Easy homemade duck 'prosciutto' and other 'adventures'.

Duck 'Prosciutto'

1. Prawn butter

3 recipes I really wanted to try from 3 different publications. The above is a new purchase for me, the word 'light' not really that inspiring to a person following a low carb diet where 'light' usually means low fat and high carb, which is the opposite to my diet right now, however, it is one of the most informative and interesting mags I have bought. I wish I could photograph some of the features inside to show you, but considering I'm not even sure if posting the front cover is OK, I'd better not. The magazine has loads of great recipes and tricks to follow, including an idea for prawn butter which appealed to me immediately as I had a whole bag of prawn shells sitting in the freezer. The butter is supposed to be good for adding to stir frys or other sea-food dishes to add an extra layer or dimension of prawn flavour.

The prawns in their whole state. They were bought from Steveston, a little fishing village with big boats that moor with fresh fish to buy every day. It's the same place I bought the salmon from. I usually buy these prawns which are much softer in texture and sweeter than the ones from the supermarket. They are tiny, however, and a large bowl can take an hour to peel!

Once peeled, I froze the shells in two bags. One I used for a soup which was a little bitter. When I saw this recipe I knew it would be a better use of the remaining bag.

The prawns were 'fried' gently for 15 minutes in 1 cup of  unsalted butter and then drained. The butter is frozen and a little used at a time when needed.

2. Pork hock versus ham hock

I bought this UK book recently as it seemed to be full of really yummy looking recipes and interesting things to do with cheaper cuts of meat and poultry. It has some really good illustrations of the different cuts of meat from the US, the UK and France which is good for someone like me who doesn't know her flank steak from her porterhouse. I decided to make the ham hock recipe, using pork hock that I found in a supermarket. Worrying that pork and ham hock may be different, I consulted the Internet which assured me they were the same thing. They aren't.

The picture in the book looked really appetizing. The meat looked pink and juicy, the kind your mum would cook in a big joint. That was ham hock. I bought pork hock which are not cured or salted and therefore pretty tasteless.

I followed the recipe and boiled it for two hours with some onion, bay leaf and black pepper, but the meat turned out.......

More brown than pink and bland. It needed a good tsp salt, Mrs Dash garlic and herbs seasoning and 1/2 tsp lemon rind to make it tasty and interesting. I did make a nice sauce of 4 tbsp mayonnaise mixed with 2 tsp Dijon mustard, juice of half a lemon and black pepper to go with it and I did get a stock which I can use for soup, so not a complete disaster.

 

Asparagus, baby bok choy, mushrooms and broccolini steamed and then dressed with lemon, herb and caper butter. 

3. Homemade duck 'Prosciutto'

The 3rd recipe is a work in progress. From the above book, I chose the 'duck on a string' recipe which is basically home-made duck 'Prosciutto'.

A very simple recipe which requires patience. A duck breast is completely covered in salt,

Kept cool overnight, Then...

Removed from salt, excess shaken off and covered with black pepper. Refrigerate overnight and then....

Remove from pepper and pierce a hole in one end to spike with a hook or thread some string through. The duck can then be hung up in a cool area with a good wind supply for 1 week to cure.

At first I thought hanging it outside would be best, but considering the bushtits and chickadees that visit, it's very probable that they would consider it 'suet' and declare it their dinner really quickly, so...

Neil created this hanging device in the spare room, utilising a fan and a piece of doweling. We'll leave the window open to ensure a good air supply and see what happens. Last night, we pondered the difficulties of cutting it wafer-thin when ready. Neil suggested I take it to the local butchers and ask them if they would oblige with their ultra sharp slicer if I buy something. Maybe if I find the guts, I will.

The finished 'prosciutto'.  Dark red with its creamy layer of fat, just waiting to be used in a variety of interesting ways...I've heard pear is very good with it....(to be continued).