Dressing up the bird

The pieces I write here are intended, in large part, to talk about what I cook, and why I cook it. The description which follows is going to be about last night's dinner, and it will tie together some of the themes of the whole blog, review some techniques, and maybe give you some ideas for future cooking. But first I have to get something off my chest.

The new season of "Top Chef" started this week. Yes, it's going to be another eye roller for me, but the part of the episode that made me not only roll my eyes, but twist my neck in circles like Linda Blair in "The Exorcist" had to do with the elimination challenge. Contestants had to draw knives to see when they would pick, from a list of "classic dishes" that they would then have to cook. Everyone was dreading getting "souffle." And when the guys who got the souffles presented theirs, you could see why.

God help the kitchens of restaurants everywhere. You're a cooking school graduate, you have experience, and you can't whip up a souffle? We are all in trouble. So in days to come, you're going to learn how to make souffles. A savory one, and a dessert one. And for homework, you should review the movie "Sabrina" (the original one, with Audrey Hepburn, NOT the remake. Audrey Hepburn is one of the two or three most beautiful women to have ever lived. Get familiar with her).

Ok, enough of that . To the item at hand. Last night, I knew I was cooking duck breasts for dinner. I knew nothing more than that. I was planning "some kind of sauce," but really didn't have any idea of what I was doing. Finally, I had decided on a carmelization based on honey, soy sauce, and a few herbs.

Then I opened the citrus boxes, and found the first bag of kumquats for the season.

Here's where your ability to roll with what you have, is very important. The sauce I had in mind is a good one. I've made it before. But KUMQUATS (incidentally, that's a good way to tell if a man is gay or straight. Ask him to pronounce the word. Gay men have no trouble. Straight men turn red or just won't say it. Don't believe me? Try it. Go ahead. And it's even better if you ask a straight guy to say it in front of a gay guy. WATCH HIM SQUIRM. It's really fun). I had to do something with them.

So, let's review how we cook duck breast. The night before, I had scored them through the fat, down to the meat, and salted them. Then I left them to "cure" in the fridge. To cook them, I put them, skin side down in a cold pan. I turned the heat to medium high, and let them cook away for four minutes. Much of the fat rendered out and I poured it off, and put the breasts back to cook for another four minutes. While this was happening, I sliced about ten kumquats on a diagnonal, in thin slices. I dropped these into boiling, UNSALTED water for ten seconds, just to soften the skin and make them easier to chew. I drained them. When the duck breasts had cooked for that eight minutes, I poured off almost, but not quite all of the fat, and turned them skin side UP, to cook for another four minutes. I had crispy, rare duck breasts. I put them to the side, to make my sauce. There was a little fat left, maybe a tablespoon, and I tossed in about four good tablespoons of blood orange marmalade (any marmalade would work), and then the kumquat slices. When the marmalade had melted, I put the duck back in, skin side down, and let them cook for just a minute or two, to coat the skin. I turned them, to cover the meat side, and that was it. I let the duck rest for five minutes before I sliced it, and then served it with the remaining sauce and kumquats poured over it.

Two duck breast halves (one whole breast), fed three of us nicely and the sauce is a new addition to my repertoire.

And here's something easy to do with kumquats. Really pretty too. You need Belgian endive, and the kumquats. Plan on half an endive, and three kumquats per person. Slice the endive on an angle, and toss it with some vinegar - just a bit - to keep it from browning. Do the same thing for the kumquats and add them to the endive. Then make a very quick, light vinaigrette of white or champagne vinegar, olive oil and salt, and toss everything real quick. And you have a lovely, pretty salad that is hard to beat during the winter.

Kumquats are great with beets too, and I'll come back to that soon. For now, though, get your beaters ready, because next time around, we're gonna make souffles