Rillettes de canard

Rillettes was usually made with pork, but today there are meny different kinds, some even with fish.

Today I made it with duck

You need

1 duck

5-6 stalks of thyme

5-6 bayleafs

 1,5 tbs salt

1,5 tbs whole pepper corns

Cut the duck and remove the skin and fat (Cook the skin and fat in a separate pot click HERE for instructions)

Put all the ingredients in a pot and cover with water

Give it a boil and let it simmer on medium heat for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender and comes off the bones by itself

Shred the meat 

and continue simmering the meat with 1 cup of the broth and 1/4 cup of the fat for about an hour.

Fill jars or little clay pots with the meat and top it with a little duck fat and let them cool

Enjoy the rillettes with bread or use it in salads if you like.

Save the fat and broth for later, you can make nice gravy and enrich soups with the broth.

The fat is nice to sautee vegetable in.

Fritons de canard

If you like bacon rachers, you might like this luxury version made of duck skin.

I am making duck rillettes and this is what you get if you heat up the duck skin and fat.

Put the skin and fat in a pot and heat up.

I use high heat in the beginning, but when you hear it sizzling turn the heat down to medium heat.

Then I cut the skin into strips

and put it back into the pot.

let it simmer until it is golden.

When it is done, remove the raschers and let them drain on paper towels

In a mortar I pound a little salt to dust, and then sprinkle a light salt dust over the raschers.

Sugarfree cup cakes and sugar free creamy vanilla icing

As a diabetic I should be more carefull with what I eat and it is not always easy to find nice sugarfree cakes. I wanted to try the Magnolia Bakery vanilla cup cakes with their creamy vanilla icing and make it sugar free and here is the result.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup Splenda

1/4 cup powdered Xylitol
(you can probably use just Splenda)

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add butter a little at the time, mix this on medium speed untill the mixture has the texture as sand. Beat the egg and add half of it to the dry ingredients and pour the rest in with the milk and add the vanilla, pour this mixture in with the rest and blend untill all ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Since it is without sugar the cup cakes are a little spongy, but still moist and fluffy.

I'm practicing the swirl and still 39 more hours to go:)

Icing

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup splenda

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a medium-size saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and, stirring constantly, cook until the mixture becomes very thick and begins to bubble, 10-15 minutes. Cover with waxed paper placed directly on the surface and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, on the medium high speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the slenda, beating continuously for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat well.

Add the cooled milk mixture, and continue to beat on the medium high speed for 5 minutes, until very smooth and noticeably whiter in color. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes (no less and no longer—set a timer!). Use immediately.