Monday, March 12, 2007

Fun Monday for a fish out of water

This will be a quick Fun Monday, as I'm not on my own computer, not sitting in my own house, or not in either of the two countries that I currently call 'home'.

So, here's my take on Fun Monday. For all the participants, visit
Beccy at Peppermint Tea.

This week Beccy challenged us to post a recipe that would inspire her to cook it, so here goes mine.


Warm duck salad

Get a bowl. Throw in two handfuls of rucola and mixed salad leaves. Blanch some green beans, then add them. Crumble a handful of fetta cheese in too. Boil up a few beets until cooked, quarter them, and chuck them in too. Toast some walnuts in a frying pan, then chop them and add them to the mix.


In a seperate bowl, spoon in two tablespoons of warmed cranberry sauce, the juice and seeds of one pommegranate, one heaped teaspoon of dijon mustard, a good splosh of red wine vinegar, and a couple of glugs of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and whisk to mix.

Heat a frying pan and cook two duck breats (skin on). On medium heat, cook skin side down for about eight minutes, then turn onto flesh side and cook for about one minute. Then pop the breasts into a pre-heated oven on 180 degrees celcius for about 5 minutes. The duck breasts will be medium rare.

Slice the breasts, chuck them into the salad bowl. Toss the salad to mix, and pour dressing over.

Serves four as an extree. Accompany with a carb - e.g. polenta, risotto or potatoes to make into a main.

Enjoy, and sorry about being uninspring.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

au contraire for being uninspiring, this is the kind of cooking enidd loves. a rough guide and some inspiration. do you know peter gordon's salads - enidd thinks you would if you don't already.

theotherbear said...

what is rucola?

Amy W said...

Not sure what rucola is either, but it sounds delicous.

Beccy said...

No appologies needed that sounds delicious and so easy as well. Definitely got my taste buds tingling!

Hope you're having a good trip.

Brooke - Little Miss Moi said...

Dear all. Rucola is rocket - it's a salad leaf. THe reason I wrote it as rucola is because I recently called it 'rocket' in Kyiv and all the Brits and Americans laffed at moi... so I thought rucola must be the more common name... sorry for the confusion!

Woodlandmama said...

Sounds delicious but I know I can't get them in my horrible Wal-mart town.

Sabrina said...

Sounds exotic and interesting! Hope you are great!

Anonymous said...

Well, now, this is anything but conventional..."throw in two handfuls", "chuck them in, too", "a good splosh", "a couple of glugs"...hehe, I enjoyed the way this "recipe" read!

Although, blech! on the beets!! But ummmm on about everything else :).

Pamela said...

I love the sound of the salad. I'm not sure about adding the duck.

Can you believe at my age I've NEVER tasted duck or rabbit.

Can't do it. Just can't do it.

Beccy said...

Pamela duck is delicious, you should try it once.

Little miss moi as a citizen of the UK I've only ever heard rocket called rocket. Funnily enough when I read your recipe I guesses rucola was lettuce and as rocket is my favourite that was what I'd use.

frannie said...

over from beccy's...

I would have never thought of putting duck in a salad... sounds good!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad Willow Tree found you and pointed me in your direction.

Just love ya! Great recipe. i'm going to try it.

We have duck in our freezer that I need to use before it goes bad

pumpernickel said...

I love the sound and feel of this recipe. I believe we call rucola arugula on this side of the pond. Thanks for the recipe. Yumm.

The very nice man said...

Well, my wife will like this one!! She is a duck-fanatic!

Brooke - Little Miss Moi said...

Dear all. Just checking in. Have to leave for 'heaf-row' in about 30 mins... then onward for flying for around 24 hours urrghh.

Pamela. Duck. Is. YUM. I was a convert because Mr Moi and I lived in a very chinese suburb in Sydney, and you can't go past BBQ duck for an easy take away meal. Then my sister in law cooked duck with sour cherries and it was DELISH.

Beccy. Cool. Next time expat brits laff at me about calling it rucola, I will tell them they've been away from home for far too long. I LOVE ROCKET! It's the best. My fave easy salad is to get rocket, chuck in some coriander leaves, some sliced stuffed green olives, and a bit of preserved lemon and EV olive oil. Season. MMM mmm mm. Great with a cous cous or tagine dish.

OK - now, I think I've got enough time to write back to all!

Dear enidd. Oh gee, there's something different about you, it's almost like you've had plastic surgery and gotten an extra 'd'. I don't know Peter Gordon - is he UK? I'm only getting my head around all the foodies up here now that I'm in the northern hemisphere. Will look him up.


Dear theotherbear. It's rocket. Sorry. I'll stick to my aussie roots next time.


Dear amy w. I hope the discussion has cleared everything up...?


Dear beccy. I'm having a great trip. Wonderful weather in London yesterday. Spoke to my little brother in oz this morning though - it was 36 degrees there today and it's supposedly autumn.


Dear liza. That's fine. You can always substitute. E.g. balsamic for the red wine vinegar, fancy salad mix for the rocket, chicken or lamb for the duck breast.... etc. A big part of the yumminess of this salad is the texture - meat, with leaves, with nuts...


Dear sabrina. Thanks! I hope all is well with you in Cork. Will check in when I'm in Oz.


Dear robin. I was never good at sticking to instructions... And the beets are actually yum. Just don't over cook them!


Dear pamela. I am a bit of a 'you have to try most things at least once'. Once I tried duck, I loved it! And it's very versatile... I think you should treat your tastebuds and give it a go!


Dear frannie. I made lots of big salads with warm meats either in or on in Australia. It's nice on a summer night. And adds a new dimension to dinner!


Dear vicki. Wow, I hail anyone who has a bit of duck sitting in the freezer! Good on you! Let me know how the recipe goes.


Dear pumpernickel. Oh no. Don't tell me ANOTHER name. That's just damn confusing, like zucchini and courgette, or eggplant and aubergine, coriander and cilantro... weird all these different names we have!


Dear very nice man. Well, I hope she cooks it and lets you have a try. A duck fanatic! I'd love to be able to afford to be a duck fanatic...!


See youse all later. I'm off to the hairport.

Anonymous said...

This recipe sounds great. Uninspiring? Heck No - anything that includes duck can't be.

Have a safe flight and enjoy your trip.

Samantha Louise said...

I am inspired.

Anonymous said...

This sounds like something I would love...and no-one in my house would even try. Ah well, one day...when my kids stop peering into dishes and proclaiming they can see an invisible speck of pepper contaminating the food....

Anonymous said...

Glad for the explanation of 'rucola'...I didn't think cough drops would be very appetizing in the dish.

Anonymous said...

sounds awfully good to me.

ChrisB said...

This sounds good I never cook duck at home ( I lie I have tried once) however I often have it in a restaurant but might give it another try now I have this recipe