The Empty Plate Adventures: 2018

January 9, 2018

Christmas Mad Mac Series: Duck Penne w/ Duck Fat Cream & 4 Cheese Sauce

Sometimes, the best meals are created by accident. Other times, it comes from necessity (which is true in this case). I had made this dish before and because of a November #FoodieChat session, this came to life once again. It all began with a question.

Q4 #Foodiechats What was your first home cooked meal you made, and how have you perfected it over the years? #HomeCooking

7:20 PM - 6 Nov 2017

So the fuse was lit. And one response started it all. My reply follows.

‏ @llake

Replying to @Foodiechats

Macaroni/cheese - I use 5 different cheeses - dairy products & don't overcook the pasta. Also, I add lobster time to time. #FoodieChats

‏ @emptyplateadv

You really want to kill the crowd, substitute lobster w/ duck.   #FoodieChats

‏ @GGoodtaste even added some encouragement.

I shared why I had to substitute duck for lobster (I'm allergic). Maple Leaf Farms came to the rescue. Through a chain of events, Maple Leaf Farms provided a duck and some duck fat for me to work with. I had some fun but was unsure what angle I would take to make this happen? As I thought about this, it’s really not hard to do. For all practical purposes, use your normal, go-to mac & cheese recipe and then add duck to it. Really. It’s that simple. If you never cooked a duck before, there are a few things I suggest before doing so. First, treat it like chicken- thaw it and then rinse and pat dry (some debate doing this but I feel better doing so). Next, before you cook it, pierce or score (which is best to do) the skin of the duck on all sides. I also suggest placing a bowl underneath the duck. Commit 20-30 minutes per pound at 350 degrees F (about 175 celcius). Mine took about 4 ½ hours (it was about 5 pounds). You can see the end result below. Once it cools, shred the meat off the duck and reserve it (or in plain English, put it aside). What you see is the result.

Above, you see the finished duck. I used an electric roaster for a few of reasons. The main reason was it would be easier to clean. As you can see, I used a rack to cook and cool the duck. You could also use a chicken roaster (or an upright roasting rack like you see on the bottom right, 2) or a rack. Duck fat & duck meat seen below. You can see all the fat I collected (conservatively, about 3-4 cups). I chopped some onions and garlic as well since I am using the fat. As for the rack, hint hint William Sonoma!!!!

Now if the name of this blog doesn’t fit a post past, present or future, this one will do just that. I spend the following weeks deciding on the pasta and the cheese. I wanted to use a more elbow or ear/shell-shaped pasta. So I get ready to boil the pasta and thinking I had some “conchiglie” pasta (which is Italian for “shells” or “seashells”) but went into the pantry……. and NONE on hand! I hope for elbow pasta but all I had was penne. I figured it would work since that sauce hold sauce well. All you need is about 1- 1 ½ pound of your favorite pasta. Follow the instructions and once done, drain pasta water into a bowl in reserve. The starch still remains and can help thicken the sauce if needed. I like to season the pasta with salt, pepper, a little oregano, garlic (granulated or fresh works), and some red pepper flakes. You can add whatever other seasoning you desire to use.

THAT was the easy part. So I was thinking of making a white sauce (or Bechamel) similar to the once you see below (1). Pretty simple to do.

1-1/2 tbls (25 grams) of butter & flour each. Melt the butter, then add the flour until it becomes a paste. Keep the fire low to medium (cook slowly) Then once the paste is formed, add 1 ½ cups (or 300 ml) of cold milk, added in equal dosages of three.

The problem? NO MILK!!! So the pasta water came in handy. The butter- flour mix basically became a roux. I then added sour cream & American cheese to the penne with some of the remaining pasta water on low heat. The result was the pasta water cooked down, mixed with the sour cream and the pasta water. Again, on a simmer/LOW heat. If I had the pasta on anything but a simmer, I promise it will burn. I added sour cream to the consistency I wanted (about 1/3/-1/2 cup of sour cream added and stirred frequently. Of course, I added some of the duck fat reserve (from the bowl shown about) to this as well. I used only a few spoonful’s as I went along.

So now, once I got my pasta where I wanted it (with the sour cream and pasta water), I then added the shredded cheese. So what should you use? Whatever cheese you would eat alone but if you use multiple cheeses, make sure at least one melts well. I was debating should I used a form of gouda or a goat’s milk cheese of some sort? I was in my local Mariano’s market and they had a cheese called Lamb Chopper (sheep’s milk, which was VERY smooth). They served some up to me and from that moment, I was hooked. Cheese #2 is in. I went to a local Whole Foods and they had some 12 Month Aged Manchego, which has some modest “heat” (e.g., spice) to it. But still good enough and Cheese #3 was found. I shredded both cheeses and stirred them in the penne.

Here's the result of this adventure. My parents also enjoyed this as much as I did. I can tell you this with no hesitation. This dish was MUCH better the next day, which happened to be Christmas day. As you can see, this penne was a nice compliment to the rest of an already heavy meal. What could I have done to top this? I think some vegetables, like mushroom, peas, tomato, roasted or grilled bell peppers may have added a different dimension to this dish. Still, I'm please with how it came out.

So what began with a vision, fell into borderline megadeth panic, only to save the day with victory. As I already said, you can basically take your own favorite macaroni and cheese recipe or whatever you make lobster mac and cheese with and add duck. This is a win for someone like me, who is allergic to fish and seafood. I was six when I found out I was allergic after eating red snapper, which led to a FULL prophylaxis attack (the only serious one I had). entire You'll be amazed what you might create when part of the food chain is excluded from your diet. I can't really miss what I could never eat to begin with. So if I didn't have allergy, I may never have thought to create this dish. There's a trade off for everything.

And in case you doubt me, it also travels well for lunch. Both dishes you see here have trace of duck fat. In the case of the non duck penne, I added some of the duck fat when I heated it up. Yes, it worked like a charm!!!! The post-Christmas penne with the Christmas Eve meat pasta. I wish lunches were always this good.. Step out and experiment. That's where all the fun is found!!! Again, THANK YOU AGAIN to the good people Maple Leaf Farms for their help with this project. They asked how they could be of help and they were. They can be found here: https://twitter.com/MapleLeafFarms and http://www.mapleleaffarms.com.

Last thing. This is only the START of sorts. A new start and life this blog in 2018 (which I hope to post at least 3-5 time in a month about something). The start of an old food experiment of mine (Mad Mac Experiment) as well as at least one new one (Fabulous Fat or Eat Wilder). And guess what? There are MORE things I did with this duck fat I will share soon.