Day 32: Duck Confit, Over Open Ravioli

Done and done! The preparation for our first meal post-restaurant-free month began last night as we rendered about a pound or so of duck fat, and cured four duck legs in a salt, shallot, and thyme mixture. Twenty-four or so hours later, we reheated the rendered duck fat, poured it over the duck legs until they were submerged, and then put those in the oven at 225 for three agonizing hours. To pass the time, Chelsea and I made the pasta for the open ravioli, a much easier task than traditional ravioli, since we only needed two or three big noodles to go under the duck--no cutting or fancy shape-making for us. Once the duck meat started falling off the bone, I removed the legs from the heat to let them cool, and then shredded them with two very lucky forks.

We placed the shredded duck on top of a single noodle and rounded out the meal with a side salad of mixed greens.



I don't know how to describe the deliciousness, so I won't. But what better way to celebrate my "better than low" cholesterol test than to eat cracklings out of the pan...

So that does it for this restaurant-free month. Thanks for reading. We'll of course check in from time to time -- and I imagine we'll have to tell you about our first meal out. "Oh that poor restaurant," says Chelsea. One thing's for certain: we'll have to scrimp again -- we're both writers, after all -- and when we do, we'll be back here for another RFM.

A very special thanks to our dogs, who have taught us everything we know abouth patience.

Day 31: Pork Buns = Heaven

Dear Reader, today is February 1, meaning that January is over, and Restaurant Free Month is over. Wait a minute... what's Jim doing in the kitchen making duck confit? It turns out that we're cooking at home tonight too, and that regular months aren't all that different from Restaurant Free Months. And that's the way we like it.

Last night was the official end to RFM, and we closed on a high note. I've already written about doing the legwork for our steamed pork buns over the weekend. It paid off last night when all I needed to do was slice my chilled pork belly and reheat it in a warm skillet, re-steam a few pillowy buns, and stuff the buns with pork belly, sliced scallions, fresh cucumber pickles, and hoisin sauce. It was pork perfection.

To counteract all that fatty meat, I made a simple green salad dressed in a sweet lime dressing (actually the dipping sauce from our spring rolls a few nights ago) and some jasmine rice. The meal was so good that I dreamed about it all night long and woke up craving it this morning.

Even though our thirty (one) days are over, we'll continue posting our favorite meals here on a less-frequent basis. So stay tuned, and eat well.

Day 30: Enchiladas, and the Key to a Happy Kitchen

Today, Day 30(!), I decided to try my hand at something we both love: steamed pork-belly buns. While we have yet to try Momofuko's, the NY restaurant that has made these famous, we used to scarf them down at the recently closed Shaun's in Atlanta and anywhere else we could find them.

David Chang's Momofuko recipe is widely available on the internet (only problem: there are two versions, with different instructions...). I found a recipe for the bun dough that looked a bit simpler in the L.A. Times. I compared the two David Chang recipes, and decided to go with the one that calls for brining the pork belly for 6 hours instead of 12. I made the dough and let it double in size. Then I went with Jim to an unusually chaotic Dekalb Farmer's Market, bought pork belly, came home, and covered the pork belly in a sugar-kosher salt mixture. We ran out to the mall to take care of a return I've been putting off and look for some new dress shirts for Jim. And somewhere along the way, we realized that, while we could possibly get home and cook the pork belly in the oven for two and a half hours, it wasn't going to get on the table before 10 p.m., or without a whole lot of stress.

We've discovered this month that, much like it in a marriage, it's important to be flexible in the kitchen. Especially when you're cooking with someone you love. Especially when you've been confined to the same kitchen for a whole month.

So, dear Reader, we decided to shelve the pork buns (temporarily!) and make enchiladas, which had been scheduled for Tuesday night. We had some leftover shredded chicken and some leftover flank steak. I roasted tomatillos with a little homemade chicken stock, garlic, and dried chilies, then blitzed them with the immersion blender. The chicken was heated in a little stock and seasoning; the steak was simply sliced. Into softened carrot tortillas went the meat, and into a pan lined with tomatillo salsa. A little shredded cheddar on top, ten minutes in the oven, and voila! Dinner. Delicious! And at 7:30 p.m., not 10 or 11.

While I was preparing tonight's meal, I was also doing the legwork for tomorrow. I divided my bun dough into 17 pieces, rolled them into balls, and let them rest again. I began rolling them into discs, brushing one half with oil, and folding them over. Then the scary part: actually steaming them. We have a big stock pot with a steamer insert, and I thought this might work. The first batch took longer than I expected (7 minutes instead of the promised 3), but when we tried one, it tasted exactly like what we've had in restaurants: soft, sweet, dense and pillowy all at once. The subsequent batches were steamed over a more ferocious boil, and cooked in 3-4 minutes.

As I type this, I can hear the pork belly sizzling away in the oven. After it's through cooking, I'll chill it in its own juices overnight. Tomorrow, I'll prepare quick-pickled cucumbers, reheat the buns and the pork, and dinner will be served. Of course, the way things smell in here now, we may devour that pork belly as soon as it comes out of the oven...

Stay tuned for Day 31...

Day 29: Pasta and "er, um..." sauce

We were going to have a pasta dish. We knew this much. And ever since scarfing down Chelsea's amazing "devil duck" on day 25, I've been craving our homemade noodles, which, quite frankly, I think would be delicious with just a sprinkling of salt and pepper--maybe not even that. But we only have three more nights left, and now's no time to be boring, right? Moreover, we had a ton of leftover produce in our vegetable basket, and we both cringe at the thought of throwing anything away.

So while the pasta was drying (we made thick, pappardelle-style noodles), we went to work on throwing some sort of sauce together. From our surplus, we used one leek, three ripe tomatoes, some garlic, and three slices of bacon. Nothing fancy, but it was a mighty good dish--salt and fat from the bacon, sweetness from the leeks, and acidity from the fresh tomatoes.

With only two nights left, our vegetable basket is empty but for about a pound of fingerling potatoes. Suggestions?

Day 28: Thai Beef Salad, Spring Rolls Reprise

In this morning's post Chelsea mentioned that she woke up craving last night's spring rolls; indeed, at about midnight, I could have sworn I heard her mumbling about rice paper in her sleep. Knowing that she was planning on another batch, I decided to complement the rolls with a simple Thai beef salad. At the Dekalb Farmers Market I picked up about a pound of flank steak, which I marinated in soy sauce and fresh lime juice. Right before it was time to grill the steak, I sprinkled a little bit of sugar on both sides of the meat--I could be wrong, but I think this helps the steak char. After cooking the steak for about five minutes a side and letting it rest, I cut it into thin slices, which I put over mixed greens, cucumbers, and red onions. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Hedgejo deftly assembled the rolls. The steak was perfectly done, and the rolls looked impeccable. The perfect meal, it seemed, was on my plate, but then as I sat down to enjoy, before I knew it -- alas, alas, dear reader! -- my plate was on the floor.

I'm not sure what my face looked like, but it couldn't have been pretty, for our forever-rapacious pups stayed right where they were. I took a deep, deep breath, picked up the greens and steak, tossed them out, and put together another salad. Luckily, we had more than enough steak for another helping, so except for my blushing ego there was no real harm done. Plus the pups have informed me that our carpet now tastes delicious.