A Small Brag
We had these two duck leg/breast pieces from the farmer's market, and it was too hot to turn on the oven to roast them, which was clearly the right thing to do with them. Which left braising on the stove-top, except for having no stock of any kind in the house. What I did have, however, was fresh apple cider. So I cut up half an onion and a clove of garlic, browned those with the duck pieces, drained off most of the fat, threw in the cider and some salt and pepper, put on the lid, and crossed my fingers. When the duck was done, I threw in maybe a teaspoon of Lea & Perrins and a splash of Calvados, and served it up with leftover boiled potatoes I'd browned in the duck fat and leftover swiss chard eked out (by the resourceful Ms. Kushner) with frozen spinach. It was pretty good, too, though not as good as it was after we looked at each other, exclaimed "THYME!" and threw some in.
There being plenty of sauce left over (are you seeing a trend here?), I returned the gnawed bones to the pot (what? They got boiled again) with celery and carrot and some water and made duck soup. It's cooling in the fridge even as I type, and I'm feeling very pleased with myself.
The apartment is beginning to feel like home again. Things are falling into place one by one. The laundry is (mostly) done, the bank book is balanced, the mail is all open and sorted, my computer has a shiny new hard drive and Time Machine worked just as it should to restore all my old data, documents, mail, preferences, everything, just as it was before the Unfortunate Incident occurred. I've spent a little more time at the Apple Store than I really wanted to, but at least it was well air-conditioned. A couple more days, a few more business emails, a blog post about our trip to Harper's Ferry and Gettysburg, a much-needed trip to the hairdresser, a brand-new To Do List generated, and I'll feel the decks are clear enough to dig into the revisions for Wizard's Apprentice. Which will make me very happy.
There being plenty of sauce left over (are you seeing a trend here?), I returned the gnawed bones to the pot (what? They got boiled again) with celery and carrot and some water and made duck soup. It's cooling in the fridge even as I type, and I'm feeling very pleased with myself.
The apartment is beginning to feel like home again. Things are falling into place one by one. The laundry is (mostly) done, the bank book is balanced, the mail is all open and sorted, my computer has a shiny new hard drive and Time Machine worked just as it should to restore all my old data, documents, mail, preferences, everything, just as it was before the Unfortunate Incident occurred. I've spent a little more time at the Apple Store than I really wanted to, but at least it was well air-conditioned. A couple more days, a few more business emails, a blog post about our trip to Harper's Ferry and Gettysburg, a much-needed trip to the hairdresser, a brand-new To Do List generated, and I'll feel the decks are clear enough to dig into the revisions for Wizard's Apprentice. Which will make me very happy.