Free Range Friday ~ Duck Duck Soup

The pile in the freezer of delicious foods is now minus a duck. With the set it and forget it machine (it really does work if you have the space and electric for it) it was just a matter of washing it out, stuffing with some oranges and onions, and binding it up for the rotisserie. 

There is plenty more you can do - baste it , marinade it, season it more liberally,
make a stuffing for it, but this time, we kept it simple. Very simple.

I did take the giblets and made our poor man's pate, which is a taste of a different mother using duck rather than turkey or chicken (and they taste different as well), even though they all sort of taste the same. It's subtle but there is a difference. 

Using duck giblets, there was only enough, once I'd blended together the sautéed liver, gizzards, heart, onions and garlic, to need just one tortilla, crisped up in a skillet for cracker like triangles. A lot of effort for a little reward but well worth it, both in taste treat and evoked memories. We usually toast at times like this, clinking our pate loaded crisps, 'Here's to Dad!' who taught us to cook and enjoy.

Starking to brown up. Yum! Brother chef is happy

No photos of the pate, because a)I've taken photos of the process and end results of making this version of pate more than a few times and b) it never looks good. No matter how delicious it is, and it is, pate just ain't pretty unless it's gotten molded and is full of chunky goodness to be sliced and appreciated before eating. I've never done that. I'd like to though, one of these days. 

Ding! and done.

The skin was pretty crispy but could have been crispier. I was reading a recipe that someone wrote saying he ensured crispy skin by defrosting, washing, a super fast (30 seconds) blanching, then skin pricks - careful not to hit the meat, just the skin. Then he puts it back in the fridge overnight and does the set it and forget it the next day. He swears this works and it makes sense to me. Or I guess you could skip all that and have a hot oven waiting for finishing it off. Decisions, decisions. Our decision was to eat. And just as it was, it was succulent and smile making. Nothing wrong with that!

You can tell who the star of this show is

Ducks don't give a whole lot of meat (how did my Dad feed the five of us off one duck?). Between the hungry two of us and giving a plate to the neighbor, the carcass was pretty picked. Ready for soup!

I thought about making a classic egg drop soup and of course, ended up with my concoctions. After boiling the carcass to the 'all the scrap bits are falling off' stage and the water now a broth, it was playtime with seasonings and some sherry that was lurking on a low shelf. A lot of ginger, a dash of cumin, salt and ground pepper were the mainstays. Simmer simmer simmer down. Taste. Add a bit more water and a bit more of everything. 

It looked pretty much like this but with a richer broth and I'd never use a pink bowl.
photo credit: unknown

I was going to make a pot of rice on the side but decided to throw it in the pot. So I did, first bringing it back to a boil. Toss in the rice, keep on boiling for another 3 or 4 minutes. Lower the heat to above warm and below simmer, put a lid on it, let about 15 or 20 minutes go by, turn off the heat. The rice was perfect and stayed that way until time to serve, even through the next and last part.

The first part of the next part shouldn't be done until you are ready to put it on the table. Break an egg or two or three (depending on how much soup you have, I had enough for 4 medium or 2 large servings; with the rice in it I didn't want it real eggy so I only used one). 

Fork  swirl it up as frothy as you can get it. Bring the soup back to a boil and drizzle the egg into the soup, using the same fork to create strings of cooked egg in its wake.  Serve the soup right now, or as close to right now as you can. Buen provecho!

And yes, I forgot photos. That always means it was really good or really bad. This was really good. Classic? No. But it worked, tasted fantastic and on a rainy stormy day warmed up the belly and spirits too. Give it a try and don't forget to play with your food.

A very cute garbanzo

Have a food foray Friday. Do something fearless foraging.