Week 31 - Duck! (or poultry or tomatoes)

Duck is something I have only ever cooked once before, and not overly successfully when I did. I decided to tackle duck again when the poultry (including duck) theme was listed. After eating a duck dish at a restaurant in Rotorua on the weekend, I was convinced that I must be able to do a better job than they did! (They did not really do a very good job of their duck dish, so it wasn't that difficult of a target really.)

I had a look on the very useful internet, and found this tasty sounding recipe for Duck with Pears
When I went to the vege store to pick up some green veges, I was appalled at the price of broccoli - $3.50-$4.00 for one head of broccoli! What has happened in the last couple of weeks? I am sure it was bout $2 when I last bought it! This exorbitant price left me with a bit of a dilemma as to what veg to serve with the duck. After another look on the internet, I found this recipe for Peas & Spring cabbage with Pancetta.
As cabbage was one of the few reasonably priced green veges, I decided to try it.
It was really tasty, and we will have it again I am sure.

So, the final dish, served with mashed potatoes:

The duck was a bit overcooked, but even so, was still tender and very tasty.
The pears and sauce were good too, and the veges went really well as part of the dish.
4/5 from me - will try to leave the duck a bit pinker next time... if I can bring myself to cook duck again, having seen the crazy amount of fat that comes out of it - still, I suppose the fat is better out of it than in!

On a completely unrelated note - for any of you who do not follow Kyla's (normally inactive) blog, check it out. She is updating it while she is on holiday in Japan.