The other day, on Facebook, I had my status message about what was for dinner that evening and I had several responses of “Wow, I can’t do that”, “I’m coming over!”, “Mmmmm, I wish we could afford that”, and so on….
Wait a minute, wait a minute, you all can do it too! Fancy cooking doesn’t require fancy techniques. Or lots of money.
I got a 6 lb duck from ALDI for only $5! I just dried it out by aiming a fan on it and covering with a cloth, stuffed it with fresh cranberries (yes, that’s it) and rubbed the skin with chipotle honey butter. I turned the oven to 450 and roasted the duck for 20 minutes to get those yummy brown speckles on the skin, then I turned it lower to 350 and let it finish cooking for two hours. Voila- this is the result. Make sure the internal temperature reaches 165- it will go higher as it rests and then cooling off.
See the cranberries floating? I scooped them out and discarded them, they had done their job. It’s the liquid I wanted.
Now I make two small slits after it has rested for an hour. The meat had soaked all the fat it could by now and see how much fat gushed out! I let that sit until the trickling slowed down and I moved the duck to a cutting board.
Here’s what is left in the bottom pan- beautiful duck drippings. I discarded the burnt black chunks around the edge, then poured the rest into a skillet, scraping all the carmelized bits.
Add the giblets and neck to the same skillet. Boil on high 5 minutes, then cover, lower, and simmer until the meat is tender. Dice the giblets into small pieces to be added back into the gravy. Now scatter an handful of flour over the bubbling liquid in the skillet and stir, stir, stir, stir until your arm is screaming at you to slow down. Reduce heat to low and cover.
Now take a breather and seed a pomegranate to serve over the duck/gravy…
That is what it should look like when you’re ready to take it off the heat. It will darken and thicken more. I poured it into servingware.
Voila! Our dinner! Note Snicklebritches already munching on pomegranate seeds. Oh, that orange thing is carrot-potato puree, which is… mashed potatoes with two carrots thrown in. Not much to it.
So let’s see… for four people and enough for leftovers-
Duck- $5
1 cup fresh cranberries- A 1 lb bag cost $1.50, I used just 4 oz, so let’s say 50 cents.
1 TB butter- nearly everyone has that on hand.
1 TB honey – again, nearly everyone has that on hand
1 t whatever green herb you have in your cabinet, I used cilantro flakes- again, “free”.
1 chipotle chile, diced (I always have that on hand, but it’s $2 for a can, usually 12 chiles a can)
handful flour (I’d say 1/4-1/2 c flour)- again, almost all of us has that on hand, or cornstarch. “free”
pomegranate – $2, but that was just to have finger food for the kiddos if they didn’t like anything else. Not necessary for the duck.
Ignoring the pomegranate, it cost me $5.50 to make the duck because the other ingredients are staples. For the puree- I do use shortcuts. I microwaved two carrots until mushy, then I mashed it and prepared instant mashed potatoes according to directions, substituting duck fat for the butter/margarine and cream for the milk and it was on the table in five minutes.
Fancy meals does not need to be hard or expensive. It just takes a good eye to catch the great bargains at the grocery stores and the simplest way is usually the tastiest way to serve food.
