5
votes
What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
I just cooked hands-down the best meal I've ever made. It was pan-seared duck breast with a cranberry, ginger, balsamic-reduction pan sauce. And the sides were oven roasted garlicky sugar snap peas, and wild rice with toasted almonds and cranberries.
Pic: https://i.imgur.com/lFtG4ln.jpg
(my plating/presentation could still use some work though ;)
It turned out so much better than I expected! I absolutely love duck. It's by far my favorite meat, and so we have Peking duck every year for my birthday. And I have tried cooking duck for myself several times in the past too, and it's turned out okay, but I've always ended up not rendering the skin quite right, and overcooking the meat a bit, which made it a bit tough. However, this time I finally managed to get it spot on, with the skin super crispy and fully rendered, and the meat still a bit pink in the center so it was still super tender. The sauce was also a perfect compliment too; It was sweet, but also super tart, with a good bite from the ginger, and just vinegary enough to cut through the rich duck.
And even the sugar snap peas, and rice turned out great. The peas were perfectly blistered but still crunchy. And I love putting toasted almonds and cranberries or raisins in rice. It makes me wonder why it's not a more common thing outside middle eastern cuisine. The almonds add a nice crunch, and the cranberries a nice sweet tartness.
So needless to say, I'm actually pretty proud of myself, and I will definitely be making it all again at some point! :P