May 15, 2009

Springtime has come again to DC, and the garden is growing once more.  Things are a little late this year, due both to some cool weather and a late start because of a spring break trip to Hawaii.  (Now that would be a great place to garden!)  But the potatoes and onions are looking quite robust.  This year I am following some companion planting suggestions from the book "Great Garden Companions," by Sally Jean Cunningham.  She suggests planting green beans and potatoes together, along with some salvia and marigolds.  It is an attractive combination.  I just hope that the beens grow up enough to get some sun...

So far all we have eaten from the garden are some radishes and one green onion, but hopefully that will change soon.  Lettuce, arugula, and rapini are on the horizon.  The sugar snaps may be a little late this year, so hopefully the hot weather will hold off for a bit.

This past weekend I decided to have fun with a duck.  One of my pet peeves is how hard it is to find duck in the grocery store.  Whole Foods used to carry duck breasts and duck confit, but now they carry only whole ducks.  And I have never been able to find duck legs sold separately.  So, I decided to go ahead and buy a whole duck.  We had the breasts seared on Sunday night.  I pounded them out a bit and marinated them with some shallots, olive oil, and crushed peppercorns (black, white, green, and pink).  A quick pan saute and they were ready to go, along with a wild rice pilaf and a beet and watercress salad.  The next night I roasted the leg quarters, which I had rubbed with a mixture of cumin, a bit of coriander, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg (easy on the last two).  We had it with cous cous and roasted carrots.  And then I made some stock out of the miscellaneous carcass parts, along with other duck and chicken parts I had in the freezer.  I used a bit of the stock in a lentil-mushroom-and chard pasta, but I have frozen the rest.  It might be a good base for a really savory risotto.  Ultimately, I was pretty pleased with all of the mileage I got out of that duck.  Maybe I'll be inspired to make my own confit...