Confit Duck with Garlic & Rosemary Roasties

Oh Aye, I went there. 

I'm not sure what was going through my mind when at 9:30pm on a friday night I decided to make Duck Confit. Especially as I was making it for Sunday lunch! But as I slathered the legs in garlic, salt & covered it in oil to put them in the oven and slowly braise for 3 hours I knew there was no going back. 

Once the 3 hours was I let the confit cool a bit before putting the dish straight in the fridge. Theoretically Confit can last up to a month in the fridge, I'm not that brave and only left it about a day & a half.. I simply roasted the legs in a tin foil parcel slightly open at the top to allow the skin to crisp up. It fell from the bone, I have an awful habit of panicking and pulling meat from the oven too soon, I resisted this instinct and the legs were really great!

I then roasted some par-boiled potatoes in the duck fat with rosemary & garlic. I covered the potatoes in flour before frying in the oil, this creates a beautiful crunch on the potatoes. Seriously good.

I'm going to be honest I didnt really take note of exact times and temperatures on this one. It was very much fluid & improvised, although I know that I started the oven off just below 190 and raised it above 210 at the end to crisp off the duck skin and the potatoes. The duck was in for about an hour and the roasties for 40 of that. I very much stuck with the "until golden brown" rule when came to the potatoes.

The gravy was a base of onions, garlic & rosemary (to tie in with the potatoes) with a mix of vegetable stock & chicken gravy granules. sounds wierd but it tasted awesome and needs very little seasoning thanks to the stock. I would love to have served some vegtables with this but I didn't have any. some frozen peas & carrots would be great if you're going the traditional Sunday Dinner route.

This two day meal is actually very simple & not labour intensive at all! You are reading the ramblings of a very happy full person right now.

pilaf… sort of.

over the years as a student & regular broke person rice has been life saver. I've done everything with it including, in my more poverty stricken days, pairing plain basmati with baked beans, mushy peas and a battered fish steak (the cupboard was really really bare that day). Scarily enough i actually enjoyed it and it became a cheap regular meal as i kidded myself that the beans & mushy peas counted towards my 5 a day.
Lucky for you that is not what I'm writing about today. What I'm talking about is a yummy vegetable pilaf that I've made a few times which, although its been different every time due to it consisting of whatever been left in my fridge, is always delicious.
Pilaf is slightly different and much lighter than risotto which with the butter and cream can be quite heavy. its also cooked differently with instead of the constant stirring and gradual addition of stock you just bung it all in turn it on a low heat and allow it to bubble quietly.
one of my favourite variations included sweet potato, frozen peas & sweet onion paired with the slightly salty Bouillon vegetable stock cooked rice. Bouillon is by far my favourite stock to use and great to add into any recipe if like me you don’t like using salt as you get the intense veg flavour as well as seasoning.
I’m not going to write a recipe down for this. because I don’t have one. It literally is something that I just throw together with whatever veg i have and if the meaty mood takes me I'll either chuck in some chicken or cook off a pork chop. just follow the basic rules below and you can’t really go wrong.
1. vegetables – What Grows Together, Goes Together. seasonal veg will always mix well and similar tastes will compliment each other.
2. Unlike risotto don’t stir too much. Over stirring releases the starch and creates a stodginess you don’t want. Just keep it at a gentle heat and let it be.
3. Keep it simple. too many different flavours just kill off any clean tastes you’re looking for. less is more.
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