ffwd: duck breasts with fresh peaches
Another Friday, another recipe for French Fridays with Dorie. Each week, I have the best intentions of blogging about all the other things I make during the week. Summer produce is flooding in, and I’m cooking like crazy. Somehow I only have the time and energy to write and depict this one.
This week’s Dorie recipe is for Duck Breasts with Fresh Peaches. If you asked me to name my Top 3 takeaways from Around My French Table, one would definitely be the confidence of searing duck breasts at home. It was nearly two years ago, Friday November 4, 2011, when duck first appeared on the FFwD calendar. I had always been a frequent orderer of duck in restaurants, but for the first time, I realized that I could make this for myself at home, and quickly. A revelation for sure. I have made duck breasts many times since then. It’s replaced lamb chops as my go-to special occasion meal. With peaches at their peak, I was excited to try a new variation on the theme.
By now, many of you understand the food quirks of my household. The name of this recipe indicates the problem. It’s not the duck, but the fruit in a savory dish. You know that Howard will not eat peaches with his dinner. Fortunately, the peaches in this dish are more of a side or hearty garnish. I was able to make a peach for myself and none for my husband. The sauce with its sweet and tangy blend of flavors offered no offense to his culinary sensibilities. I plated my plate with the delicious browned peaches, and Howard’s without.
Before
After
Cooking the duck breasts, scoring the skin and then searing them for a few minutes on each side, was as easy as usual. I like duck breast on the rare side, but I’ll admit that I overcooked it slightly, not perfect, but still delicious. I enjoyed the flavor and texture of the browned fruit. The sauce complemented both the meat and the fruit. On the side, I served Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains blend, a combination of Israeli couscous, colored orzo, quinoa, and baby chickpeas.
Once again, I was delighted to be making restaurant fare in my own kitchen! To see how my fellow bloggers did with their duck breasts and peaches, check out their links here. I can’t find the recipe on-line this week, but you can find it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
ffwd: tzatziki
I love all the ingredients in this yogurt-cucumber dip and though I recognized the recipe’s name, I somehow never had this before. Cucumbers are in their prime (we got 6 from our CSA share this week), so the French Fridays with Dorie choice this week of tzatziki was perfectly seasonal.
After a week of family visiting and many delicious shared meals, I’ll admit, I’m happy to cooking and eating at home again. Living hundreds of miles from immediate family, I welcome our mid-Atlantic tours to see everyone, but I miss my own bed and kitchen. The highlight of the trip was a Red Sox victory at Camden Yards against the Orioles. Red Sox Nation was well-represented in the park that night, even if I was surrounded by my own family, rooting for the Orioles. And, even though, Howard and I aren’t fans of the beach, it was reassuring to see with our own eyes, the ongoing recovery on Long Beach Island after the Hurricane Sandy’s devastation last fall while we spent a few lazy and enjoyable days with my in-laws.
My Family: Pre-Game in Baltimore
You have to plan ahead a few hours for this one. Finely chopped cucumbers are tossed with salt, allowed to sit for half an hour to draw the water out, and then squeezed tight to dry them. I’m always amazed how much water comes out of certain vegetables with this treatment. I made these delicious zucchini fritters last week, and I similarly marveled at the quantity of water released by the salt. With the cukes, the white flesh took on a translucent pale green color which was surprising.
While the cucumbers are dehydrating, I mixed together Greek yogurt, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, chopped dill and mint. The squeezed and now-less-watery cucumbers are stirred in.
Initially, the dip was quite spicy. This must have been the garlic because there aren’t any spicy ingredients. After a night in the refrigerator, the garlic bite mellowed, and my tzatziki was had a much smoother taste.
I served tzatziki as part of a meze platter for lunch. Tzatziki, hummus, tomato-basil salad, falafels (made from chickpea flour leftover from the socca) and slices of country bread. It was light, cool, and screamed of summer. I’m happy to have discovered this recipe, and I’ll definitely be making this one again.
We don’t post the recipes, but you can find it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. To see what other Doristas thought of this recipe, check out their posts here.
A Plateful of Happiness 