A what?

After a few days hiatus, I'm itching to get back in the kitchen. I find myself getting mad at real life intruding into my cooking play time. Damn that real life! Damn you all to hell!


Step two. Strain out lemon peels and add simple syrup. 20 more days until limoncello matures.

Adventures with Duck 2006 (tm) Day 4. I sense impending duck fatigue.


Ravioli tadpoles. A davychen original creation. Pounded duck wing confit, stuffed in pasta with unfurled tails. Rather than normal ravioli or tortellini, I left them roughly cut, with the filling offset to one side. Tadpoles are designed to be texturally interesting to the diner- a combination of ravioli, lasagne, and linguine. Each bite will be different in taste and texture.


Hand cut tagliatelle. I got carried away with the handle thing on the pasta machine and rolled out lots of extra pasta. Fun! These should be extra springy al dente. But not for tonight.


Tonight's menu was inspired by a kung fu fighting duck-like Pokémon brandishing a leek for a weapon. Duck rillettes ravioli tadpoles with swiss chard in saffron duck broth. For the pasta, I chose a broth instead of a sauce to showcase the long fluttering tails. Saffron more for color than flavor. Leeks seared with duck fat and oven braised in duck broth. Sweetly caramelized roasted on the top and bottom. Duck liver paté on toast. Yummy. And I really like the tadpoles.