Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Day 124: Pot-roast duck legs with onions and root vegetables


And so the madness begins…Dear Sister No.2 is getting married on Saturday so although it’s only the second day of my working week so far, I’ve already been to two bridesmaid fittings and the hairdressers. However, I think that tonight sorted out my dress which means that I am now available (according to Dear Sister) for other errands (!). Dear Sister No.1 had the right idea; she took the week off work and we’re all so amused at that. That wouldn’t even come into the equation for me so as much as I am excited about the forthcoming big day, it’s going to be an extra-hectic week but it will all be worth it and it’s great to have such a joyous occasion to celebrate. I, of course, am being the dutiful bridesmaid and simply obeying orders of where to go and when and what to do and what to bring and what to take. It’s the simplest strategy to have. Nonetheless, we’re all very excited and can’t believe how quickly the time has passed since the happy couple announced their engagement; yet here we are, days away…

In the meantime though, there is still a house to run and dinners to be made so in between balancing this, that and the other this evening, I got on with dinner. Tonight’s feature recipe was Pot-roast duck legs with onions and root vegetables. I know that’s two duck recipes in the one week but when I bought the duck breasts the other day, the duck legs were sitting next to them on the shelf so I thought I’d better make the two when I have access to the ingredients.

So, I started off by adding olive oil into a small casserole dish. I then added in two duck legs. The recipe in the cookbook serves 4 but I halved the ingredients as there was only Dear Husband to eat it. The two babies had already eaten their dinner early on. I then added in wedges of onions, sprigs of rosemary and salt and pepper to the duck legs. All that fried for about 5 minutes before adding in diced potatoes and diced turnip. I was able to use the small white turnips which I got from Harry’s food market on Saturday so that was good. On went the lid and into the oven the casserole dish went for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Dear Husband had to serve it up himself as I had to skedaddle out of the house to the bridesmaid fitting. And, yes, he did forget to take a photo so I had to take one of what was left when I got back. Aw, don’t get me started…

The verdict…

After tonight’s recipe, I can safely say that duck is now a well-established favourite in our house – 10 marks out of 10. Amazing that another duck recipe gets full marks but therein lays the evidence that Dear Husband absolutely loves duck. He said that although it was another duck recipe, this particular recipe was still very different to the other duck recipe I made on Sunday.

Overall, I really liked preparing this recipe as it was quick (which I desperately needed this evening!) and it used one pot. Although it did take quite a while to cook, I cannot fault it as at least it could cook happily away without me having to check it. I just had to text Dear Husband to remind him to take it out of the oven in case he’d end up setting off the smoke alarm and waken Dear Baby which has happened before. Not that I am particularly keen on working with duck, I think I’ve no option but to make this recipe again but I think I will keep it for special occasions. I said that to Dear Husband and he cheekily quipped “Aw, that’s great! Sure Lisa is getting married on Saturday so doesn’t that qualify as a special occasion?!”. Seriously, my friends say I’m destined for sainthood and now I think I'm beginning to believe them…

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