Crispy skin duck breast with honey & orange glazed carrots

This is a rich indulgent dish, perfect for a cool autumn evening. There is a reason why orange is often paired with duck - it provides a sweetness and fruitiness that pairs well with the strong flavour of the duck meat.

The secret to crispy skin is to render out all of that duck fat under the breast, and making sure you pour off the excess fat so that you do not end up with soggy or chewy skin.

The honey and orange glazed carrots are one of my dad's recipes, which I have loved since a child.

Ingredients

2 duck breasts

2 large carrots

1 tbs butter
2 tbs honey
1/4 cup of orange juice
zest from an orange
pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Method - the duck breast

1. Pat the skin of the duck breast and score the through the skin, This helps the fat to render and run out.
2. Season with salt and ground pepper.
3. Place skin side down in a cold non stick pan on a medium heat without oil for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Pour off the fat regularly and seal the other side for 30 seconds.
4. Place the skin side up on a rack in a roasting tin in the middle of the oven. The following guidelines give you approximate times for roasting the breast, but as with all meats the size of the breasts will affect how long the cooking will need to be.

Rare - 10 minutes
Medium - 15 minutes
Well Done - 18 minutes

When the duck is cooked rest in a warm place for 10 minutes.

Method - the honey and orange glazed carrots

1. Slice the carrots finely (peel if you prefer, I find I don't need to).
2. Cook in boiling water until soft but not mushy.
3. Drain the carrots in a colander.
4. In the same pot melt the butter and honey, then add the orange juice, zest, and a pinch of nutmeg. Add the carrots and stir until the sauce has coated the carrots and is reduced to your liking. 
5. Season to taste.

Serve with your duck breast, and any other accompaniments you may desire. As you can see I added some baby spinach and mashed potato to mine!

Enjoy!

Rose-petal custard

This is a continuation of my scandalous love affair with custard. This custard uses the same basic recipes as the lemon verbena custard, but uses rose petals to flavour it. The red and deep pink rose petals I used imparted a lovely soft colour to the custard, and a fragrant sweet turkish-delight flavour. This is one I shall definitely make again and again when the roses are in bloom!

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornflour

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cup milk

Petals of 3-4 fragrant roses. The more fragrant the roses, the more fragrant and flavourful your custard will be.

Method

Place the milk and rose petals in a pot. Bring just up to the boil, then take immediately off the heat and leave to cool. Strain the milk to remove all the petals.

Mix the sugar, cornflour, egg yolk, vanilla and milk in a saucepan and stir with a whisk to remove lumps. Taste to make sure you are happy with the sweetness etc and adjust as necessary. Place over a low-medium heat and stir with a whisk until it thickens. 

Enjoy!

Lemon verbena custard

 I can remember my mum making custard when I was younger, and trying to teach me - but I was always too impatient with it and cooked it too quickly so it curdled. Now that I am older, I am much more patient and am reaping the rewards.  After all is there anything better than soft, silky smooth, warm custard on a cool night? This custard is all that with a lovely lemony flavour.

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornflour

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cup milk

Sprig of lemon verbena leaves.

Method

Place the milk and lemon verbena in a pot. Bring just up to the boil, then take immediately off the heat and leave to cool. Remove the lemon verbena leaves and strain if necessary.

Mix the sugar, cornflour, egg yolk, vanilla and milk in a saucepan and stir with a whisk to remove lumps. Taste to make sure you are happy with the sweetness etc and adjust as necessary. Place over a low-medium heat and stir with a whisk until it thickens. 

Enjoy!

Strawberry custard cake

This is a cake that has it all - vanilla cake, custard, fresh strawberries, and the taste of strawberry jelly. It is gorgeous! I have not tried it with other berries, but they'd be worthwhile trying!

Cake 

1 tablespoon butter

6 tablespoons milk

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 celcius.  Place butter in a spring form ring pan and place in oven just until butter melts. Remove from oven and use a brush to evenly spread butter around the bottom and sides of the pan. 
Place the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat till light yellow and fluffy. Add in the milk and vanilla  and beat to combine.
Combine the flour and baking powder and sift into the egg and sugar mixture.  Stir gently to combine along with the vanilla.
Pour into your greased flan or cake tin and place in centre of oven.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.

Cool, then turn out onto a serving platter. 

Custard Layer

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornflour

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons butter

Mix the sugar, cornflour, egg yolk, vanilla and milk in a saucepan and stir with a whisk to remove lumps.  Place over a low-medium and stir with a whisk until it thickens. It should be quite thick.

Add in the butter and stir to blend.

Cool until it is room temperature and then spread over top of the vanilla cake layer.

Topping

3 punnets of strawberries
1 tsp rosewater (you can omit if you don't have this)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornflour

1/3 cup water

Arrange 1 punnet of strawberries on top of the custard. If they are large strawberries you can cut them in half.

Put the remaining 2 punnets of berries in a food processor and process until they are crushed but still have texture (you don't need a fine puree)

Put the sugar, cornflour, rosewater, water and pureed berries into a saucepan and bring to a boil. 

Cool and then pour over the fresh berries on top of the custard. 

Note: you can sieve the berry glaze to remove seeds and to make it finer. I usually don't because I quite like the texture. It's up to you though!

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Zupa Czosnkowa (Garlic Soup)

Well, after a long and difficult winter I am back! It wasn't a very cold winter here, even by Australian standards, in fact it was surprisingly mild. That didn't stop me from getting a couple of colds/flu's and random viruses. The worst was bronchitis which left me very ill for three weeks, and then has taken another few weeks for me to feel like I am getting back to normal.

This Polish soup is one that ticks all my boxes when I am ill, It is easy to make, it is delicious, it is good for you (if you ignore the sour cream lol). It warms you up and makes you feel all cosy and loved. OK, maybe that's just me!

Though this may sound like a strange soup, with way too much garlic, give it a try. Cooking the garlic for such a long time takes away any heat and astringency and leaves a very sweet flavour. The egg and cream mixture further rounds out the flavour.

Ingredients

8 cups beef stock (use vegetable stock to make this vegetarian)

1 bay leaf
15 peeled garlic cloves
2 carrots, diced VERY finely
2 tablespoons oil
2 onions,diced finely
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream

Method

Cut 5 garlic cloves in half. Dice the remainder finely or put through a garlic sieve.

Saute onions in oil until translucent.Add the diced garlic and cook till softened. Add in remaining garlic, stock, carrots, and herbs.

Let simmer on a low heat for 1 hour. Season to taste. Leave to cool slightly (ie don't let it be near boiling or you may split the cream).

Mix egg yolks and sour cream together in a bowl, then slowly add a few tablespoons of hot stock to it to temper it (so it doesn't curdle when you add it to the soup). Whisk it into the soup.

Enjoy with hot bread, croutons, or shards of crispy bacon. (OK, so there goes the healthy part!!)

Caraway seed soup

Caraway seed soup is a light and tasty dish. It is a simple dish, ideal for fast days, and a perfect starter for a banquet.

Ingredients 

• 2 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1tbs flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups water or veggie stock

Method

• Heat the oil and toast the seeds until they release their aroma.
• Add the flour and let it brown a bit. 
• Add the paprika, and pour the water or stock over.
• Cook for 15 mins until it is silky
• Strain the seeds, and serve with crusty bread.

Zebra Cake

Zebra Cake is delicious! Great as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee. It is surprisingly easy to make.

Best of all, no zebras are harmed in its creation! It is named for its striped layers of chocolate and vanilla cake. 

The layers are usually not as wavy as mine are - when I was pouring the batter I discovered that the bench I was on sloped so the batter poured unevenly. It still tasted good though!

Ingredients

4 eggs

250 ml milk

250 g sugar

250 ml vegetable oil
2 cups (10 oz / 300 g) plain flour
1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (equals 3 teaspoons) baking powder 

2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar and beat until light and fluffy.Add milk, vanilla and oil, and continue beating until well blended.

3. In a separate bowl, combine and mix flour and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat just until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.  Batter should run slowly off the beaters. If it is too thick add more milk, if too runny add more flour.

4. Divide the mixture into 2 bowls.  Add cocoa powder into one of the bowls and mix well. You may need to add a little more milk to maintain the batters fluidity.

6. Lightly grease a round cake pan with oil. 

7. This is the most important technique in the whole process, as this is what gives the zebra cake its distinctive stripes. Pour 3 heaped tablespoons of vanilla cake batter into the middle of your cake pan. Then immediately pour3 tablespoons of cocoa batter and pour it in the center on top of the plain batter. Then 3 tbs of vanilla, 3 of cocoa, and so on until both batters are used up. DON'T stop until it is done. At the end you should see concentric rings of batter in your pan.

8. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

9. Invert, cool, dust with icing sugar and serve.