Today I have a guest post from the design team. Rich and Kim had a few friends over Rich and Mike’s apartment and served them a delicious looking duck dinner. When a bunch of friends get together like this, it makes me wish I could be back in Boston hanging out with them. But in a few weeks, I will be making them jealous with weekly beach trips so it isn’t so bad. Rich’s comments will be in green, and I might make a few in black.
"Cookin' Up Some Quack"
Kim, Mike, Steph, Alex, Amy, and I were the 6 party people on Friday... good thing there weren't any more people than that, even though I invited 5 other people who couldn't come. The amount of food ended up literally being just enough and there was only 1 piece of Duck left over.
10 Duck legs, about 1/2 pound each LegSalt PepperBlackberry Jam2 packages Fresh Blackberries1 Shot Chambord (or Razzmatazz)1/4 Cup Water1 Tsp Butter1 Tbsp Flour
BroccoliGarlic BreadBrown Rice
Salad:2 Packages Arugula1/2 Cup Walnuts1 Red Onion1 Package Fresh Strawberries1 Cucumber
Dressing:2/3 Cup Sugar4 Tbsp Lemon Juice4 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil2 Tsp Poppy Seeds
Begin by laying out all the ingredients necessary and prepping the duck first. I cut each duck leg across its very thick skin, scoring it about 4 or 5 times on each leg. I put a ton of Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper all over each leg and squeezed 2 Strawberries and 2 Blackberries over the ducks, I don't know how much effect it had on them, but whatever. I placed 5 ducks on each rack, Skin Side down first, at about 5:30. The oven was 300 degrees.
Next, Kim and I prepped the Salad and Salad Dressing:
Dressing:2/3 Cup Sugar4 Tbsp Lemon Juice4 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil2 Tsp Poppie Seeds
I crushed some of the walnuts in the bag, so they weren't so big, but not crushed so much that it turned to powder
At 6:45, I checked the duck for the first time, and rotated them so that the Skin Side was facing up.
Mike was a big help
I then started the rice, at about 7:00, because it would take about 45 minutes.
At 7:15, I started the Berry Sauce:
About 9 oz. of Blackberry Jam1/4 oz. of Razzmatazz (I wanted Chambord, but already had the Razz, so whatever)1/4 cup water1 tsp butter1 tbsp flour (to make it slightly thicker)1 package of Fresh Blackberries (put in randomly as the sauce was simmering)
At 7:30, I prepped the G Bread, French bread, Butter Spread, and Garlic Powder
At 7:45, I checked the duck to make sure it was at least 160 Degrees, and then set the Oven to Broil
I put the G Bread and Broccoli with EVOO and Parmesan Cheese on it all in the oven together and kept it in there for about 15-20 minutes.
At 8:00, Steph and I plated everything and we all sat down to eat.
I added fresh, cold blackberries to the dish after it was plated
Looks like a good time. What is mike doing?? Do you think you have any Lorraine terrace dinner party pics? Cause that would be funny to post. Oh yea – I tried to Photoshop some brightness out of this picture but was unable to make it look right, next time don’t take the picture with the lamp in the background!!
The Food in Mike's beard
Aww come on now. That’s supposed to be MY thing
Afterwards, Steph washed the plates and set the cupcakes and Vanilla Ice Cream. They were wicked good. We each ate like 3 and still had like 20 leftover for the rest of the weekend.
The plates are clear - it's not on the counter - i need a new dish set
Thanks guys! That was fun, and I get a day off!
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