Whole Roasted Duck

Aside from my love of cooking, do you want to know two things that inspire me in the kitchen? Beautiful ingredients and beautiful cookware. Today I'm sharing a recipe that is special enough to grace any holiday table, yet simple enough to prepare on any given Sunday. Plus, when it's in the oven, it fills your house with scents of warmth and comfort. I had to run to the store while it was in the oven and opening the door to the scent of this and freshly cut pine was intoxicating.

Let's start with the ingredients. I've been in the mood for duck lately. I used some duck sausage to make sausage rolls a few days ago, but I had a Maple Leaf Farms All-Natural duck raised without antibiotics just calling to me from the fridge. The duck, some sunny orange clementines and some fresh green herbs were just the ingredients that I needed to inspire me.

Garlicky Duck Sausage Rolls

I often hear people dismiss British food as boring, but I've always been fascinated by it. Of course, I'm fascinated by the food of all cultures, so maybe that's not very surprising. But with names like Toad in the Hole, Bubble and Squeak, Spotted Dick, Cullen Skink, and Welsh Rarebit, how could one not be intrigued? And it's not just the names, I've tried all but spotted dick...and each is tasty.

One thing that I hadn't tried making myself until yesterday was a simple sausage roll. The name may not be exciting, but I don't know why I waited so long to actually try them. How could sausage baked inside a pastry crust be anything but delicious? And while it's anything but boring, I did shake things up a bit and use duck sausage in place of pork sausage.

Poultry Roasting Chart = Less Holiday Cooking Stress!

It seems like Halloween just ended and people are already beginning to plan out the rest of the season. For those celebrating Thanksgiving, sometimes planning and decor start pretty early.

Should we cook more food this year since many folks brought plus ones last year? Shall we cut back on the beer since the wine was such a hit? And for many families Turkey is a given so the question is "how big of a bird do we need?"

Grilled Duck Half w/ Raspberry Barbecue Sauce

Would you believe me if I told you that you could have tender, succulent duck for dinner on a busy weeknight? Well, guess what? You CAN have tender, succulent duck for dinner on a busy weeknight! It's simply a matter of combining seasonal fruit and raiding your spice cupboard to throw together a flavorful barbecue sauce while your grill heats up.

You may know that I am a Maple Leaf Farms ambassador for a few simple reasons. They are a local family-run business here in Indiana and they produce a superior product that stems from caring and commitment. I'm not paid to use, write, or talk about their products—I do it because I think everybody should know about their availability.

Garlicky Duck Stir-Fry inspired by Eat Drink Man Woman

"Eat, drink, man, woman. Basic human desires."

This month's Food 'n Flix pick is a true "foodie movie". A delight for the senses, Eat Drink Man Woman is set in Taiwan and centers around widowed Master Chef Chu and his three unmarried adult daughters who still live at home. Each Sunday they come together to connect over a lovingly crafted elaborate family meal. The daughters are being pulled in their own directions by love and careers while they notice that their father's once flawless food is starting to lack flavor because he has lost his sense of taste.

Sound familiar? Well, if you haven't seen this 1994 release before, maybe you've seen the 2001 flick Tortilla Soup. Tortilla Soup is the American remake that features a Mexican-American family living in Southern California. I think both movies are equally delicious in their own right.

Whiskey Raspberry Glazed Duck Breasts

Silly me, I got married on Valentine's Day, therefore condemning myself to a lifetime of anniversaries with over-booked, over-crowded restaurant dinners. Fortunately, the husband and I are resourceful. Instead of fighting those dinner crowds, we opt instead for eating out for lunch; {knock on wood} we've never once had to brave a crowded restaurant.

It was late morning when we said our vows, and afterwards, all the friends and family who were there (which were not many) headed over to a local Mexican restaurant for a celebratory lunch. It's sort of become a tradition for us to eat at that same restaurant for lunch every year on our anniversary. It's unspoken, but that's where we always end up.

Asian-inspired Braised Duck Legs

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Fiji Water, for the Perfection Takes Time campaign. All opinions are my own.

Recently I realized something, and it made me a bit wistful. I realized that I don't take my time in the kitchen anymore. I mean, YES—I'm always in the kitchen. Always testing recipes. Always making dinner. Always moving a stack of cookbooks from the table to the floor. Always fretting over lack of counter space...lack of daylight...lack of clean dishes. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Spending my time instead of taking it.

Sixteen years ago, when I moved into my first real apartment...not a dorm room, not a house or apartment shared with college roommates...just me, I took my time in the kitchen. I was just coming into my own. I was learning cooking processes and techniques. I used to make lists, explore ingredients, and prepare meals that took time. Golden-skinned chicken that was roasted in the new stoneware dish I was so proud of. Chuck roasts so tender and beckoning that burning my fingertips just to get an early taste didn't hurt a bit. Pink hams wrapped in a shiny glaze. Pork loins propped up by a bed of sturdy vegetables. You know, the type of food that envelops the entire house in a sense of calm.

And I did it just because I enjoyed it.

Duck and Lentil Ragù with Spaghetti Squash

The word ragù instantly conjures up visions of warm kitchens, family meals, and comfort food. Slow cooking...long braises...tomato based (traditionally) meat sauces, usually containing some sort of wine...what's not comforting about that? But sometimes I cheat and go for something equally as hearty and flavorful, yet cooked in far less time. Let's call them rapid ragùs.

This one in particular still features tender, slow-cooked meat—it's just that I didn't simmer it in the sauce itself. I love slow roasted duck and duck confit (duck legs that have been cooked slowly in their own fat), and while I don't mind taking the time to cook either, Maple Leaf Farms offers some awesome pre-cooked options. That means that I can have slow roasted meat at my fingertips, whenever.

I made this ragù at the end of last week (you may remember me telling you that there was a thick blanket of snow outside my window). It all started with a couple of little ovalular spaghetti squash sitting on my counter. Spaghetti squash just so happen to be my favorite type of winter squash...well, any squash really. More often than not, I'll just roast and scrape one and eat it with some Italian sausage and kale; that's one of my favorite meals. But since I've shared that recipe before, I knew I had to come up with something else. I mean, that is the point of 12 Weeks of Winter Squash. Stepping outside and trying new things, new combinations...coming up with new favorite uses for these sturdy squash varieties.

Sticky Mango Mustard Glazed Duck Meatballs

I'm not usually one to hide an ingredients, or tell my family it's something other than it is. However, if I'm using something that I think they may turn their noses up at, I probably won't tell them what it is if they don't ask. Case-in-point, these meatballs. They're tender, lightly spiced duck meatballs in a sweet, spicy, sticky mango mustard glaze. Sounds good, right? My guess is that half of you said yes, the other half held back because they were made from duck. Why is that?

I think it's just because duck isn't a meat that everybody grows up eating (and is therefore accustomed to it). Duck is often dismissed as a special meal (read, holiday meal) meat. If you know me, you that's an assessment that I just don't agree with.  Duck doesn't have to be a roasted, laquered whole bird garnished festively—though that is a happy picture. Try working instead with something as simple as ground duck, and using it where you would normally use beef, pork, or turkey.

Now, just in case this is your first time here (or you weren't familiar with the fact), I am a Maple Leaf Farms (duck) Ambassador. I'm not paid to say good things about duck, my opinions are all my own. But lest you think I'm only saying good things about duck because I'm an ambassador, you can flip that around and say I'm only an ambassador because I like to say good things about duck.