DUCK IN BED: The new food movement soon to replace Breakfast in Bed

About a month ago The Husband and I acquired a duck. It was stuffed into a bag of goodies that my mom loaded us up with after a visit to my parents.  We LOVE duck.  There really isn’t much better than the rich fatty meat of a duck.  It’s better than heaven. We decided to make an event of this treat. We called it, “DUCK IN BED”. I roasted it so it was crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, then we brought it into bed on a platter and tore into it like we were cave men, or at least like we were at Medieval Times Restaurant.  No need for utensils just a bunch of napkins. It was awesome…seriously awesome.

Last Sunday I skipped into the Farmers Market like I was a 5 year old in a toy store, I love the Farmers Market! I spotted the Hudson Valley Duck table where I learned about a type of duck called Lola. Lola is a cross between a Pekin and a mallard. Smaller than the standard Pekin, which is usually about 6 pounds; this little guy was about 3, and a little richer in flavor. Perfect for 2 people, perfect for DUCK IN BED! Here’s the recipe, and if you’d like to find your own Lola Duck, go to www.hudsonvalleyduckfarm.com

 *note: this recipe only works with Lola Duck, if you use a regular sized Pekin you'll need to cook it longer*

You’ll need: Roasting Pan and rack

1 Lola Duck 

Fresh rosemary

Fresh thyme

1 onion

Brussels sprouts

2 chopped potatoes

Salt

Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Sprinkle duck with a generous portion of salt and pepper inside as well as on the skin. Sprinkle fresh rosemary and thyme on the duck and inside. Place ¼ of the onion inside the duck. Place in rack. Spread potatoes and Brussels sprouts on the bottom of the roasting pan. Cook duck for 15 minutes breast side up. After 15 minutes flip duck breast side down and cook for 20 minutes. Finally flip one more time turn the heat up to 450 degrees and cook for 10 more minutes to crisp up the skin. Duck should be pink on the inside, and veggies at the bottom should be cooked nicely in the duck fat.

Serve in BED!

*Note: Be sure to save the duck fat at the bottom of the pan in a jar. Duck fat is one of the tastiest fats to cook with! Don’t waste this simple pleasure!!

STRIPPER TOP TEN: Foods NOT to eat before working at the Club

10)  Canned Tuna 

9)    Onions on anything

8)    Eggs

7)    Lentil Soup

6)    Garlic knots, or rather Garlic “Nots”

5)    Chinese Food

4)    Korean Food

3)    Indian Food

2)    Hot Dogs

1)    Chili 

I'm a Stripper.

Photo Courtesy: Roxi Dlite

I’m a stripper. I’m a wife. I’m a cook. I’m a dancer. I’m a choreographer. I am an artist.

The last decade of my life has been about one thing…following through on all the seemingly unrelated things that I do in my life, and trying to find the one common bond between them- if any. I keep it real, I stay alive, and I discover all the little nooks around me. Now is my time to come out.

When I was 15 years old all I wanted to be was a stripper. I couldn’t wait to turn 18 go to a strip club and maybe get a job. I turned 18, went to a strip club and felt like I had walked into a long lost home. I didn’t want to leave and at the same time I wanted to run. I stared in awe at the women around me, and was mesmerized by the men watching them. I did not get a job. The Power of Pussy intrigued and haunted me.

For the next five years Russ Meyer, Tura Satana, and strippers were my heroes. I was obsessed with sleaze, porn, camel cigarettes, old man bars, and the underbelly of life. There was an honesty there that I craved. I wanted to get closer to the strippers but I was afraid of something. Until two years ago I never knew what I was afraid of…would I get lost into that world? Was I wrong to think there was something deeper? Or was I being honest with myself in the fact that I liked it?

“The Power of Pussy 

intrigued and haunted me.”

I’ve always lived my life organically and very instinctually. I trust the voices in my head even though I don’t always understand why they tell me to “wait.”

When I was 23, I moved to New York and I discovered Burlesque. I had always been a fan of old Burlesque and was very familiar with the history. In every writing class in college I wrote about burlesque, seedy histories of strippers, stag films from the 60s, or the Golden Age of Porn…like I said, I was obsessed with sleaze and usually it was of the vintage variety. When I found Burlesque being performed in New York it was my way to strip without stripping. I loved it, and I felt like I was complete when I did my first show. Three years later Burlesque was my full time job, and I had discovered my bliss. But, I still wanted to be a stripper.

So, for my 30^th birthday I gave myself a present, permission to be a stripper. Not just a stripper…a stripper in the Bronx. Happy Birthday to me! 

To be continued…

"We're actually going to EAT that?": Eatocracy.com's Vintage Cookbook Challenge

Yes, that was the real reaction of The Husband after we went out to get all the ingredients necessary for the Vintage Cookbook Double Dare.  Dinner set in Jello...nothing could sound more disgusting. Oh! Wait! Let's add some lunch meat to it.  Tongue and Blood Loaf, Olive Loaf, and some regular old ham.  Let the 1930s live in our house for one night.  Good thing this is New York City and we can order in back up if necessary, but who knows, maybe it'll be delicious.  Jello was a staple in the American diet for decades! Maybe I should try being old fashioned?  Thanks Kat, for opening my mind to Jello....we...maybe...

Here's the recipe via Eatocracy.com
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/02/28/vintage-cookbook-vault-aspic-supper-salad-challenge/

Vegetable Supper Salad

1 package lemon-flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped salad
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 green pepper, chopped

Dissolve prepared gelatin in boiling water. Add vinegar and salt. Place in refrigerator Cabinet until mixture begins to thicken, then fold in celery, cabbage, carrot and green pepper. Turn into mold and return to Cabinetuntil ready to serve.

Unmold on crisp lettuce. Serve with thin slices of cold meat for the main course at supper or luncheon. (Any desired vegetables may be used in this recipe.)

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I did it for you... and The Husband and I tried to eat it...but honestly, unless you are over 80 years old or you have an unhealthy love of Jello...it's pretty bad. We ate a piece, tasted the Tongue, and honestly I enjoyed the tongue...much more than the jello.  We then reached for the delivery menus. There was a part of me that thought that I was going to be very surprised, that this recipe might blow my mind with the endless possibilities of Jello.  After all, my Grandma used to serve some sort of Jello salad at every Christmas dinner.  But no, instead of munching down on the Aspic Salad, we ordered Chinese food.

But making it is a different story!  It was the most fun cooking that I had had in a long time. Learning all the rules for getting Jello out of a mold without it breaking, or simply just shopping for a Jello mold! And discovering that The Husband has an unnatural knack for arranging lunch meat on a platter was the best surprise. Yes, he was the one to decorate the plate with Tongue, Olive Loaf, and Ham...pretty impressive I must say!

Here's a couple photos of my finished Jello monstrosity!

Pyrex and why I wish I had taken Physics in school.

On Sunday I learned a very important lesson in my kitchen through one of the worst cooking disasters in my kitchen's history.  It made me wish I had opted to take Physics in school.  Maybe I'll go back and take a class one of these days, not only to learn the mechanics of tassel twirling, but to learn how and why a Pyrex casserole dish explodes in your oven.

In my travels this past year, I spent a month in London.  While I was there, some of my favorite moments were spent over Sunday Roast.  Their tradition for Sunday Roast made me so happy.  It's pretty much the same thing as our Weekend Brunch, but I've never really been a big fan of breakfast food (there's really only so many times you can have eggs benedict)  But the Roast is a completely different story! And a leg of lamb is way more delicious to me than stupid eggs. Since I've been home from London, I've cooked Sunday Roast many times for The Husband.  This weekends roast will go down in history.

I set out on Sunday afternoon, a little late, and hoped to catch the last hour of the farmers market.  My plan was to buy whatever cut of meat was left and a bunch of root veggies, head home and turn on the oven.  I left too late however, and missed the market all together.  Feeling adventurous The Husband and I decided we would see what Fairway in Red Hook was like.  I had heard that they carried a lot of local food, and they might, but it is HUGE.  Way too big for me, and the exact opposite of any store I would willingly go into.  We were so overwhelmed that we ran, screaming, "How the fuck do we get out of here!!???"  Big box stores are SO not my thing.  Maybe if it was open 24 hours, I could go at 3am and enjoy it when there's no one in there.  Probably not...over-abundant supermarkets make me a little nauseous.

After that defeat we decided to go to a new butcher shop.  Closed.  Fuck it, we are going to our butcher. We went to our butcher shop, got a beautiful leg of lamb, and I jumped for joy! I even bought a few beef bones for future stock!

We headed home, and I started the roast, rubbed the leg with honey, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Put it in a Pyrex pan, and popped it in the oven for what was to be an hour and half.  At an hour and 20 minutes into the roast I added a little stock (which was cold) to the pan to add a little moisture to the bottom of the pan, and as I was adding it, the pyrex pan EXPLODED! And I mean EXPLODED! Smoke started billowing out of the oven, The Husband grabbed the fire extinguisher, I screamed, turned off the oven as fast as possible, opened the windows, closed all the doors to the kitchen and placed towels at the bottom of the doors.  There was glass EVERYWHERE.  I'm lucky that I didn't get hit with it. We did not end up needing the fire extinguisher because The Husband and I jumped into action!  The next half hour was spent fanning the smoke out the window, the kitchen was FILLED with smoke.  The smoke faded, as we rescued the lamb from the rubble.  Cut off the pieces that might have touched glass, and crunched the oven closed to worry about in the morning.

It was a disaster, but somehow the roast came out delicious, and perfectly cooked but it still felt like a defeat. I learned an important lesson...do not add cold liquid to pyrex that is already hot in the oven.  In fact, I am going one step farther.  I will never roast in pyrex, only cast iron, or metal.  I recommend that you do the same.

Easy Lunches with Easy Women: Gal Friday!

Last week I had Gal Friday over for lunch.  I asked her ahead of time, "if you could have anything in the world to eat, what would it be?" Her answer, "I'm craving veggies like crazy!!...And and all veggies. mmmmm :)" And that's exactly what I cooked her.  Lots and lots of veggies!  So many veggies...more than any other meal I've ever made.  This lunch turned out so well that I have literally made it 4 times in the last 6 days!  Hot damn, the best salad ever.

Roasted Veggie Salad a la Gal Friday

1 beet chopped into bite size cubes
1 celery root chopped into bite size cubes
cauliflower
2 leeks- green part removed, sliced down the middle and rinsed.
2 carrots peeled and sliced
12 brussel sprouts halved
cabbage- sliced into large pieces
1 acorn squash or delicata squash
5 fingerling potatoes
arugula
radiccio
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
Romano Cheese

**yes, that IS a lot of veggies!**

Preheat oven to 350

Combine all veggies (except for arugula and radiccio and garlic)in a bowl, coat with olive oil, add salt and coarse ground pepper, stir.  Spread veggies onto a cookie sheet so that the veggies are all on a single layer.  If needed use two cookie sheets. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the veggies start to brown.

While veggies are cooking prepare the dressing.  Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper whisk together.

Place radiccio and arugula on plates, when roasted veggies are done put them on top of the raw greens. Pour dressing on top of all veggies.  Finish with grated Romano Cheese and a little fresh ground pepper.

Enjoy!!

Gal and I always have a great time together, she's a free spirited, down-to-earth kinda girl and I love her! At the end of the lunch the sun had gone down, and it was time for me to pack up for a gig.  Gal left this note for The Husband.  It has made both of us laugh many many times.  This is a perfect example of what makes Gal awesome.

Easy Lunches with Easy Women: Lil Miss Lixx and Leah Alice!

Last week I had a fabulous lunch with two lovely ladies.  I think I'm going to make a point to have at least one sexy woman over to my house for lunch every week.  I'd love to have beautiful women in my kitchen everyday, but I take what I can get.  So, I'm starting something new, Easy Lunches with Easy Women!

Last week I had Lil Miss Lixx and Leah Alice over. We got the gossip out early, then talked about books, movies, and of course a lot about sex, drugs, and rock and roll!  For the first of these lunches I decided to go with something simple.  So here's what I made:

Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger Shrimp

SOUP:
1 large Butternut Squash- peeled, seeded and chopped into smaller pieces
2 shallots chopped (about 1 cup)
3 star anise
2 cloves garlic minced
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
cilantro for garnish

SHRIMP:
1 lb. large shrimp deveined and peeled
3 tablespoons ginger minced
salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Soup: sauté shallots, garlic, and star anise in 2 tablespoons butter until shallots are tender. Add butternut squash and sauté for a couple minutes. Add stocks and cook until squash is tender and falling apart.  Remove star anise.  With an emersion blender (you can use a regular blender as well, just so it in batches) blend soup until thin. Add salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, marinate shrimp in ginger and salt.  When soup is ready to be served.  Heat a pan with olive oil and add shrimp to hot pan.  Cook until slightly browned and pink. (only a couple minutes)

Serve soup in a bowl, add shrimp to soup and garnish with cilantro.