OK, so maybe this is not exactly the definition of charcuterie, but is is all about the preparation of meats. Since charcuterie is about preserving meats, you may question a process that is really the controlled ‘spoiling’ of meat ! But trust me, if you have the patience to ‘spoil’ your meat in this fashion, you will be amply rewarded.

It occurred to me, that to enjoy a dry-aged steak at a restaurant normally required spending about $40 on the steak alone ! Even buying dry-aged beef at Whole Foods was a $25 a pound proposition. So I asked the question, “How do you do it”? The answer, which should have been obvious, was simply to let the meat ‘rot’. OK, maybe not rot, at least not all the way, but to allow it to spoil in a controlled fashion. Here is the painfully simple method. I have done this 4 time now, with zero ill effects. So as risky as it may seem, this is pretty much the exact same way fancy restaurants make the dry-aged steak you pay so much for !

Ingredients (and tools)

• One giant chunk of meat (I use a whole ribeye)
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• Large dish rack
• 1 box Baking Soda
• 1 container of Damp Rid moisture control product
• 1 extra refrigerator

Take the whole ribeye, and using a very, very clean towel, dry the outside of the meat. Take the two tablespoons of salt, and light coat the outside of the meat, all around. Do not use any more salt than this – we are not trying to ‘cure’ the meat !

Set the whole ribeye on a large dish rack, or any other kind of rack, making sure the the meat is elevated and air can circulate all around the meat.

Take the whole rack and place it in a spare refrigerator. This CANNOT be a refrigerator you use all the time ! It must be one that is a ‘spare’ and is opened infrequently. This limits exposure to ‘bad stuff’. In the refrigerator place the box of baking soda, opened, and the open container of Damp Rid. The Damp Rid will keep the moisture level down, inside the refrigerator, and facilitate the drying process.

Shut the door, and leave the meat in the refrigerator for at least 21 days, or wait for 28 days for even stronger flavor.

After the 21 days are up, remove the meat from the refrigerator, and place it on a very clean surface. The surface of the meat will be quite dry and hard – basically rotten. This is what you will be getting rid of. Slice the end of the meat to begin with, usually about 1/4 of an inch. This meat is all rotten. The slice the remaining meat into steaks, each about 1/2 to one inch think, based on your preference. Wash the knife you use to do this after cutting each slice, to prevent contamination.

For each slice, use your knife (again, cleaning the knife in between trimmings) to trim away the hard, discolored meat around the edge of each steak. It will be very easy to tell the difference between the ‘good’ meat and the ‘bad’ meat ! In the above photo, you see the result of the harvest. Your exact yield will vary based on the size of the piece of meat you start with and how long you let it age. I usually end up with about 12 8 ounce ribeyes. Most of them are then vacuum sealed for later use, but of course, some are eaten right away ! My average cost for dry-aged ribeye prepared this way is about $8 a pound, a third of the cost of buying it at a grocery and about 1/5th the cost of getting it at a restaurant.

The intense beef flavor you get from doing steak this way is unbelievable. I use just a little salt and pepper before grilling. Not one thing else is needed.

If you know me, you know I enjoy any number or ‘raw’ foods. I’m not talking about fruits and vegetables, of course, but raw meats. When I am in Boston, and eating at Bokx 109, I will frequently order the ‘raw surf-and-turf’ – a combination of 2 appetizers, steak tartare and tuna tartare. I like the pleasing texture, and subtle flavor of raw food.

This has not always been the case. Frankly, as a kid growing up in middle Georgia, raw meat and fish was, to say the least, completely unheard of. Even after moving to Tallahassee, raw meat and fish were nonexistent in the 70s and 80s. But one day, during the formative stage of my cooking life, I wandered into a bookstore to search for cookbooks. I chanced upon a book titled ‘The Art of Sushi”. After looking at the pictures, I decided 2 things: 1) Anything that looks that good must also taste that good, and 2) I was definitely going to try it. One big problem – there were no sushi restaurants in Tallahassee at the time. Serendipity intervened, however, and I soon found myself heading to California to help my brother move back to Florida, after leaving the Air Force. He picked me up, and before we even had a chance to get back to his place, we had stopped at a sushi bar. As I expected, it was delicious, and I never looked back.

Crudo is a mediterranean-style of serving raw fish. Rather than dipping it in soy sauce,  a crudo, is normally flavored with salt, olive oil and something acidic like vinegar or citrus juice. Unlike the latin ceviche, there is not enough citrus juice to ‘cook’ the fish, nor is the citrus flavor as pronounced as in a ceviche (try my version of ceviche). Instead, there is a blend of the 5 tastes (excepting bitter) in the dish. In this crudo, I have used a little sea salt, as well as green olive and salmon roe to feature the salty taste, but balanced it with red grapes for a sweet element, grape tomatoes for a little sweet and acid flavors, lemon juice and peel for even more of the sour flavor, and finally by smoking the fish and shrimp to enhance the umami flavor. The only problem with this preparation is that I should have made a lot more !

Ingredients (per serving)

• 4 small shrimp
• 4 sashimi style pieces of raw white fish
• 1 heaping tablespoon salmon roe
• 5 grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
• 5 small green olives, sliced in half lengthwise
• 5 red grapes, sliced in half lengthwise
• zest of 1/4 a lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1 pinch of black pepper

First, we have to cook the shrimp, since it is not actually served raw. For each shrimp, insert a toothpick or small bamboo skewer lengthwise through the shrimp, along the shell. This will keep the shrimp form curling up while cooking. Place the shrimp in boiling water, sweetened with a little sugar, and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain the shrimp and allow them to cool. When cool, remove the shell and slice each shrimp lengthwise, almost completely through. Open the shrimp, and flatten them under a plate, while cooling.

Now, as previously mentioned, I smoked the shrimp and fish to add more flavor. To do this, I used a ‘smoking gun’, a small, handheld device which generates cold smoke. You can omit this step, or purchase such a utensil. This is the one I bought. DO NOT hot smoke the fish – you do not want to cook it at all, just give it a smoky taste. So if you can’t cold smoke it, just omit this step.

After that, it is all about arrangement. In my presentation, I staggered the fish and shrimp around the sides of a small bowl. In the center, I placed the salmon roe, sliced grapes, tomatoes and olives, then put the lemon zest on top. Dash it all with the olive oil and lemon juice, then sprinkle a little sea salt and black pepper on top.

In cooking, the term ‘deconstructed’ means to take a dish, like a beef stew, and cook the ingredients separately, using techniques/flavors not necessarily associated with the parent dish. Finally the separately cooked items are then plated or combined for the final presentation. As a simple example, in the case of a deconstructed beef stew, you might slightly fill a bowl with a reduced beef stock, then place some grilled steak in a corner of the bowl, some glazed carrots and onions in another part of the bowl, and finally gratin potatoes in another part of the bowl. ‘Deconstruction’ is a nice, but maybe a little over used technique, and eventually, I’ll get around to doing some deconstructed dishes.

But what about ‘Reconstructed’? What could that mean? I thought about it for a while, and nearly everything I ended up with was some kind of soup, stew or casserole. Not bad, but not terribly cutting edge. And then I looked at it a different way – giving back to something that man had taken away. And I came up with this.

In the case of my reconstructed pork tenderloin, I am putting back in two things that pork should come with, and naturally does come with, but butcher-men, in collusion with homogenized American tastes have taken away : Fat and Skin.

Now I realize that not everyone will want to try this out. Even beyond that, not everyone will be able to try it out, as it involves a substance you will not find at the grocery store: Transglutaminase. Transglutaminase is an enzyme (naturally derived) which binds protein together. It is more commonly referred to as ‘meat glue’. If you have ever had Chicken McNuggets, or Turkey Loaf, or fake crab meat, you have eaten it. It what holds ‘mystery meat’ together. Now while none of the above probably sound very appealing, it is not the use of transglutaminase that makes it so. It is the fact that you are taking crap, and trying to make something better out of the crap – not the best plan for great tasting food. You will have to order transglutaminase from the internet, where it is available under the brand name Active RM. It is not cheap, and is usually sold by the kilo. But a little goes a long way, and properly stored in the freezer, it will last a very long time.

In this case, I am using the ‘glue’ to meld together the pork tenderloin and chicken skin. My idea is to use the skin to hold in juices and fat, while the pork cooks. And yes, it works !

I don’t blame you if you find the whole idea weird – my wife Julia did as well, and was not anxious to try it out. But when she did, she gave the final product a big ‘thumbs up’. If you try this, I think you will agree.

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin (about a pound)
• skin from 10 chicken thighs
• rendered fat
• 1 tablespoon transglutaminase enzyme (Active RM)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fine minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Start by preparing the tenderloin. You need to slice and trim it so that you end up with 2 evenly shaped sections, about 6 ounces each. Set them aside and refrigerate.

Now, in the oven or in a pot on the stove, render your fat. I used goose fat from a goose confit I was making, but a few ounces of rendered bacon fat will do just fine. You want fat with flavor, so don’t just render some lard, and for Pete’s sake, do not use vegetable fat or oil. Remove the tenderloin pieces from the refrigerator, and using a meat injector syringe, inject the rendered fat into the pork. Do not be shy ! When finished, return the pork pieces to the refrigerator to allow the injected fat to re-solidify, about 30 minutes.

Now take a long piece of plastic wrap and spread it out on a flat surface. Take about 5 of the chicken thigh skins and arrange them in the middle of the plastic wrap so they form a square large enough to ‘roll and wrap’ the pork pieces.

Prepare the transglutaminase. Mix one tablespoon of it with 4 tablespoons of water to form a slurry. Using a pastry brush, coat the top of the chicken skins throughly. Place a piece of pork on the skins and roll the skin up around the pork tightly. Make sure the ends are covered as well. Roll up the newly constructed meat in the plastic wrap, and twirl the ends of the plastic wrap until the whole concoction is firmly sealed. The objective is to make the skin and pork really stick together. Return the wrapped meat to the refrigerator, and allow the ‘glue’ to set up for at least 4 hours prior to cooking.

Whew ! The hard part is now done. After that, the rest is simple. Combine the olive oil, herbs and spices in a small bowl to form a paste. Remove the pork from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and slather the paste all around the meat. Place the reconstructed pork on a wire baking rack, and cook about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until the skin has turned brown and crispy.

Your reconstructed pork is now ready to serve. Serve with about anything you would normally serve pork with, but be prepared to enjoy the explosion of tender flavor that comes from this technique !

As some of you are aware, I was recently invited to be a guest chef at the BOKX 109 restaurant in Newton, MA. This was a very special event for me, a dream come true, some of the pictures which can be seen here. Chef Jarrod Moiles suggested we prepare scallops, and we both did. Here is the recipe I created for my scallop preparation, a southern-inspired version of a traditionally French dish. Above, it is shown as an appetizer, but Julia and I recently feasted on a plate of these.

Ingredients

• Large fresh sea scallops (as many as you want!)
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup Kentucky bourbon
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 medium shallot, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/2 pound of butter, very cold
• 1 cup heavy cream, reduced to 1/3 cup (optional)
• Salt and black pepper
• Cooking oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (to finish)
• 2 ounces white wine (to finish)
• Coarse ground pepper (to finish)

Start by making the beurre blanc sauce. In a small sauce pan, add a tablespoon of butter, the minced shallot, garlic and the black peppercorns, and sauté until the shallot is translucent. Add the white wine, lemon juice and bourbon, and simmer until the liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Strain the sauce to remove the shallots and pepper and return the sauce to the sauce pan.

Now, remove heat from the sauce pan. It and the sauce should still be warm. Begin adding the very cold butter, about 2 tablespoons at a time, and stirring it into the sauce, slowly incorporating it, so the sauce remains smooth and the butter does not separate. Keep doing this until all the butter is used. You may occasionally need to add a little heat to keep the pan warm enough to melt the butter, but mostly, only patience will be required. At this time, the sauce is ready, but it may be stabilized and kept for a couple of hours by adding 1 cup of heavy cream which has been reduced to 1/3 cup. This is optional, and is not required if you are using the sauce right away.

We have talked about cooking scallops before. They must not be overcooked – ever ! Really – never ! Fortunately, this is easily avoided. Lightly salt and pepper the scallops. In a heavy skillet, heat a 50-50 mixture of canola and olive oil until it is very hot, but not smoking. Add the scallops to the pan, being careful not to overcrowd them. Allow them to cook on one side until quite seared, about 1 minute. Flip them over and do the same to the other side. At the last instant, splash the pan with 2 tablespoons of melted butter and 2 ounces of white wine, and remove the scallops after about 10 seconds.

Your scallops are ready. Simply plate them and top with the beurre blanc. I added a little coarse ground pepper to the top, just for a little extra taste and visual appeal.

There are a lot of dishes I create that rely on base or compound ingredients, which, themselves, can be prepared ahead of time. Most of these can be made well ahead of time, and stored for quite some period. And all of them may be used in a variety of dishes.

This is my Bases and Compounds page ; I will update it as I add new things, and reference it often in the recipes that I present.

What is wrong with the plate shown above? Simple. It is too crowded. In spite of the fact that (for simply being a salad) it looks pretty appealing, the plate is too small for the items on it. I did this intentionally to illustrate a simple facet of cooking – presentation matters.

A lot, in fact.

Let’s start with what I did do right. As I said, this is just a chopped salad. I could have just as easily taken the ingredients, tossed them together, and thrown them in a bowl. After all, they are all heading to the same place! But what I did instead was create a palette – a visually appealing arrangement of food, designed to acknowledge the old saying that “we eat with our eyes first”. The first time I ever ate sushi, I really had no idea that I would like raw fish. But when the platter was placed before me, I said to myself, “How can anything this beautiful possible taste bad”? It didn’t (but of course, it could have!) and since that time, I have come to appreciate how food looks, as much as how it tastes. It is nearly as difficult to separate the look of the food from the taste, as it is to separate the smell of the food from the taste.

And quite frankly, it really didn’t take any more time to create this salad. The ingredients still had to be chopped and/or cooked. And that is the beauty of it all. Just one extra minute allowed me to show that I cared about the food – something that any dinner guest appreciates, especially your spouse or children. So spend a little time thinking about how your food is placed on a plate. Be an artist. Think outside the box. Copy what you see in restaurants; take notes when you are there. Watch cooking shows on TV, and when you see something special, do it yourself the next time you cook.

Speaking of plates, do yourself a couple of favors. First, buy big plates. That pretty much takes care of the problem illustrated in the photo. I actually use 13″ diameter plates and bowls for most of my main dishes. They were, somewhat funnily, designed to be used as platters and serving bowls, along with the much small dinner plates! Don’t be afraid to use separate plates for different items – a nice arrangement of small plates works just as well in lieu of large plates.

Another favor you can do yourself is to purchase a variety of different plates. Everyone gets tired of eating off the same plate every day. The plate shown above may have been too small, but it is (at least for my tastes) unique and appealing. It is irregularly shaped and higher at one end than the other. You would be amazed at what stores like Target, Crate and Barrel or Ikea have in the way of inexpensive and attractive dinnerware. And you don’t have to buy ‘service for 12′ quantities. I keep 6 different sets of 2, just for my wife and myself, which is most of the meals I fix, and gives a variety for each night, or is more appropriate for what I am making. I have 4 sets of service for 4, for when we have other couples over, and only 2 sets which could handle 8 or more, including the fine Limoges china, which we never use.

So that is it. Take a little time, be creative, and focus on the ‘art’ of cooking.

As the days grow both shorter and cooler, and I can finally stand having the oven on for several hours without having to jack up the air conditioning, I begin to look longingly at the braising pot. Braising is just another way of saying slow cooking in liquid. There are a great many benefits to braising: 1) the long cooking time means that you can use less expensive cuts of meat, and they will still end up tender, 2) The long cooking times ensures that flavors are fully integrated into the dish, and 3) You can pretty much ‘set it and forget it’, after the pot is in the oven.

A lot of you may say, “well, isn’t that like using a crock pot”? And I would say, yes and no. I do not like crock pots – Their size is somewhat limited (try getting 4 lamb shanks in one), and it is hard to set an exact temperature (most crock pots do this by selecting how long to cook, not at what heat). So I tend to avoid using one. They do, however, work in buffet settings OK, just to keep things warm.

I love Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cooking and this sweet and savory Moroccan dish really brings out the rich subtlety of lamb, though you could use a chunk of beef for the recipe as well.

Ingredients

• 2 small lamb shanks (about 1 to 1 1/2 pound each)
• 1  1/2 cups dry chickpeas
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced, with the rings separated.
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 whole star anise, or 1 teaspoon anise seeds
• 2 tablespoons butter

Please Note: In the photograph, above, I actually used a lamb ribeye cut – far more expensive than shanks, and unnecessary for this preparation. I just had it available. Also note that you will need one lamb shank for each person – the above list is for 2, so adjust portions accordingly.

Soak the chickpeas overnight or use the quick soak method described on the package.

Take the lamb shanks, lightly salt and pepper them and grill them over high heat, just to brown the meat, not to cook it.

In a large, oven safe pot, combine all the above ingredients, with the chickpeas on the bottom, then the carrots, the onions, the spices and the lamb. Add the 2 cups of beef stock over the top.

Cover the pot, and place in the oven for 6 hours at 225 degrees. Yes, it is a long time, but frankly, the longer you cook it the better it is ! Check on the pot every once in a while, and as the vegetables cook down, make sure the lamb is submerged in the stock as much as possible. Add a little more stock if necessary.

Serve over couscous or rice using slotted spoon, as you do not want too much of the braising liquid.

It occurred to me that some of you have questions regrading the portion sizes of the recipes I have been giving, and that is pretty fair question to ask.

I think a lot of the recipes are ‘self explanatory’ – in other words, if you are making the Chimichurri Chicken, then you will need one breast per person you are planning to serve. What may not be apparent is the amount of chimichurri sauce to prepare. In this case, and in most others, I usually provide for enough ‘sauce’ or ‘stock’, or ‘carrier medium’ for four servings.

Some recipes however, give measurements for one of the specific items, such as in the Bacon Scotch Egg recipe.

Any of the recipes may be scaled up or down, as you see fit for the amount you think you might need. Bear in mind, when I am cooking, I am normally cooking for 2: myself and my wife, Julia. But also keep in mind that we are pretty healthy eaters, and we normally have some leftovers. So you may not need to adjust very much to feed 4 people !

As always, if you have any questions about a specific recipe, don’t hesitate to ask !

Step One – The Brining

The first step is to brine the chicken thighs. The brining process sweetens the meat, and through the process of sugar and salt infusion, allows the chicken to remain tender when cooked.

I use this simple brine:

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup coarse kosher salt
• 3 smashed garlic cloves
• 1 jalapeño pepper, quartered
• About a quart of water

In a large non-reactive bowl, add the water, sugar and salt and mix well until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the garlic, pepper and the chicken thighs. Make sure there is enough water to completely cover the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Step Two – The Rub

At this point in time, you could just salt and pepper the thighs, slap them on the grill, and then sauce them up and call it a day. That would be too easy, and much less flavorful. That is why I dry rub nearly all the meat I barbecue. Here is the dry rub I use for poultry, though it works well for beef and pork too:

• 2 parts smoked paprika
• 1 part onion powder
• 1 part garlic powder
• 1/2 part black pepper
• 1/2 part cayenne pepper
• 1/2 part light brown sugar
• 1/4 part salt
• 1/4 part MSG (or just use 1/8 part more salt)

I have expressed this mixture in ‘parts’ which allows you to make as much or as little as you wish. I make a lot, as I use it a lot, and it keeps pretty well. I also use it as a base for other rubs, adding additional ingredients based on what I am making.

Take the thighs out of the brine, and pat them a little dry. Next coat the chicken pieces evenly and generously with the rub. After coating, spray on a little olive oil to help the rub mixture really penetrate the meat. Cover and refrigerate the chicken for at least an hour to allow the rub to do its work.

Step Three – Grilling and Saucing

Now we are ready to cook. Almost. We need a sauce. Ok, technically we don’t. Frequently I have just taken the rubbed chicken and put it on the grill. As the chicken cooks, I hit it with olive oil spray. This tends to form a nice crust with the rub, and frankly, it is pretty good that way.

But we are going to make a sauce, in this case, one of my favorites : A watermelon/chipotle BBQ Suace.

Ingredients

• 1 4 oz. can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 3 cups watermelon, cut into cubes
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• Salt
• Light brown sugar
• White wine vinegar

Do a 1/4 inch chop on the onion, and sauté it and the minced garlic in butter until the onion is translucent and cooked.

Then put the onion,the watermelon and the chipotle in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.

Now the tricky part – balancing the sauce. If you taste the creation you just made, it really will not taste very good, and certainly is not up to being used on our chicken. So we are going to balance the flavor using the salt, sugar and vinegar. First, add a little salt, and blend again. Taste this and keep doing this till you feel the salt component is just right. Now do the same with the brown sugar, and then the vinegar. I feel that BBQ sauce is a VERY personal thing – too many times have I had otherwise very good BBQ ruined by someone’s special sauce, which I thought was horrible.

Of course, you could just use your favorite commercial BBQ sauce, but I really like the basic flavor of this one.

Take the chicken and place it on a well oiled grill that is medium-hot. Begin grilling and trying the chicken, and as mentioned above, hit to occasionally with a little spray on olive oil. As the chicken nears doneness (Internal temperature of 165 degrees or above), begin applying the sauce. Do not use too much. One good coat on each side should do it. Cook the chicken until the surface forms the tasty black bits we all all love. Because of the brining, it will be hard, but not impossible, to over cook the chicken. Be careful!

The finished product:

First, the basics, and the resolution of issue number 3. ‘Confit‘ means to slow cook in fat. Although liquid other than fat my be used, this is normal considered braising, not confit. The confit cooking process is a form a charcuterie, the preparation and preservation of meat. Allowing the fat to solidify around the meat after the cooking process allows the meat to be preserved for a couple of weeks, and longer if refrigeration is used.

I solved problem number one, the duck leg quarters, by simply buying a whole duck and breaking it down. Even Kroger had whole frozen duck available.

After breaking down the duck (just as you would a chicken, but with lots more skin and fat), you will have 2 leg quarters, and 2 wings, which will also be used in the confit. The breasts are rarely used for confit, but for no other reason other than the hugh number of other ways they may be utilized.

The next step in the process is the curing of the meat. For the cure, I used the following:

• 2 tablespoons of coarse kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon of coarse black pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed,
• 12 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Take half of the curing mixture, and spread evenly on the bottom of a glass or ceramic dish which is large enough for arranging the duck pieces in a single layer. Then add the duck, and top with the remainder of the curing mixture.

Cover this and refrigerate the duck for at least 1 day, preferably 2 days. OK, so I was not able to solve issue number 2 about the length of time it takes to make this !

Remove the duck pieces and scrape off most, but not all of the cure mixture. Reserve a couple a garlic cloves and a couple of thyme sprigs.

And now for the fat. If you can find it, duck fat is the traditional way to go. And I can’t get this anywhere locally that I am aware of. It can be ordered online. So I opted for the next best thing – Lard. Believe it or not, in this age of vegetable oils, this can still be found in most grocery stores.

Add about 16 ounces of lard to the dish you use to cure the duck in (after cleaning, of course), and melt the lard in the oven at 220 degrees. When melted, remove the dish from the oven and add the reserved garlic and thyme, then the duck pieces in a single layer as shown below.

I leave the top skin side of the duck un-submerged in the fat, to allow the skin the get a little crispy during the cooking process. You may have to add or remove a little lard to get this just right, based on the size of your duck pieces and the size of your dish.

Place the dish back in the oven, still at 220 degrees, and allow the duck to slow cook for about 4 hours. You may wish to turn the heat up to about 300 degrees during the last hour to help brown and crisp the skin.

After cooking, remove the confit, and allow it to cool to room temperature. At this point you have 2 choices. The preferred way is to then refrigerate the confit (lard and all) for at least a day. This really concentrates the flavor, and as mentioned earlier, can be used to keep the confit for several weeks. Reheat the confit to melt the lard and remove the duck. Or you can just remove the duck pieces and enjoy straight away !

You will be amazed at how rich and tender the duck meat is, and I think you will agree that it was time well spent during the preparation.

Rice is an integral part of any Indian meal, and this fragrant rice is just the accompaniment. It uses a basic masala in whole form for the flavoring. This smells fantastic while cooking, and the taste is both delicate and distinct. With minor adjustments to the spice mixture, this is very adaptable to Mediterranean and Southeast Asian meals.

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup water or chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons coriander seed
• 1 tablespoon green cardamom pods
• 5 whole star anise
• 2 cinnamon sticks

Bring the water, coconut milk and butter to a boil, and add the rice and spices. Reduce to simmer and let cook for around 20 minutes or until rice if tender and fluffy. When serving, leave the spices in the rice for presentation. While you can eat the coriander seeds easily, and may be able to handle to cardamom  pods, don’t even try to eat the cinnamon and anise !