White Fusion

Sometimes when I think of what to do for this blog, I have absolutely zero ideas and I have to watch hours of cooking shows to get inspired. Occasionally, however, I have amazing epiphanies that shoot into my brain like a lightning bolt from Zeus. 

Take a Polish Pierog. A dumpling, typically stuffed with potato and/or cheese and/or cabbage. 

Take Irish-American Corned Beef. Served with potato and cabbage, sometimes paired with cheese in a sandwich. 

What if you combine them?! I know, who makes Corned Beef in August? I DO! I buy at least 3 for my freezer when they're on sale in March. TAKE THAT, SEASONAL BS! 

So I did.

I used a basic Pierogi recipe from King Arthur Flour, and I filled it with my Corned Beef, mashed potatoes, swiss cheese and sauerkraut. Almost like a Reuben. 

I learned two things while making this. 1. Pierogi are a lot of work. 2. I'm a genius. 

Orange Duck

Woooo another week of experimenting with foods! 

I picked up a couple pretty Muscovy breasts to test my new sous vide on, but there's going to be a shipping delay, so I was left with pan frying. Oh well!

For the breast I scored the skin and fat, and rubbed it with Chinese 5 Spice. You want to cook it skin side down first, on medium heat, for about 10 minutes. Then you flip it and continue for another 5-7 minutes, then rest it. I kept mine on the heat a smidge too long, but they still came out quite nicely. 

For the sauce I just mushed together a few a l'Orange recipes I found online, adjusting it as I went along. I think a coulis with the orange segments would have been nicer than just throwing them on a plate. Thoughts for next time I suppose!

Finally the carrot puree was made from carrots, ginger, garlic and onion. 

A++ would make again. Maybe with more veggies. 

Good news if you're a fan of my illustrations! I have a little shop on Redbubble now, so if you want the above design on a shirt, or a notebook, or as a print, head on over! I'll be adding other illustrations as I see fit, so stay tuned!