Duck a l'Orange: Souk Style

Dave and I had a delicious lunch a few weekends ago at the amazing Soukitchen.  We ordered the mackerel special, which was a whole char-grilled fish with saffron butter and crispy potatoes, and a duck salad with blood oranges pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, a yoghurt sauce and hot flat-breads.  Both dishes were packed full of middle-Eastern flavour and we came away a very satisfied couple.

It was the Souk's duck dish that was the inspiration for a delicious dinner this week.  I had a whole duck in the freezer - as you do when you see a great deal on something in the supermarket, but then are not sure what to do with it - and decided that it was the perfect excuse to defrost it.

Not having cooked a whole duck before, and worried about it becoming too dry, I referred to google.  I discovered an article on The Hungry Mouse blog that gave me some pointers and then devised a plan.  I brought out my super-duper Sage multi-cooker (i.e. a crock-pot) and put the whole duck in there for 8 hours on low slow-cook.  I left this on overnight, but in retrospect I would probably try and do this during the day and turn the duck every now and then.

The next evening, I put the duck in a roasting tin, rubbed the skin with Ras El Hanout and put it in a hot oven for about 25 minutes (as I cooked it from cold).

In the meantime I busied myself preparing the salad.  I sliced blood oranges and Dave de-seeded a pomegranate.  He used the bowl of water method, which he said worked really well.  There was a good amount of juice that came out of the orange, so I popped this in a pan with chopped garlic and olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and about 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika, cooking it down to make a dressing for the salad.

Once the duck was ready, I assembled the salad leaves, topped with torn up duck, arranged the blood orange slices around the plate and scattered over pomegranate seeds and pine nuts.  Then I drizzled over my sauce.

I didn't have time to make flat-bread so we had it with a baguette, but I certainly will make time next time.  And I had forgotten that it had come with a sort of yoghurt dip.  Again, I shall work on this for next time.  But, a very good dish in its own right.

There was tonnes of duck left over so we had duck fried rice for dinner the next night and duck miso soup for lunch.  Just like a chicken, one duck can stretch out to a fair few meals - and it was on offer too!

Perks of the Job

The last 4 weeks have been dominated by the epic task of moving my brother an hour down the M4 into our new home in Bristol. This mammoth logistical operation has been punctuated with some blood, a lot of sweat, and a few tears.

The deed is now done and the whole family - husband, brother, dogs - are getting used to the new arrangement. Our house is bursting at the seams with not only our own belongings, but also those of my parents and their office, which were left behind following their move to the States.

As I manoeuvred round precariously stacked boxes and squeezed my way into the cluttered lounge last night, it dawned on me that there was an one up side that I had not previously considered: I have inherited a huge selection of random booze. The kind that posh cocktails call for!!

And all of a sudden it was cocktail time. I pulled out the Diffords Guide 'Cocktails #8' that I'd bought for my brother one Christmas and chose a Basilico. I proceeded to mash basil leaves, squeeze lemons and dissolve sugar. With the addition of vodka and Limoncello, my evening became a little bit brighter as a ray of sophistication shone through the chaos surrounding me.