Roast Duck Crown with Redcurrant and Port Gravy

I blatantly should've taken some pictures of this because it looked really nice when it came out of the oven. However, just use your imagination a little and I'm sure it'll look lovely ;-). Duck crowns will serve about 2 people - it's basically a duck torso, all the wings, legs etc. all trimmed off. 

Ingriedients:

1 duck crown
1 egg white
salt
1 large onion 
2 sticks of celery
2 medium carrots
4 garlic cloves
2 beef stock cubes
2 tbsp of redcurrant jelly
4 tbsp of port
1 tbsp of plain flour
olive oil

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (190 degrees C / 375 degrees F)

Peel the onion (no need to peel the carrots) and chop all the vegetables roughly. Place those in the bottom of a roasting dish along with the garlic. Drizzle over olive oil and coat the vegetables. Set aside. 

I like my duck skin really crispy. Take the crown and fry in a large frying pan skin side down to crispen up the skin. Just get it to a slightly golden brown colour. Whilst frying the duck, mix enough salt into the egg white to create a thick paste. It takes a lot of salt - I tend to pour and judge it by eye. Once golden, take it out of the pan and brush the skin generously with the salt / egg mix. I do find when I do this that the meat ends up a bit more cooked through because of the frying, so if you prefer your duck pink, then leave this step out.

Roast the duck for around 1 hr - 1 hr 10 mins depending on how you like your duck and how big it is. Once cooked, the juices should run clear when pricked through the biggest part of the meat. Leave the meat to rest for about 10 mins while you prepare the gravy. 

Break up the vegetables in the pan as much as possible with a masher, then mix in the flour and stock cubes. If there's any excess fat at this stage, drain it off. Add about 1 pint of water, the port and the redcurrant jelly and bring to the boil. Make sure everything is stirred in together and the jelly is completely broken up. Simmer for around 5 mins, then strain to remove all the lumps of vegetables. 

Carve the duck and pour over the gravy. Serve with roast potatoes and vegetables. 

Stuart Coles : 02 Jan 2010 18:27 |  Tags: Come Dine With Me |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Sustainable Plastics Packaging

Last week I went to the Sustainable Plastics Packaging conference in Brussels, run by the European Plastics News. The one-day meeting was focused on developing the sustainable credentials of the packaging industry and looked at some of the recent developments in the field.

The morning session opened up with some interesting overviews of sustainable packaging, from both manufacturers, designers and consumers. The general feeling was that intelligent design and careful forethought could produce some innovative packaging that would be relevant to everyone involved. 

This led neatly into the afternoon sessions where some examples of recent innovation were presented. Whilst perhaps lacking in science, these talks demonstrated that industry is on board with the sustainable concept and are trying to make improvements. 

The work that I am currently involved in does not directly impact into the packaging sector now. However, it is very useful to see how industry is utilising materials that we could make in the future and where we could draw future collaborations. There was also a talk which helped me identify an application of the work I am currently doing that we are not exploiting that could be potentially very interesting. As a brief summary, a short but thoroughly interesting trip.

Stuart Coles : 07 Dec 2009 13:15 |  Tags: Conference Sustainable Plastics Packaging |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup

First of a few recipes appearing here in the new updated blog focusing on food, hopefully all of which will be reasonably healthy meals as well. 

This one is a good autumn / winter soup when butternut squashes are in season. You will need:

(serves 5-6)

• 1 large Butternut Squash
• 1 red pepper
• 2 red chillies
• 1 onion
• pinch of saffron
• app. 1.5 L of vegetable stock
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper for seasoning

Firstly, get the stock on to simmer in a large saucepan and add the saffron to infuse whilst you are chopping the vegetables. Dice the onion, de-seed and chop the peppers and chillies, and peel, de-seed and dice the squash.

Add all the vegetables to the warm stock along with the paprika and then cover and simmer for about 45 mins - 1 hour, until the vegetables are soft and tender. I like my food quite spicy, so 2 chillies makes for a pretty hot soup. You can adjust the heat to your own taste. 

(Don't forget the lid! Purely for illustration.)

Once the vegetables are tender, cool slightly and then add the contents of the pan to a blender and process until smooth. Return the blended soup to the pan, season to taste and reheat until warmed through. If you've made the stock with stock cubes, you probably won't need much salt if any at all. Serve with some warm bread. 

This soup is also great for those on a diet. For those counting Weight Watchers points, it's a mighty zero points. 

Stuart Coles : 30 Nov 2009 14:17 |  Tags: Come Dine With Me Soup |  Comments (5) |  Close comments |  Report a problem