Ditmas Park CSA Week 6

Big stuff in week 6 from the Ditmas Park CSA

Its the week of the callaloo bigger than a raccoon/medium sized dog. Callaloo bigger than a small child. Callaloo big enough to curl up in bed with, not like its gonna keep you warm. This bunch of callaloo is so big I tell you it takes up the entire bottom shelf of my fridge hiding the tupperware containers in a forest of leaves. Not to mention a large head of cabbage, thats also pretty big.

Ditmas Park CSA Week 6

1 enormous head of callaloo
1 bunch of basil
1 head of cabbage
1 red onion
1 white onion
2 cucumbers
2 zucchinis
2 heas of garlic
1 yellow squash
1 bag of yellow wax beans
8 medium tomatoes
11 red sweet peppers
6 eggs

Ditmas Park CSA Week 12

Its been a solid month since Ive picked up my share due to vacation! I missed my vegetables, and when I returned the predictable cucumber, pepper, tomato, onion, kale, melon, and corn (would you believe its the first corn of the season for me?) combo were still waiting for me. Broccoli is here now too, a hint that cool weather is on its way, and different set of vegetables are growing.

Ditmas Park CSA Week 12

7 large tomatoes
3 cucumbers
3 small zucchini
1 red onion
1 white onion
1 bunch kale
1 egg plant
1 bag wax beans
1 head broccoli
1 watermelon
2 peppers
4 ears of corn
6 eggs

Cucumber Mint Vodka Watermelon

Watermelon man hole for vodka

I should have posted this a few days ago. Im worried youll see this post and want to make a big fat vodka watermelon for your Labor day picnic/bbq/yacht party. And you should want to but you need to act NOW. Thats right, if you are slightest bit interested in boozing up a watermelon turn off the computer, buy a watermelon and some vodka and come back.

Did you do it? Lets proceed. It is not common knowledge unless you have tried this or read lots of recipe comments that it can take up to FOUR DAYS for your watermelon to absorb vodka. There are million recipes that look simple, and you think will take 6 hours or overnight. Unless you know where to buy a "dry" watermelon it will take at least 2 full days for a great vodka watermelon to begin. A week would be awesome. You might not get invited back to the party if arent careful. Here are my real time instructions.

Cucumber Mint Vodka Watermelon

1 large watermelon
1/2 cucumber cut into spears, divided
1 handful of fresh mint leaves, divided
2 350 ml bottles of vodka

Youre going to be feeding your watermelon over the course of a few days, so first youll want to prepare the watermelon and space for it. Now look at your fridge and make sure that you can fit the watermelon with 6-7 inches head space for the vodka on a shelf. You may need to rearrange shelves. Place the watermelon on a plate to catch run off juice, and prevent it from sliding around. I also used an upside down coffee can lid to keep it snug.

Make sure you have room for this in your fridge

Take an old, but clean cap from a bottle of oil or similar. Press the cap down onto the top of the watermelon, where you plan to feed it, making an indentation. Now cut inside that indentation to make an opening. Using a spoon dig down and carve out some watermelon. 5-6 inches is good, or to the center of the watermelon. Turn the watermelon upside down and drain out some of the fluids too.

Fill the watermelon cavity half way with vodka from the first bottle of vodka. Slide half the cucumber spears and mint into the vodka bottle. Now for your big maneuver, carefully flip the vodka bottle into the watermelon. Place in the fridge and let sit for 1-2 days until absorbed. After the first bottle is absorbed, crack open the second and repeat the last set of steps. Some of the vodka may not absorb from the second bottle. It depends on the size and juiciness of your melon.

When its party time you can use the same cap from the first step as plug to keep all the juice in place! Smart! Or just cut it up and bring it in slices, but there really is nothing like a the show of carving the vodka watermelon in front of a hot and thirsty audience.

Duck Tales Roasting a Whole Duck

Oh duck. I have taken your beauty, but given you delicious flavor from moist cooking

Shop Rite in Midwood Brooklyn is a super-duper market. It has a meat department one city block long. Somewhere among the 100s of cuts of pre-packaged meats I found a pile of ducks. I grabbed a mid-sized 6lb whole duck and checked out. From that duck I was able to make 2-3 pounds of luscious dark roasted meat, 6 oz of pure rendered duck fat, 2 handfuls of duck cracklings, 1 quart of duck stock, and a duck liver, heart, and kidneys I have plans to turn into some paté. Expect a few of those recipes soon.

What a long neck my duck had

I hate when people use the flavors of other foods to describe another. Tastes like chicken, cant get any less creative. Duck does not taste like chicken. Sorry to rely on the cliche, but duck may be the "pork "of the poultry world. It has a stronger richer flavor then turkey, Cornish hen, or even chicken. Moist, and hopelessly fatty from a thick layer of fat under its skin.

Having no idea how to roast a duck. I instinctually searched for a recipe on Epicurious. The duck wasnt cheap ($18), and I wasnt going to dry it out or burn it away with a somewhat reliable or not internet recipe. Gourmet magazine had my back. I sought the most complicated multi-step recipe. Easy and fast wasnt going to cut it. I settled on braising (moist heat to cook the meat), chilling (to prevent meat from cooking further while roasting) before roasting shortly (to crisp the skin). The product was a perfectly luscious (I think!), but less than butcher shop brown attractive duck. I will definitely be leaning on this process from now.

If you havent tried duck, and are anxious to spend $20, 8 hours, and lots of residual oven heat on a strong flavored meat you may dislike look for duck legs or breast first. Im sure they have them at places like the giant shop rite.

Roast Duck With Ginger Marmalade Glaze

1 5 1/2 - 6 1/2 lb Long Island duck
sea salt
1 carrot, sliced length wise into medium strips
6 green onions, chopped in half, root ends removed
1/2 cup sugar
hot water
1 tblsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 large pinch red pepper flakes

Glaze
2 tblsp marmalade
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tblsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 pinch cayenne

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare duck by pricking skin all over with a fork, which allows the fat to drain out. Place duck in a roasting pan. Note that a pan with higher sides is better than the one Im using. With breast up, and cavity towards you gently separate skin from meat with your hand. Be careful not to tear the skin, which I did. I needed to use a knife, making a slit above the cavity to get under the skin. Im not sure why this step is necessary, you arent going to shove butter or herbs under the skin as you would a turkey, but I do as Im told.

My hand inside a duck

Coat the skin and cavity with salt and rub. Place carrots and scallions in the cavity of the bird. Sprinkle ginger, coriander, and red pepper on top of duck, along with sugar around the bird. Add hot water (shrinks the skin, again dont know why, doing as told), within an inch of the top of the roasting pan. Cover the pan tightly with foil, and place in oven.

Flavor rubbed

After 1 hour remove from oven. Carefully peel back foil. Using a wooden spoon placed in the ducks cavity and a spatula, carefully flip the duck breast side down. Re-cover roasting pan with foil and cook for another hour until meat is tender. The wings on my duck actually fell off. A snack for me! Move duck into a bowl full of ice cubes. Strain remaining fluids and save. Thats some rich duck stock and fat for another dish. Chill duck in fridge on ice for 2-3 hours until cavity feels cold.

Not so elegant after 2 hours of cooking in hot water, but moist

Meanwhile prepare glaze by mixing the marmalade, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger and cayenne pepper in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until bubbling. Once the marmalade melts turn remove from heat.

Remove duck from fridge, and pat dry. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Place a piece of foil on the bottom of the roasting pan. Place duck breast side down on top of foil. Brush glaze over the bird. Roast for 15-20 minutes until browned. Remove bird from oven, flip, glaze the breast side, and return to oven. Roast for another 15-20 minutes until browned. Remove from oven, and let rest. Its finally ready. You and everyone in a one block radius will know by the delicious smell. I couldnt help but tear into my duck, eating a leg off the bone. The rest I shredded and served on sandwiches with cucumbers, mayo, and pickled ginger carrot relish. You could also carve and serve the breast for a formal meal.