Freezer night. An evening dedicated to cleaning the fridge, freezer and pantry - all of which had reached max capacity. I am a saver when it comes to food. Not leftovers, per se, but now that I have a better sense of how ingredients work together, I like to keep them on hand for whenever I want to get creative.
Freezer night has one rule. You are only allowed to use what you have on hand. You are NOT ALLOWED to buy anything to supplement.
So, yesterday morning I took inventory of everything else I had in my fridge and pantry, pulled all the things out I wanted to use up in the freezer (fennel fronds, 2 kinds of cookie dough and nuts and a duck breast leftover from a dinner party). Decided to chuck the turkey burgers I've had in there since May.
I've not worked a lot w/ duck. But it's salty, fattiness begs for something sweet and tangy. I had nothing sweet and tangy. The $4.99 wine I had on hand would have to do.
I settled on a spice/garlic mix that I rubbed between the skin and breast, then bound together with twine. I seared the bundle on all sides, poured off the fat (strained it through cheese cloth to capture the charred bits), and stuck it in the 400 degree oven to roast for awhile.
In the meantime, I made grits. Used about a cup of homemade chicken broth I had leftover, a cup of gruyere, white pepper, duck fat and a little truffle oil. These grits were not for the faint of heart. OMG YUM. Heart attack dinner was about to be served.
The duck turned out fabulously over the grits. The red wine was critical to the meal because it really did need some sweet tartness to counterbalance the salty fat.
Yum yum yum.
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