Thursday 10 April 2014

Salad with duck confit and pear

With the volume our pantry and fridge gets stocked, every now and then it's good to make some kind of an inventory of the leftovers. And (once again) wonder where the hell all the food goes? Oh, and then there's the matter of starting a lighter life with the summer approaching and all. Unless I intend to source my wedding dress from parachute surplus store...

This salad is the child of a waste minimizing exactly like that. The pears left over from the cheesecake I made for charming the in-laws, pomegranate seeds left over from Lebanese lamb pizza... and the remaining duck legs from the confit-operation for the cassoulet. In case you haven't yet tried your hand at confiting duck legs, it's about time. Once you've had the patience to wait the couple of hours it takes, you'll have treats in your fridge that bring a bit of luxury into any day! 

As for the pomegranate seeds go, none of that "cut the fruit in half, knock on it and just watch the seeds fall off" has ever worked for me. Ever. The method I find easiest is cutting the fruit in half and then halving each of those halves. See, the seeds live in clusters in a comb-like structure. Once you bend the quarter, you'll get access to each of the combs and it's easy to scoop out each one in an easy and mess-free way!

If cheese is your thing, brie or goat cheese (maybe Gorgonzola...?) would work in the salad, too.

The salad feeds 2 (generously) - 4 (elegantly) people

70 g box of rucola or mixed salad leaves
2 confit duck legs
1 pear
1 (small) stalk of celery
1 red onion
60 cashew nuts
the seeds of 1/4 - 1/2 pomegranate (depending on the size)

to serve: pomegranate molasses

Warm the duck legs under a broiler at 220° until the skin crisps up. Remoive the skin and using a fork shred the meat (it practically falls off by itself by now) and season if needed. Peel and finely slice the onion. Peel the pear, halve lengthwise, remove the core and slice. Chop the celery to chunks of about 1/2 cm. Toast the nuts in a hot, dry pan until they get a nice, golden colour. Keep an eye on them as they burn easily.

Put the salad together. Place the salad leaves, onion and celery on a plate and scatter the pear on top. Add duck meat and sprinkle nuts and pomegranate seeds on top. Serve with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses.






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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?



      


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