From the Kitchen: Pan-fried Duck Fat Fries for wusses like me who are afraid of deep frying

I don't think there is much on earth that is as simply tasteful as duck fat fries, except perhaps when you sprinkle a bit of truffle-infused salt on said fries. 

There is a crispness to them that doesn't come from pan frying in vegetable-based oils, or even from frying in other animal fats. It's divine. Imagine the way a pie crust made with shortening compares to one made with lard. That, my friends, is the amount of better-ness you'll find in duck fat fries. (Yes, better-ness is a made up word. Is there a word for made up words? There should be. Someone should make one up!)

So, when I was wandering around the Ann Arbor farmers market this past Wednesday it suddenly hit me. I needed to make my own duck fat fries! I snatched up some nameless potatoes that ended up being a bit buttery in texture and headed home, determined to make it work. 

Now, when I looked for recipes for these babies I found lots of different ones. Some said to deep fry them, but I have yet to cross that (scary, scary) bridge so I was looking for a pan-fried version. I found several that suggested various techniques but every one had time consuming steps and I wanted them omgASAP so eventually I decided to just experiment. (This would later work to my advantage because I could munch on my failed experiments while I attempted new, less-faily methods - again, a made up word.)

For my first batch, I just sliced fries and tossed them in the pan with some fat and crossed my fingers. They took forever to cook (ah, duh...) and ended up very dark and oily. 

The second batch, however, was perfect (if I do say so myself)! I precut the fries, tossed them in a bowl and microwaved them for 60-120 seconds on high. This kind of pre-cooked the potatoes. I assumed this was going to make them super fragile, but they weren't too hard to manage. 

I turned the stove to medium-high heat and then tossed these into the pan with the hot, melted duck fat (you can get duck fat at some specialty grocers and butcher shops, did I mention? Or render your own - I'll post about this in a couple weeks when I take a few of the mature farm ducks to freezer camp) and let the fries sit for a few minutes before disturbing. As they develop a light brown crust, move them around the pan.

 

When they're finished, simply pull them out and place them on something to absorb the excess oil. As they drain, sprinkle them with your favorite salt. The flavor imparted by the duck fat is deep and earthy (an almost terroir effect) but it remains neutral enough to showcase a special salt if you have one. I am a huge fan of truffle salt, and the deep musky mushroom flavor compliments the existing flavor seamlessly. 

You can then pour off the excess fat into a heat-resistant container to use again! Or, if you've used an iron pan, you can leave a bit of oil in there to sit if you plan to use your pan again soon. I have yet to have duck fat go rancid on me, and it should be relatively stable as long as there isn't a bunch of potato crud in your pan. I'll be making eggs in that mess for breakfast!

Anyway, these fries ended up just as delicious and crispy as the fries we've had at restaurants that have been deep fried in fat, but this method is quick and easy for a deep-fry-fearer like myself!

Do you have a favorite animal fat to use in cooking?

In the Orchard: Apple-hunting and apple-saucing

In case you didn't know, my DH and I live in a cottage on an old estate that also has a wild and unruly antique orchard on it. The trees are scattered across roughly an acre and they twist and gnarl with at least 50 years of untended growth. In Michigan, our apples are producing a bumper crop state-wide and so my poor old trees are heavy with fruit and feeling some serious stress. Every time we get a strong wind you can hear the branches creaking and cracking under the weight of this massive crop, and these trees are primarily late autumn storing apples, so they will continue to hold onto their apples at least until we get a hard freeze!

This is the first year I've seriously picked the apples in our orchard. In the past for some reason I believed they were too buggy for human consumption, but upon closer inspection this year I've found that many of them are flawless, and even those that aren't won't kill me to consume.

So yesterday I set out to pick a few bushels of apples for various projects. The picking was great! I have no idea what these trees are, though I suspect they are a few different varieties. I have a book that helps identify apples, but I'll have to do some serious investigation to figure these guys out. All I know is, they're delicious! The tree that I picked most of my haul from has small apples that have a bit of spice, a lot of tannin, a sweet start and a tart finish, and a crisp white flesh, streaked with pink. The high tannin content (that puckery tchk-tchk taste - try to pronounce that, you'll get what I mean) makes me think these would be amazing for a hard cider. I have a bushel of them sitting out front right now mellowing in the sun so that I can attempt to press them later this week.

In the meantime, I decided to make some applesauce from some of the apples from a different tree. This tree produced incredibly sweet apples with a much thinner skin. They were much more suited to fresh eating, and the wasps thought so too! I only got stung once yesterday, which was a minor miracle, but it still hurt! I'm just glad it was one of those yellow jackets and not the bald faced hornets I saw buzzing around!

I finally had a chance to use my antique apple slicer (the blades are cast into the base - what a neat find!) and whipped up my first ever batch of applesauce. It was still slightly tart, so I used a dollop of local honey in it to sweeten it. If you've never made applesauce before, I highly recommend it. 

You simply slice and core your apples, toss them in a pot (skin and all) with an inch of water on the bottom, cover and let steam/boil for 20-30 minutes and when you're finished you run them through a food processor or food mill. (I tossed a pinch of cinnamon into mine at this point.) I then canned a few jars of mine, which entailed sterilizing jars and filling them to 1/4" of the top, then sealing and hot-water-bathing them for 30 minutes. 

The finished result was a gorgeous, bright pink apple sauce that had a nice balance of sweetness and tartness. Apples all vary, though, so make sure you taste test yours before adding sweeteners or canning.

--

What is your favorite way to use a bumper crop of apples?

From the Kitchen: Sweet Masa Harina Griddle Cakes

So when I bake or cook I rarely write things down. Often times I don't even use a recipe anymore unless I'm trying something completely new. I've just started baking by texture and using the ratios I somehow manage to store in my brain (yes, I keep ratios in my head, though I cannot tell you the current location of my purse, keys, TV remote or phone... Wait, I'm posting using my phone!) 

So this becomes a problem when I decide I want to share something with you all, but I will try my best here... It's a sort of abstract recipe anyway. 

First toss a cup and a half of masa harina with about 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder and top it off with a sprinkle of course fleur de sel and a pinch each of cinnamon and smoked chipotle powder (you could use cayenne or skip this all together). 

Then add two drizzly tablespoons of honey and a fresh egg, and proceed to add whole milk and stir until you get a gummy texture that crumbles ever so slightly as you pressed it between your fingers. 

Heat a teaspoon or two of rendered bacon fat in an iron skillet and while you waited for it to heat, roll your harina mix into 1" balls and press them flat. 

So there may be other ways to test the fat, but I always just sprinkle water in the pan and when it starts to spatter I know the fat is at least 212° and ready to use. I should note that you can use any fats for this. I prefer animal fats for the crisp texture and deep flavor they impart, but you can use anything you want. (Next time I'll be using duck fat... Mmm

Once the oil is heated, carefully place your griddle cakes into the oil watching for oil spatters. This stuff gets hot!

When both sides are browned and crisped they are ready to eat! I drizzled a bit of honey on mine, and set to devouring them with a side of iberico bacon, a recent discovery. 

This paired extremely well with a sweet, organic cider (made from golden delicious and cortland apples)...

Delicious and very full of fall tastes and gluten free to boot! This would be a great way to showcase a special honey, too. Buckwheat or even black locust would be my choice. 

I've been on a real griddle cake kick lately. What is your favorite griddle cake?

A soggy slither

Took a quiet (and mildly grumpy in an "I'm-never-going-to-finish-this-project way) break to watch two slugs climbing the outside of my window. I've been cleaning the porch of our house for hours and I feel like I'm going in circles! 

Still, when I get this finished I will have a new place for my handmedown elliptical and my morning yoga. A room full of windows is the perfect place for morning exercise! 

It's Pear Season, at last!

So generally the pear season starts out with the more common Williams and Comice pears but somehow I managed to swipe a windfall seckle this morning that tasted like spiced pear wine. It was the most complex taste I've experienced all summer! 

What shall I do with the harvest when it comes? We're only about a week from the great ripening... 

'Hinnomaki Red' Gooseberries were developed in the early 1900s!!

I am shouting the title of this blog post at the top of my internet lungs, folks.

I consider myself a pretty decent googler. It generally only takes me a good 15 minutes max to google even the most obscure topics. Well, this morning I bought myself a Hinnomaki Red gooseberry at the Sara Hardy Farmer's Market in Traverse City. I had a hunch it was an heirloom, but wasn't totally positive on its intro date. I knew it was at least pre-1930, but beyond that... well.. I figured I'd buy it and google it later.

So, yeah.

I just spent three hours googling the hinnomaki red gooseberry. Three Hours Of My Life. (Of course this is three hours of my life, as spent at the Cherry Capital Comicbook Convention, so... it's alright. I love me a good comic book convention, sure, but when faced with the option of googling some horticultural mystery, well... you can see where this is going.)

So! I found out through a basic search that Hinnomaki Red (and Yellow and Green) are hardy cultivars introduced from Finland. Beyond that, there is nothing in the American Google results. Nada... at least not in the first 15 pages or so. I found sites that called them heirlooms, sites that called them new introductions and sites that ignored the history of the variety altogether.

After the U.S. Google failed me I decided to get serious. I found the URL for the Finnish Google and started googling Hinnomaki, after which I discovered the repetitive use of "Hinnonmaki" and some other similar words. I then was struck with a stroke of genius and wandered over to a Finnish dictionary site and looked up the word for "Introduced" which turned out to be "esitellä". After that it was as simple as pie! I just plugged in the words "Hinnonmaki" and  "esitellä" and up came a web site about the various Finnish varieties of Gooseberry!

And there, under 'Hinnonmäen Yellow' and 'Hinnonmäen Red' was this information:   
This home-like, the ever-popular variety was bred in the early 1900s.  
This is somewhat powdery mildew resistant variety was bred in the early 1900s Hinnonmäen test station.

Finally! Now I not only know when it was bred, but where! I feel like I have attained all new Google Mastery. I should get a badge or something! 

So I'm putting this blog post up specifically for people out there who are looking for a breeding date on the Hinnonmaki or Hinnomaki Red gooseberry. Early 1900's. I'll keep looking for a specific date, but... there ya go, plant geeks!

More Up North Adventures

For anyone who doesn't follow me on facebook or instagram I thought I'd share my other phone-photos while I can. I've got loads of other photos on my camera that I can't wait to share, including some photos of young experimental antique European trees being grown at a local orchard! 

The colors of the bay were so vivid I couldn't believe it!

The moon over lake Leelanau was erie in ways I had never known. Ha. 

This is the view I awoke to, at whaleback inn in Leelanau. 

I scored some native edibles at the Leelanau Conservancy plant sale!

The trees at Good Neighbor organic winery were in full bloom and intoxicatingly sweet. 

This is a shot of the amazing draft coders available at Tandem Ciders, my favorite state-side cidery!

I had the most amazing lunch at Black Star Farms in Sutton's Bay. There were subtle hints of fennel pollen - my fav!

And then this happened and I will forever be scarred. Thanks, Wilson's Antiques, for a life's worth of nightmare fodder in a matter of minutes. 

Travels up north: Traverse City Sara Hardy Farmer's Market

I am traveling, this weekend, through what in my opinion is the most wonderful area of the country. The northwest tip of the lower peninsula of Michigan is amazing, folks. My last two days have been chalk-full of adventures at wineries, orchards, cideries, antique stores, lake fronts and more. I have hiked dunes and run my fingers through soft grasses an marveled at the colors of the waters of Lake Michigan and I have giggled at curly-haired pigs grunting at us from behind weather-patinaed fence rails at Black Star Farms. 

This place is intensely beautiful and so are the artisan bakers, brewers, makers and do-ers here. 

This morning I visited the Boss Mouse Cheese booth at the Sara Hardy Farmer's Market in Traverse City. I met Sue Kurta a few years ago and she is just spectacular - as much so as her amazing cheeses! We talked a while and before I left I bought chunks of her cloth bound cheddar, rosemary montasio and smoked butter. I am in heaven! 

I also picked up a strawberry plant as we were leaving, simply because it was covered in small, ripe berries and I am just THAT desperate for spring fruits. :)

Sheepy Noses and Sheepy Woes-es...

My poor ewes. Every spring, since I brought my first sheep home, our fuzzy friends have always had a bit of a cough and nasal discharge. It's never been bad; it's always cleared up on it's own, but it also always seemed to pop up again when it would be particularly rainy. After talking to several other shepherds and shepherdesses, and a couple of vets, I settled on "mysterious allergies" and tried to stop cringing when I heard the all-too-humanlike hack come from the field.

Well, a couple of weeks ago my sheep were acting very strange. They would shove their noses to the ground and run around in jerky motions, often sticking their faces in the grass or in corners of shade. They were also twitching constantly, and tripping when they ran. I treated them for grass tetany because I know we've had magnesium issues in the past, and in the process of rounding them up and dosing them they all improved (pretty much immediately, which I thought was weird.)

Then, last night while I was out putting up the ducks and chickens, I noticed they were doing it again!

This was very weird because just yesterday morning I hand sheared one of my ewes (her condition is awesome, by the way!) and when I finished, I dosed her with extra vitamins and minerals, as well as some magnesium. If she'd gotten magnesium in the morning, she shouldn't have been showing signs of magnesium deficiency only 12 hours later. I started some fierce googling and finally found this:




This is a video another shepherdess has posted of her sick sheep, and it shows the exact behavior that my sheep have been exhibiting. It's creepy behavior, too!

One of the comments below suggests nose bots, so I started reading up on them and sure enough the symptoms fit precisely, right down to the slight nasal discharge.

The two days that the sheep have shown the most distress have been the hottest most fly-filled days. My poor ladies...

Last night I dug around until I actually managed to find my bottle of ivermectin and a spare sheep drenching gun (like a super heavy duty needle-less syringe that we use to give them liquid meds/vitamins) and armed with my handy-dandy headlamp (aka face-bug-target) I headed out to the barn and drenched them all with ivermectin, as well as vitamins A, D, B and E, selenium and magnesium just for the helluvit. They actually all drenched fairly easily; I usually have to bring Jeremy along to be the muscle, but I've been shoveling treats down their throats in an effort to make bringing them off the grass an easier task, and apparently this has paid off and they all "like" me now... Haha. Bribery will get you EVERYWHERE in the livestock world!

Anyway, I'll keep an eye on them, but this should at least take care of the current nose bot issues. I'll have to come up with some sort of repellent or something for them for the rest of the year though, or else I'll have to keep worming them which I really hate to do. I had been so proud, too, because I'd been chemical-free for so many months with no parasite issues... damn.

Poir-fect Pear: Williams' Bon Chrétien aka Bartlett

The Williams' pear is more commonly known in the states as the Bartlett, and is the most readily available of the varieties I've posted so far. Here in Michigan, the staples tend to be Bartlett, Bosc and D'Anjou pears, as far as commercial varieties go.

 

Unfortunately I am not a huge fan of the Williams' pear. When ripe, its flavor edges toward simple, with powerful citrus notes that really dominate the senses. It certainly doesn't hold the subtleties that the other varieties I've written about do. It's still a very old pear, which makes it worth writing about (at least on the blog), and is thought to have originated in the late 1760's in Aldermaston, England.