At the Collingwood Farmers’ Market yesterday I bought some duck, basically on a whim, from Milawa Chicken. I was remembering the gorgeous lightly smoked confit duck salad I’d had a Gerald’s a few weeks ago, and also I was looking for a filling for some dumplings to stock up the freezer.

The two plump breasts (about 500g) were just beautiful, firm in texture and a lovely colour.

I trimmed them a little bit, but not much, rinsed them and dried them well then with a sharp knife I scored through the skin and fat so that you could see the meat underneath.

Spice rub

• 1 tsp star anise
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt.

I started breaking these down in my mortar and pestle and finished them off in a spice grinder.  Rub the mix into the cuts and the underside of the fillet. Then I placed them on a rack in an open container in the fridge for a few hours while I went off to the movies.  The flavour will infuse in this time and the skin will dry out a bit.

So now I need to set up my wok as a smoker.  Line it with a double layer of foil and tip in ½ cup of my tea smoking mix.  Put the wok on a medium heat and in 5 – 7 mins smoke will start to form.  Brush most of the rub off the duck (I forgot to do this, which is why my duck looks so dark) Place the duck in a steamer (you can see I’ve used a clean Chux underneath it) and pop on the lid.  Smoke for 7 mins.

I’ve been asked about smoking inside: I smoked this duck, and the tomatoes previously in my small kitchen with the door open and the extractor fan on full.   The smoke seems to just curl around the food, it doesn’t go up in a plume, so it seems quite contained.  Although the rest of the house faintly smelled of smoke for a few hours afterward, it doesn’t smell like it now, a day after.

Pre-heat a heavy fry pan, and when the duck is smoked – pop it into a hot frypan, skin side down, and turn the heat to medium.  After 6 mins turn it over and cook for a further five.  Test the duck  by poking it – or using a meat thermometer.  I think duck should be served quite rare.  Let it rest.

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wine
• dash of sesame oil
• dozen pitted cherries chopped in half.

While the duck is resting, pour out the rendered fat from the fry pan and wipe with paper towel.  Toss in the cherries and  half of the dressing.  Season with pepper.

Slice the duck diagonally across, serve with salad (I used cabbage, cucumber, watercress and fried noodles) add cherries and dress with reserved dressing.

**Thanks for the inspiration Mario

Ultimately, I cook for others because I want to be liked.  If you bring the cake, someone will always be your friend.  So I like to have a few standby, easy to make, crowd pleasing recipes on hand.

Tonight we had a gathering to celebrate my neighbours 86th birthday.  No small occasion I’m sure you’ll agree.  But apart from “bring a plate” I had no idea what to prepare, for how many, sweet? savory? *shrug*.

I toyed with Quiche, pavlova, chocolate eclairs…as I was out last night it had to be something I could whip up after work, and as it was raining, with something in my pantry.  Aha!  Gougères! Small choux pastry puffs of cheesy goodness.

This recipe started with Damien Pignolet in his fantastic book “French”, and grew from there.

Preheat oven to 220 Degrees c

150ml water

150ml milk (fullfat preferably)

120g butter (cut into small cubes) ( 6 metric tablespoons i.e. 20ml each)

150 plain flour (sifted onto a sheet of greaseproof paper) (1.2 metric cups of flour i.e. 250ml)

4 eggs lightly beaten

about 3 tablespoons of cheese cut into a 5mm dice (Gruyere is traditional, but Comte or Cheddar is just as good)

A few sprigs of a herb to complement – I like chervil, but parsley or celery leaves would all be ok.  If you’re not sure, try some of the herb and the cheese together.  If they taste OK, then use them!  If they don’t, choose something else or leave it out all together.

A pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Heat the water, milk and butter in a smallish saucepan over a low-medium heat.  You want the butter to melt before it comes to the boil.

When it boils, take the saucepan off the hear and “shoot”  the flour in, all at once and stir until it forms a thick paste.

Put the saucepan back on a medium heat, and stir the paste for 30secs to a minute until it forms a smooth ball and comes away from the sides.

Put the paste into a stand mixer (or you can do this stage by hand in the saucepan) and leave to cool for five minutes.  With the mixer on slow (about 2) and using the paddle mixer (or K-blade) add the eggs in small amounts (4 – 5 batches) mixing very well in between each batch.   You will have a smooth shiny paste.

Stir in the cheese and herbs, and taste for salt and pepper.  I like to use celery salt (you can make this at home easily).

Spoon or pipe teaspoon size portions onto trays lined with baking paper, about 20 to the tray.

Bake for about 8 mins until the puffs are puffy and brown, then turn the oven down to 160degrees and cook for a further ten.

Serve warm with a glass of champagne makes about 50 puffs.

The mix is quite forgiving, you can have it ready to go, and wait until the last minute to bake them.  You can bake them for the first 8 mins, then cool them, and do the second baking later (they will flop, but will rise again.  They won’t be as good as fresh cooked, but they will be perfectly acceptable).  You can freeze them once they are fully cooked, so long as you freeze them when they are still warm.

These photo show the various stages of turning the paste into batter.

Feels like Lamb Shank night, and it was. Some lovely (but my aren’t they expensive now!) lamb shanks, two onions, half a bottle of decent cab and water to simmer with a muslin bag including tangerine peel, peppercorns, juniper berries, a cinnamon stick and three bay leaves. After an hour I tipped in a tin of tomatoes and a tin of chickpeas. 30 more mins then I added two chopped carrots, 3 sticks celery (chopped) and a diced onion.

30 more mins and a gentle simmer then test for thickness (add a bit of flour mixed with water to thicken if desired) and seasoning. I take the bones out and shred the meat and return them to the stew. Cook some parsnips in cream, pepper and water then puree them. Serve! Delish!

We followed with Lemon Delicious pudding actually.