Roast Duck

Friday, 4th November

This time of year German supermarkets have lots of Duck and Goose in stock, for St Martin's Day feasts and I was able to get a nicely sized Duck for 2 people, about 4 lbs.
I salted the skin overnight and wrapped it loosely in paper to let it dry as much as possible. I made a stuffing of bread, onion, the flesh of an orange and some finely chopped smoked sausage. For trimmings there was the duck liver quickly fried with a little onion and server on a crouton, and little sausages wrapped in bacon. For veggies roast potatoes and roast pumpkin with coriander seeds and a little chili pepper.
The duck was pricked all over and then roasted for about an hour and a half first breast up then breast down, then finally up again and painted with a glaze made from sugar syrup, honey, soy sauce, fresh orange juice and a dash of hot pepper sauce.
The skin did not come out as crispy as I hoped but was still totally delicious. The meat was succulent and very favourful. The potatoes were unfortunately over-boiled and under-browned, but still good. The pumpkin needed less roasting time and a more even distribution of chilli(!), but was also good. Overall very successful.

Baked Red Snapper fillet

Monday, 31st October

No work on Monday, because Tuesday was a public holiday, so we had a nice long 4-day weekend.
Got two huge red snapper fillets and marinated them in wine, oil, onions, garlic and bay leaves for a couple of hours. Topped each with a slice of pancetta and baked them in the oven for 20 minutes or so. Served with saffron rice.
The rice was a little overcooked and sticky, but I like it that way. The smell of garlic from the fish was very powerful, but the flavour was not too strong. The fish was extremely meaty in texture. Although cooked through, maybe a but more cooking time would have been better.

Linguine Bolognese

Thursday, 27th October

Not really a proper Bolognese sauce, but I guess any mince and tomato sauce counts these days.
Browned the meat, onions and garlic, added some red wine, then chopped tomatoes, a squirt of puree and herbs. Cooked gently for a good while then added mushrooms.
I often find meals made with mince have a rather disappointing flavour, but this came out lovely and meaty. Although, I must say, despite the good quality beef and the longish cooking it still could have been more tender.

Sausage Sandwich

Monday, 24th October

Left over salsiccia, fried with some onions, in crusty bread with a good dollop of mustard. Yum Yum!

Pasta with Salsiccia

Thursday, 20th October

Left it too long after make this to post the journal entry, so I can't really remember much about how this was done. I think it was fairly simple though. I cut up fresh salsiccia from the Italian deli into chunks, browned them and then removed them from the pan. Softened onions and garlic in the same pan, then added a jar of tomato sauce from the same deli, some fresh basil. Lastly put the sausage back and heat through. Served with more fresh basil and parmesan.
The sauce from the jar was tasty and certainly very tomato-y, but I think I still prefer the taste of just chopped fresh tomatoes.

Pumpkin Soup

Friday, 30th September

Can't take credit for this one. My lovely girlfriend Monika made this totally delicious pumpkin soup.