How to pan-fry the perfect duck breast

Pan-fried Duck Breast with Tomato Galette

With its crispy skin and rich gamey flavor, the duck breast is just about the most delicious cut of meat there is.

Unfortunately, a lot of people find it difficult to get it right, so I would like to offer my two-cents on this subject.

Posted on 23rd Aug 2010 in Meat, Old School, Recipes | 5 comments

The hardest part about making Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream is resisting the temptation to drink it

And thus, I achieved Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Blueberry Cheesecake, deliciously deconstructed

Ice cream mixes (the liquid that you turn into ice cream) have got to be one of the most delicious drinks ever. I can never resist the temptation to lick the spoon after scraping the remnants into the ice cream maker. Just the aroma of the fruit ice cream mixes I’ve made is intoxicating.

This Cheesecake ice cream has got to be the strangest I’ve made so far because I’ve never pureed cheese before.

Posted on 17th Jul 2010 in Baked Goods, Fun, Recipes | 1 comment

Making Blueberry Sauce

Blueberry Sauce for my Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

I am making Blueberry Cheesecake ice cream. The question is how to incorporate the blueberries into the ice cream. There’s the option of just mooshing the blueberries into the ice cream or (which I usually do) buy an organic blueberry jam and layer the thing in. But ever since Cheryl made cherry sauce for our cheesecake, I thought it would be a great idea to do the same thing with blueberries.

Posted on 14th Jul 2010 in Baked Goods, Food and Drink, Recipes | Post a comment

Desperate Parma Swirls

Again with the potluck. I like potlucks because it gives me an opportunity to spring a surprise on unsuspecting people. In the case of Parma Swirls, the first time I created it was when I got a call about an ad hoc potluck.

Posted on 11th Jul 2010 in Baked Goods, Recipes | 4 comments

Easy Coleslaw Dressing

My camera lens fogged up in the heat of my kitchen

Every time I get invited to a potluck, a voice in me says, “bring a salad! It’s fun, healthy, non-controversial and best of all, everyone can enjoy it.”

That is the voice of Satan.

Posted on 5th Jul 2010 in American, Food and Drink, Recipes | Post a comment

Mentaiko Toast

Last post on Mentaiko I promise, because if you are like me, you should be pretty tired of Mentaiko by now.

Anyway, I received a question on how to do Mentaiko toast since I mentioned it in my previous 2 posts. Basically, you use the Mentaiko Pasta Sauce and spread it on white bread or, ideally, a baguette, toast it and eat.

Alternatively, with leftover Mentaiko pasta sauce in the bowl, you can use a piece of bread to mop up the remnants. And yes, it works with the Garlic Oil Mentaiko mix too. And, OK, if you want a slightly creamy toast, you can toss in a small dollop of the Japanese Mayonnaise, fold the mixture and spread it on the bread before toasting.

It’s that easy. Great if you need to bring something to a party as this can be easily assembled at the party venue, just ask for a toaster oven and knife for spreading.

However you do it, especially if you toast it to a brown crisp, it’s very good eating.

Posted on 25th Jun 2010 in Musings, Recipes | 2 comments

Rapido e facile Pasta Aglio Olio con Mentaiko

She looked at me and asked, “I’m hungry, do you have any leftover mentaiko pasta?”

I had neither leftover nor any softened butter on hand, therefore with 3 remaining sacs of Mentaiko, I made pasta Aglio e Olio con Mentaiko…

Posted on 23rd Jun 2010 in Fusion, Italian, Japanese, Recipes | 6 comments