so obsessed with this wine that she will drive to multiple Binny’s just to procure a full case (this sounds bad, but it’s not). So, actually, don’t even try to buy it. Binny’s is probably out of it. Because my mom bought it all. Or, if they have it and you buy it, she will cut you.
Final verdict? DELICIOUS! While the noodle dish would have been better with low sodium soy sauce, the flavors were still pretty spectacular. We could not find the Japanese spice mix the recipe called for, so after some Googling, we subbed a mix of fresh ground black pepper, chili powder and orange zest. The orange flavor made the dish! The duck was phenomenal. The pistachio custards had great flavor, but didn’t set (they were more like pistachio soups). I think our egg yolks were a little too small. They were very easy to make, so I’d try again with an additional yolk or two.
Until next week! Bon Appetit!
