Friday, September 26, 2014

Easy Sausage Rigatoni

Pasta is always a great meal. This recipe is quick and easy.


                                        Easy Italian Sausage Rigatoni


8 oz. Rigatoni, cooked
1# spicy Italian sausage, cut into small pieces (Cuts easier when slightly frozen)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup water
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced bell peppers
1/2 cup diced zucchini
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. dried Italian herbs



Cook pasta: Bring 6 quarts water to a boil. Add 1tsp salt. Add pasta. Cook until done (about 15 minutes), while stirring occasionally. Drain and set aside.


In a sauté pan, cook sausage. Add onion, peppers, and zucchini. When cooked, add soup and water. Stir thoroughly. Add herbs and Worcestershire sauce. When sauce thickens, add cooked pasta and stir. Heat for 3-4 minutes.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Roasted Oriental Duck Tacos

Some people think duck is too greasy and too difficult to prepare. It's not if you do it right. Here is a recipe for roasted duck served like Oriental tacos. Combining different culinary styles can make for an interesting dish..



                                                                   Roasted Duck

1 Duck, whole
2 Tablespoons oil.
2 Tablespoons Kosher salt or sea salt



Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Remove duck organs. Use for gravy or discard.  Trim excess skin and fat from duck. Truss legs. Score skin and fat layer with knife without cutting into muscle tissue. Rub with oil and then with Kosher or sea salt  Place breast up, uncovered in a deep roasting pan to collect fat. Roast 2 hours breast up. Then place breast down and roast an additional 2 hours. Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees. Turn breast-side up, brush with glaze (Recipe below), and roast 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest.

At this point, duck can be sliced and served in any number of ways, even using a gravy made from duck giblets. But This recipe calls for pulled duck meat for tacos. Leftover duck can be used.
Add a little chopped crispy skin for crunch.


Duck Glaze

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
3 Tablespoons brown sugar.

For heat - 1 roasted Ancho chili, minced. Add to glaze if you like a little heat.

Mix ingredients, stirring until sugar dissolves. Brush over the duck after 4 hours as indicated and cook additional 10 minutes.


Taco Ingredients

10 flour tortillas
1 Daikon radish
1 cucumber
1 head Napa cabbage
1/4 cup plum sauce

Slice Daikon radish and cucumber into slivers. Shred Napa cabbage. Place shredded duck meat on tortilla. Add radish, cucumber, cabbage, and a dollop of plum sauce.

Can be served with rice or enjoyed as a quick, simple snack.  

Eat up!