We rented a car for the drive from Valencia to Castellón. Stopped along the way for a bite.
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So, I made a duck breast tonight, following your method to the ‘t.’ Except when I didn’t. I put the duck breast in the cold pan, thick, anodized aluminum, and put it on medium heat for 7 minutes. Then I turned it over for half a minute or so. I thought the skin should be a bit darker, so I gave it another minute and a half on the skin side. Put it in the oven in another container for 6 minutes, and cooked king oyster mushrooms in the pan with the duck fat. Very successful. Thanks.
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The storm that was supposed to be wasn’t.
I’m OK with that. I hope anyone in Henri’s path remains safe. More potential flooding on Monday with the last of the rain, so stay vigilant.
Dinner tonight was decided yesterday: Asparagus and Bacon Quiche with Monterey Jack and goat cheese, a combo of heavy cream and 1% milk, ground mustard, freshly grated nutmeg, dried tarragon and white pepper. I used a Pillsbury pie crust. Figured it wouldn’t come out clean from the deep dish, and it didn’t. Still tasted great.
Wine.
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Very glad it worked out for you. The timing is dependent on the fat cap and the thickness of the duck breast. Sounds like the extra minute worked perfectly!
Mrs. P made clear spring rolls for the first time. They look a little messy but were delicious. They are very difficult to work with .They start off like a hard circular piece of plastic. You have to soak them in water, but if you soak them in water too long then they feel like saran wrap, and are are hard to manipulate. Maybe next time, she will just spray them with water instead of soaking them. They were stuffed with the same ingredients as the salad we had a couple of days ago (shrimp, avocado, bean sprouts, snow peas, among other ingredients). We dipped it in that same spicy delicious dressing from a couple of days ago (consisting of dried Sichuan peppers, jalapeños, chili peppers, garlic, galangal, lemongrass, and fish sauce, among other ingredients). We also had some leftover corn, bacon, and shrimp. It all went great with an outstanding Napa cabernet.
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Yay!
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Vietnamese grilled pork chop (marinated yesterday) was tonight’s dinner.
I realized belatedly that I have no vegetables that were appropriate sides, and even though the hurricane is just bad rain now, I wasn’t about to go out to rectify that.
To the rescue: a half-frozen bulb of fennel from before my trip (half of which I ate for lunch in panzanella-light). So I used that for a crunchy slaw dressed with nuoc mam, with some mint and grated carrot.
Sushi rice is still standing in for any sticky-ish rice requirements… (I’ll eventually get some Jasmine rice for these things, but I have too much sushi rice at the moment, might as well use it up.)
Pork chop was lovely, but the bbq char is always a missing flavor - I’m going to try broiling the other one when I reheat to see if I can get a bit more of that.
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You never have to apologize for fennel slaw!
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And pasta all’Amatriciana
I am having a love-fest with guanciale!
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I share your red onion love 
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These are “Stockton reds” that we buy from a farmer in Lodi. He claims you can eat them like apples. I won’t go that far but they are sweet and delicious.
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they look just great. you get the hang of working with the rice paper after a while. I’m sure she’ll perfect this skill soon enough!
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BLTs for lunch at my sister’s yesterday, take-out for dinner, and today i made myself a focaccia sandwich with a fabulous French butter, coppa, marinated sheep/goat cheese/arugula, tomatoes, and olive oil, after a 6 mile walk. BF is out of town visiting family, and although I was still pretty full from lunch, I’d already bought some fish, so… Sole in a turmeric/lemongrass/thai bird chili sauce, sauteed in peanut oil and a little butter. Fresh pad thai noodles, and a nuoc cham-ish sauce with Fly By Jing chili sauce. Pan fried the fish, tossed the noodz in the sauce, served with cilantro, scallions, and Thai basil. FORGOT THE FUCKING GARLIC PEANUTS which were literally my inspiration for making the dish - BF’s out of town, a rare occasion, he loves them, can’t eat them, don’t buy them to avoid torturing him, bought some today, and FORGOT TO USE THEM. GAH. so i’m snacking on them now with another glass of Spanish, cheap-ass/bone-dry Barbadillo.
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Yum. I’m hankering for poutine now, Greg! Sigh. (I like mine drowning in gravy - what kind did mom make?) Woke up to find my bread had turned mouldy - poutine would have been a nice substitute. And I didn’t know that you had Aldi there!
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Eli, here’s what I do to make spring rolls with the rice wrappers:
Put the dry disk on a large cutting board, with all fillings at hand. Have a wide brush and bowl of water ready. Brush the water on the dry wrapper and begin piling ingredients. By the time that is done, the wrappers should be soft enough to finish the roll.
Whenever the dry disks gets dipped, it’s too much moisture and they are too soft.
I hope this helps!
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Splendid looking quiche.
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