Food

Had it tonight for dinner from Vigilucci's in Carlsbad.  Pretty nice, it has that dirty taste I like and that I can hardly find from local wines.  It also got a little better after sitting in my glass over dinner.  Interesting how my dinner companions specifically didn't like the smell.  I guess they like the California, drink-like-a-cocktail style wines.  I checked the restaurant's website, and it looks like that was the '05 vintage.  Also, googling him turns up the news that he's sold his winery.  Too bad.  Anyway, I'm going to see if I can find any more of his bottles for home.

Oh, and speaking of Vigilucci's...I was a little disappointed.  It didn't turn out to be quite as good as I expected.  The tomato soup was great.  The bread was good.  But the veal (saltimbocca alla romana) was a little on the salty side and I couldn't taste the sage at all.  Maybe it was the breading.  The spaghetti that came with it was just bland.  The veggies were good on the plate though.  They were well seasoned and had a few pieces of garlic that brought out some flavor.  The meal killer was the bad gelato.  Man, it's been a while since I've had bad gelato.  So disappointing.

It was still pretty good, but I think it would have been better if it had been completely submerged in the fat.  Part of it was peeking out.  Anyway, after a weekend of binge eating and drinking, I'm back to skipping dinner for a while.

Awesome tableware for eating pho at home...

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/07/28/what-the-pho/

...this time, also with tarragon and a side of tomatos.

Sent from my iPhone

The Cooking

To reheat, I found a simple recipe online.  I just sauteed a leg in its own fat for a few minutes, then finished it in a 400 degree oven for another few minutes.

The Eating

This was much better than the first leg I ate yesterday.  Sitting overnight probably made it taste better.  The crispy skin also made it really good.  I also ate it with some rice (also reheated) and the same pepper and tomato salad, with some parsley on top.

The Cooking

This turned out to be a pretty simple process.  I just blended up the ingredients for the salt rub, applied to the duck legs, sealed in a plastic bag and let marinate overnight (12-18 hours) last night.

Today, I submerge the legs in hot canola oil (duck fat is preferred if available) and then stuck it in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours.

The Eating

I cooked four legs and ate one for dinner.  That piece was a little too salty for my taste, probably because I made the rub (and used the entire thing) as it was designed for six legs instead of four.  I ate with a tomato and bell pepper salad that went well with it.

The other three, I stuck in the fridge, submerged in the fat.

The Cooking

I tried some more tips from Cooks Illustrated on this one.  I bought some spicy chicken italian sausage from Whole Foods yesterday, so I wanted to make something with it.  I remembered that I had some leftover rice in the fridge from last weekend.  That stuff usually gets really dry and difficult to eat, so stir frying them was perfect.

It was pretty simple.  I diced some onion and bell pepper, then beat a couple of eggs.  The two eggs I put in the nonstick pan to cook, then set them aside.  Next, I put in the onion with some garlic.  After they cooked for a bit, I added the sausage.  Once that was cooked, I added the bell pepper, waited a couple of minutes, then put in the rice.  The eggs went on top, along with some soy sauce, and I just stir fried it away.

The Eating

It was not bad, but I can do better for next time.  The sausage was nice and tasty, I could tast the anise flavor coming from it.  It wasn't actually that spicy, but it had a nice little kick to it.  I was a little heavy on the salt/soy sauce.  It actually tasted a little bland (I thought) when I tasted the completed batch, but I think the additional soy sauce I added after that tasting put it over the top.  I'll try it for a few bites first next time before re-seasoning.

The best part about it was the little pieces of bell pepper that gave a nice crunch when I bit into them.  The contrast to the rest of the dish was nice.  I'll try putting in more (and maybe raw) bell pepper pieces next time.

The only problem was that after surfing all morning, I was still hungry after eating the whole thing.

The Cooking

(download)

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