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. 

lillian lake‏ @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

John Duncan‏ @emptyplateadv

John Duncan Retweeted lillian lake

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

Gloria Piantek‏ @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. 

Works Cited: 

1. Gordon Ramsay- “How to make a classic white sauce with cheese” video. Gordon Ramsay YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOPb95Wo3H4            

2. Vertical chicken rack photo taken from William Sonoma’s Internet site (https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/the-ultimate-chicken-roaster/).  

Muffa-burger, Part One: Burger Beast Experiment

So here's a new, on-going experiment. Burger Beasts!!! I have various condiments at home. Labor Day had plenty of BBQ (thanks, Dad)!!! This idea came into my head a few month back. What did I do? I took a burger and kicked it up a bit. You want some flavor and desire to try something different, you may consider trying what I'm about to share.

Now what you see is a bottle. This product was the inspiration for this project. I had some of Marconi Food's Muffuletta Mix (1) for some time but never had a chance to really use it. One of the most popular sandwiches in NoLa is the muffuletta. New Orleans has a wide variety of people and culture mixing together in one big symphony. While many know about the Creoles and the Cajuns (those who migrated from French Acadia after not signing allegiance to Great Britain.  While many know of the French influences of New Orleans, there are others nationalities that are pretty well represented are well. The muffuletta sandwich was born in this city sometime around 1906 by Salvatore Lupo, owner of Central Grocery company. You can see the obvious Italian influence in the type of bread (Sicilian round bread but focaccia or the like is seen more today), Italian meats and cheeses. It also has a sauce. To me, the muffuletta olive sauce is like giardineria (celery, cauliflower, carrots), only a bit more olive and carrot intensive.


So what did I do? I took some of the hamburger Dad did on the grill, melted some cheese and then added some of this sauce. The result was a very different take on a burger. I was quite pleased!!! I called this part one because I want to take it further. I will post some of my "experiments" I have done over the last year. For those who follow me on my InstaGram account                                       (https://www.instagram.com/emptyplateadv/) or Twitter (@emptyplateadv), you may have seen some of the crazy things (at least I'll concede as unusual) that I have posted there. There are no style points for this picture so let it speak for itself. Make sure that the mix is cold. It will provide a nice contrast to the hot burger and cheese (the same way as a pickle or raw onion). I'm going to take this further soon but for now, this will have to do. Step out of your comfort zone. Try something new. I liked this very much and think may of you will as well.  Enjoy!!!

Gut essen..... mangia bene...... comer bien!!!!!! It was nice to FINALLY get something back in writing and hope to do more as time permits. If you're not familiar with Marconi Foods, give them a chance. They a great product line and I doubt you'll be disappointed!!! If you're bored, tell them the Empty Plate Adventures sent you. No deals as of yet.


Worked Cited/Reference:

1. Photo taken from the Marconi Foods Internet site at https://marconi-foods.com/

20 Questions and an Update

                                           

Well. It's been two years in the making since I last posted here. There has been some transitions in my life (which I'm still dealing with) but I want to get this thing fired up again. It was so much fun to do but time hasn't been on my side. 

Now, I want to say what has gone on. Most of you know, I am still on Twitter and have been active on the various chats. I even went to open an instagram account (the account is @Emptyplateadv so by all means, check it out). That's a fun medium. 
        

I looked at Snapchat and right now, that may not be the best fit. From time to time, I still duck in on Pinterest as well. Today, I went Duck Confit crazy. Those three social media platforms seem to fit what I want to do best. So now, I want your participation as time permits. Going forward, I want this blog to be a combination of food related topics. I mean recipes, types of pork, food history, or whatever come to my mind to write. Some of the experiment's I have done, I hope to share with you as well and will finish the Mac Mac Experiment I began some time ago. 

Below are 20 questions that are all food related. They tend to bounce around a bit but they do the job. I will do my responses first and then you can do yours. There are the 20 question below my finished answers you may cut and paste. I hope a few of you will respond. I must say, it's fun to be back here again!! It's like I woke up and hit the ground running.

  1.    What are the food item(s) you can’t live without?

- - On any given day, habanero sauce, onions, & garlic. At least one of those three. 

  2.   What food is the one you eat the most, but know you shouldn’t? In other words, you guilty pleasure?

  - Anything combines with cheese and pasta or a saucy dish with rice or potatoes. 

  3.   The one kitchen item you use most?

 - Chefs knife (8").

  4.   The one kitchen item that you use but many could take for granted?

- - Utility knife. They really don't come up often when the subject comes up.

  5.   If you could take two kitchen items and have a love child (for lack of better words), what would that be? If you have a name for this item, share it.

  - I'd try to mix a steak knife & a paring or utility knife, called the American Chef Kitchen Knife. 

  6.   How many cookbooks do you own now? 

  - As of now, I only own a few. I lost the rest but that's a different story. 

  7.   Of those cookbooks, which one(s) (say a maximum of 3 books or 5 names) are your favorites?

  - Off the top of my head, Emeril's "Real & Rustic" was the first cookbook that opened my eyes to what can be done with food. It simplified dishes I thought would be MUCH more difficult. I also enjoy John Madden's Tailgating book. Fun recipes and good stories as well. Rick Bayless' books are very good as well. I can ignore Julia Child either. 

  8.   Of all the bad cookbooks you’ve ever seen, which is the worst of the worst? In other words, Razzie/Zero Rotten Tomatoes bad.

  - It's between Boy George's Karma Cookbook and Kris Jenner's book. Both seemed like it was something to do instead of something they really believed it. 

   

  9.   Share a favorite food memory as a child. There’s only one catch. It CANT be from a holiday or special occasion such as a birthday.

  - The first time I ate hog intestines and liked them. My family (parents, grandparents, etc) would cook them after Christmas and as close to New Years as possible. They teased me a bit because I wouldn't eat them (the smell is POWERFUL). Anway, as a 12 year old, I finally tried them. They knew the game was over after that. Either that or Pizza Night every Friday. 

  10. Here. One specific food and travel memory. You visited a particular country or region which may have a specialty or two and you never had them before. Where was it at and what were the dish(es) you got hooked on from that moment until now?

  -  I was in Jamaica (Montego Bay), as a 15 year old with my parents. I had various meals before but two things hooked me that week. Jerk chicken and oxtail. I think I went to the buffet each night & that's all I ate (oxtail). For the longest time, it was something NO ONE would eat You could go to the story and get the latter CHEAP ($2.99/lb or less). Then, before I knew it, $5.99/lb. My secret is now gone. 

  

  11. The strangest item in your refrigerator is…..?

  - Horseradish sauce. 

  12. The strangest combo either you or someone you’ve known eat in a given setting? 

  - My pregnant female friends take care of that. One friend took fresh snow and put it in a cup. She then took some vanilla frosting and pickles an another. Then ate the latter while washing it down with the snow. I thought it was strange but then again, she was pregnant. No, I wasn't the father either. 

   13. Do you know of anyone who is allergic to any food? What is it and when they visit you, what accommodations do you factor in to give this person a great meal?

  - Most of my chat pals know I'm allergic to seafood. I found out when I was six but mu cousin developed the same thing as an adult. Anything seafood was kept away from everything else. It may also be placed in a (color or labeled) dish to let me know to not eat it. 

  

   14. Game (or for that matter, Race) Day. Build your tailgate off the top of your head.

  - Wings, brats, burgers, JUMBO hot dogs, potato/mac salad & cole slaw, ribs if time permits. If I have extra time, maybe a chili or gumbo. I can't forget chips and salsa either. 

   15. Movie food. Now that theaters are more like restaurants, do you still sneak in your own food?

   - Depends. I don't do it often but if I get delayed trying to get something before I go but get the order late, what am I supposed to do? I don't make it a habit though. 

   16. A night in. Regardless if it’s watching a sports network, movie, food network, and so on, what’s the meal or snack of choice? 

  - I try to do something quick because so often, I get home late. I'll make a nice sandwich or have some leftovers. 

   17. Name a food that you CAN’T stand & if you had a choice, would never eat again? 

  - Ok, foodie snobs. I have tried Brussel sprouts 9 ways to Sunday. I don't like them. I eat my Mom's sprouts because she made them. That's the bottom line. 

   18. The one dish/entrée you’ve always loved to eat but were afraid to try and make yourself is…??

  - Turducken. 

<                          

                

                             

 

      

    19. Your favorite restaurant had an item you REALLY enjoyed but out of the clear blue, they stopped selling it. What was that dish? 

  - I was a HUGE fan of Outback's No Rule's Burger. Just about anything you can put on a burger was on in. To give you an idea of what I mean, go to Five Guys. Look at the thing you can put on a bacon burger. That's about as close as you'll get to recreating it. The No Rule's was also much bigger than the Five Guys rendition. 

   20. One drop of Carolina Reaper (2,000,000+ scoville units) with no ranch or sour cream will net you $100 Million dollars AFTER taxes. Would you take the one drop to get the money? 

   - You know it!!! 

Well that was fun. Now it's your turn. If you're game, let's have some fun with this. Ready? Omaha... Omaha... 319.... 319.... Blue 80... Blue 80 .... set go!! The 20 Question Game. Cut & Paste in the reply section to play. 

  1.    What are the food item(s) you can’t live without?

  2.   What food is the one you eat the most, but know you shouldn’t? In other words, you guilty pleasure?

  3.   The one kitchen item you use most?

  4.   The one kitchen item that you use but many could take for granted?

  5.   If you could take two kitchen items and have a love child (for lack of better words), what would that be? If you have a name for this item, share it.

  6.   How many cookbooks do you own now?

  7.   Of those cookbooks, which one(s) (say a maximum of 3) are your favorites?

  8.   Of all the bad cookbooks you’ve ever seen, which is the worst of the worst? In other words, Razzie/Zero Rotten Tomatoes bad.

   

  9.   Share a favorite food memory as a child. There’s only one catch. It CANT be from a holiday or special occasion such as a birthday.

  10. Here one specific food and travel memory. You visited a particular country or region which may have a specialty or two and you never had them before. Where was it at and what were the dish(es) you got hooked on from that moment until now?

  

  11. The strangest item in your refrigerator is…..?

  12. The strangest combo either you or someone you’ve known eat?

   13. Do you know of anyone who is allergic to any food? What is it and when they visit you, what accommodations do you factor in to give this person a great meal?

  

   14. Game (or for that matter, Race) Day. Build your tailgate off the top of your head.

   15. Movie food. Now that theaters are more like restaurants, do you still sneak in your own food?

   16. A night in. Regardless if it’s watching a sports network, movie, food network, and so on, what’s the meal or snack of choice? 

   17. Name a food that you CAN’T stand & if you had a choice, would never eat again? 

   18. The one dish/entrée you’ve always loved to eat but were afraid to try and make yourself is…??

   19. Your favorite restaurant had an item you REALLY enjoyed but out of the clear blue, they stopped selling it. What was that dish? 

   20. One drop of Carolina Reaper (2,000,000+ scoville units) with no ranch or sour cream will net you $100 Million dollars AFTER taxes. Would you take the one drop to get the money? 

   Bonus question. Noticed what I did after typing "Ready" in this post. Those are pre-snap cadence calls of of 3 NFL Quarterbacks. Can you name them?

Prime Time: A Prime Rib Birthday Dinner

Prime rib!!!! This was part of the dinner my Dad and I served my Mom last week. As is customary in my family, you get what you want for your birthday. Mom chose lobster and since I can't eat seafood, she decided to have us make a Prime Rib for the rest of the meal. She actually found the roast at a very good price!! That helps a great deal.  On this post, it will be brief but to the point. The cut we used was graded prime. I hope to get a cut of meat like this during the summer. Imagine this coming off the grill!!! Yep, I thought so.

As you can see with the first two pictures, there is a prod connected to the roast itself. That actually connects to the over. THIS is the say to do a roast. This provides a nice way to eliminate any error in cooking. Mom actually started this. What was done is simple. Take the prod and connect it inside its slot into the oven. Then set the desired temperatures you wish to cook the meat and where you want the meat to be at. In this case, it was cooked at 375 degrees for about 2-2 1/2 hours. My parents prefer more towards medium, so the targeted meat temperature was 130 degrees. The roast itself was about 6 pounds (pre-cooking weight). If you're considering getting a new over, the ones with a prod thermometer feature is amazing. Once the desired internal meat temperature is reached, the over shuts off. The meat rested for about 30 minutes, covered in foil. Which leads me to the next part of this dinner. A pretty cleaver idea came to my head and it worked like a charm. 

Now this is what you may call the "educational part" of this post. Since I live in the midwest, it's pretty obvious that I won't get getting the farm fresh foods anytime soon. It's too cold to really grow

anything. The interesting thing is where much of our fruit comes from (in particular, where I live and during this time of year. 

As you can see from the top picture, we get a lot of fruit and vegetables from South America, namely Peru and Chile. That's a good thing in my book. We get the food we need, it's normally fresh, and some farmer in another country can male a decent living, selling fruits to places like where I live. I don't ever take being able to get decent asparagus at this time of year. I normally drift towards white asparagus since they're a bit sweeter (to my taste anyway) than it's other counterparts.

Now this is the new trick I tried to keep them asparagus warm. This is something I had not considered doing until I finished cooking these asparagus. I cooked them as I normally did (water and finishing with olive oil for about 5 minutes each). I would boil the water first, cook the asparagus in the water for about 5 minutes then add some olive oil to finish cooking them (3 to 5 minutes, to the point where they're soft but not soggy). I finished them as I normally do, seasoning with salt an pepper. Now the fun part. As you can see from the smaller picture, I pulled out the foil. Once I finished cooking the asparagus, I them cooled down the skillet I cooked them in, wrapped them in foil and that was it. I tried it on a hunch and it worked well. They stayed warm for the 25 minutes it took to cook the lobster.

As you can see, the above is the finished product.I have some of the asparagus break on me during my prep time. So those went to me. I ate them. So it doesn't exactly look pretty but it did taste very good!! I was very happy with how the meal turned out. Mom had one of the smaller pieces. This was the biggest piece, which since I'm a fairly big guy, it went to me. Dad has a piece a little smaller than this one. I'm not getting into the potatoes since they're so simple to do. Now imagine going to a fine steakhouse and getting a cut like this and a lobster tail (for Mom). Price tag is shell shocking. 

Another look at the "Diamond John" Cut. I'm guessing this piece is between 20-25 oz and since my piece was in the middle of the roast, mine was closer to medium rare (just as I like it). Sure, it's great to have a great meal like this but there is something greater at play here. I have several friends who have buried at least 1 parent. My Grandmother (Mom's mom) died earlier this year at age 96. Both of my parents are still alive and very well. I know that I can't spend as much time with them as I would like. If you get nothing more from this post, take this with you. You have loved ones who are still in your life, enjoy time with them every chance you get! This dinner was so much fun and every time there's a special occasion like a birthday, I want to make sure I can be there to enjoy with my parents. They're the only ones I have and quite frankly, I would not want anyone else. I am VERY thankful for my parents. I'm lucky to have them. Finding a good rib roast at a great price, great. Getting the meal, fit for royalty at home, even better. Enjoying a meal like that with great parents like mine. Priceless!!!