Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Can’t write. Gotta cook.
It’s Karen’s b-day dinner. Karen, if you happen to get online in the next few hours, don’t look below the fold.
Here’s what I’m planning:
arugula/radicchio salad with Valdosta pecans, cranberries, some kind of cheese
seared duck breast
roasted artichoke with some kind of aioli or another
focaccia
bread pudding with a whiskey sauce
***
And with the leftover duck, if I’m not totally wiped tomorrow, I’m going to make a b’stila.
I’ll go live tonight when I get the chance, okay?
D.
Oops. Here I think I’m being clever when I notice the new incoming link on my WP dashboard and I immediately comment on your post…
…only to discover that you posted that particular entry three days ago.
Heh. Um. Aaaaaaaaaanyway. I did swing by after all, and I will do your meme tomorrow at some point. Like I said in my other comment, I’ve already blogged for today in a slightly surprising way. Heh.
ps. Dinner sounds fab. Can you FedEx some my way? And Happy Day to Karen!
Kris, I tried to leave a comment but I keep getting an error message. Here’s my comment:
Dinner was great, especially the duck breast. So simple. I carved the breasts off the duckling (doesn’t that sound like a felony?), seasoned it them with salt and pepper, added some chopped rosemary and sage, and wrapped them in plastic wrap. Left them in the fridge like that for the afternoon, then seared them 3-4 minutes each side in a cast iron pan. Amazing.
Roasting artichokes: DIFFICULT. I left them in the oven twice the time recommended online, jacked up the temp, and still ended up microwaving for twenty minutes. Last time I try that.
Happy Birthday Karen! The meal sounds lovely although I did wonder how you pulled off the artichokes and see you did have some issues. I’m an artichokes from the can kind of gal myself.
What kind of dressing did you use on the salad? Homemade? I’m looking for good vinagrette recipes that don’t rely on dijon mustard.
M
Usually, I boil my artichokes. I trim off the lower part of the stem, pull off the woodier outer leaves, and cut off the top “tip”, then boil it in lightly salted water with half a lemon thrown in, along with a chopped onion, some garlic, and some marjoram (fresh or dried), and some freshly ground black pepper. You need to rub the cut surfaces with the lemon or they’ll brown. Now simmer for close to an hour, until a skewer easily passes through the thickest part.
I’m afraid I always use dijon to help make the emulsion. You could use a raw egg yolk, or for that matter a cooked egg yolk would work, too. I use a combination of vinegars (mostly rice wine vinegar, but I usually add a little raspberry vinegar and a dash or two of balsamic) and oils (mostly olive oil, with a very small dash of sesame oil, the brown stuff). That’s all there is to it.
I’m drooling here. Happy birthday to Karen!
Happy Birthday Karen, looks like you got spoiled, you lucky thing. *HUG*