Kitchen Wench

They are also selling duck breast (as well as duck legs, as previously mentioned), whole duckling, veal chops, and Australian lamb legs.  Today there was white asparagus and Brussels sprouts on the stalk.  And they doubled the number of express check-out lines and added self-check out lanes.

WHAT IS GOING ON?!

I mean, the customer service is still as surly as ever, but it’s like they’re actually trying to stop sucking so bad.  Did someone just read my mind and finally give me what I wanted after 2.5 years of torturous shopping experiences at that store?!

I feel like I just entered the bizarro world.

As I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion, I hate the Columbia Heights Giant.  In fact, every time I go in there, I leave either in a state of total rage, utter dejection, or both.  But I can’t seem to stop shopping there because it’s a few blocks from my apartment, right on my walk home from the Metro.

Giant has a section in the meat aisle called “SOMETHING SPECIAL”, which usually amounts to a few packages of free range chicken breasts and some sad-looking organic steaks.  However, last week I actually did find something special: duck legs!  They’re imported from Canada and what really blew my mind was that they cost less than $3 a piece.  I’d never cooked duck before, but for $2.70, I figured I could afford to screw it up.

As it turns out, roasting a duck leg is pretty much idiot-proof, and it’s delicious.  Roasting is also great because it’s easy, it renders out most of the fat, and the meat is falling-off-the-bone tender.  Lee and I actually split one leg along with a salad, butternut squash, and roasted onions.  For a heartier meal, use two legs.

Five Spice Roast Duck Leg

• 1-2 duck legs
• seeds from half a pomegranate (you could also substitute pomegranate juice for some of the wine)
• 1 onion, quartered
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 star anise pods
• dry red wine
• Chinese five spice powder
• salt, pepper, sugar

1.  Score the skin side of the duck legs with a knife.  Rub a pinch each of salt, pepper, sugar, and five spice powder onto the skin.  Be a little generous with the salt.

2.  Place duck in a baking dish along with the onions, garlic, anise, bay leaf, and pomegranate seeds.  [Tip: The best way to seed a pomegranate is in a bowl of water. Here's a video that shows you how to do it.]

3.  Pour enough red wine into the pan to come about half way up the side.  Cover the dish tightly with foil and roast at 375 for 1 hour.

4.  Remove foil from dish and continue roasting for another 30 minutes until the skin is crispy.  Alternatively, you can crisp the skin under the broiler.

5.  When the duck is finished, pour the excess fat out of the pan and reserve from later use.  (I hear it does wonders for potatoes.)  Serve the duck with pan sauce and roasted vegetables.

Serves 2.

Warning: This has nothing to do with food whatsoever.  Something happened to me on my commute home today, and I feel the need to rant.

Like many people in the DC area, I take the train to work.  Unfortunately, this being the nation’s capital, a lot of tourists also take the train.  I think the Green line generally fares better than other lines because there are fewer attractions and hotels on it, but it is not immune to influx of often clueless tourists.  Today, something happened that symbolizes everything I hate about our modern, affluent society and the parents and children that it breeds.

In the middle of rush hour, I get on a crowded train car only to be immediately greeted by a pair of rambunctious children jumping around and climbing up/sliding down the main pole by the door.  I and my fellow commuters squeeze ourselves past and around them, since these kids have pretty much rendered the pole unusable by any one else on the train.  I look around for a minute, wondering where their parents are.

I then hear this voice behind me say, “I’m not going to tell them to sit down.”  I turn around and realize that it’s Dad standing behind me and he has just informed Mom that he is about to completely check out of this situation.  He doesn’t say another work for the rest of the time I’m on the train.  I look to my other side and see Mom, sitting 3 rows back from her children, her view almost completely obstructed by commuters.  “Okay,” she says.  She then feebly calls out to her children, “Stay still!”

Obviously, they do not stay still.  Instead, they proceed to poke, punch, growl, squeal at at each other and generally thrash around the entire ride.  The boy will punch his sister, prompting her to scream, “MOM!” very indignantly.  Mom will then poke her head up from her seat, try to crane her neck around 4 people, and asks  what he did to her.  The boy shrugs and gives her this incredulous look, like, “I don’t know!  She must have just punched herself! Crazy!”  Then the whole sequence starts all over again.

“Are we at Greenbelt yet?” the boy yells out.  Greenbelt!  That’s another 20 or 30 minutes on the train.  All I can think about is how bad I feel for the people who will have the displeasure of riding all the way out to Greenbelt with this family.  At one point both children lean in to look at the system map, sticking their little upturned noses just inches away from the faces of the people sitting in front of the map.  Both commuters frown and tilt their heads to the side to avoid having their faces touch.

No once does either parent make a move to get up, separate their children, or otherwise attempt to discipline them.  Every so often, Mom will weakly suggest that they, “Stay still” or “Be careful, people are getting off”, a call which goes unheeded since it’s obvious that she can’t actually see them.

PUBLIC TRANSIT IS NOT A PLAYGROUND FOR YOUR ILL-BEHAVED CHILDREN.  This is a public place and their behavior is making it difficult for people to get on, off, and otherwise stand comfortably on the train.  While these kids were clearly annoying, I don’t blame them for not knowing proper Metro etiquette.  But parents, PLEASE, control your kids!  I know they don’t always want to cooperate, but at least make an effort.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve never ridden the train before; this stuff is common sense!  What it implicitly says to me, as a casual bystander, is that you really don’t have any respect for the other people around you.  And you’re just passing that lack of respect on to your children.

I hate it when people cannot be bothered to think about how their simple actions affect others.  Don’t get me wrong, we do inconsiderate things at times.  But what gets me is when it’s an action that is totally preventable or a situation that is easily correctable, and the offender remains totally clueless.  These parents could have gotten up at the next stop, separated their quarreling kids, and put them in a seat.  Instead, they did nothing.

I am going to be the meanest mom ever.

One of my guilty pleasures is buying the occasional issue of Martha Stewart Living. Really, I’m just embracing my future middle-aged woman self… Anyway, the October issue had this big spread about heirloom pumpkins, which come in a rainbow of colors and textures. But I assumed that I wouldn’t be able to find any of these pumpkins because I don’t live in Martha’s Magical Universe, which is populated by heirloom plants, monogrammed towels, antique glassware, and giant Chow Chow dogs.

As it turns out, you can get heirloom pumpkins in D.C.  I found several varieties at the Penn Quarter and Dupont farmers’ markets, including Long Island Cheese pumpkins. I bought a Long Island Cheese because the color and shape was so pretty.  They also happen to be good eating pumpkins, and now that Halloween is over, I decided to cook it.

Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup

This recipe is modified from Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s Silky Coconut Pumpkin Soup from their book Hot Sour Salty Sweet.

I used a Long Island Cheese pumpkin that was about 14″ in diameter (probably 5-6 lbs).  To prepare the pumpkin flesh, I cut it into 6 hunks, removed the seeds, and then roasted the slices with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper for about an hour in a 375 degree oven. I then scraped out the flesh and mashed it roughly with a fork.  You can prepare this several days ahead.

• 4 cups mashed pumpkin
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 (13.5 oz) cans light coconut milk
• 4 slices of high-quality bacon
• 1 small Vidalia onion, chopped
• 5 shallots, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp sweet curry powder
• 1/2 tsp Thai curry powder
• 1/4 tsp ground tumeric
• 1/4 tsp Thai chili powder (or cayenne powder)
• a couple tsps salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

1.  In a dutch oven or other large pot, cook bacon on low heat until very crispy.  Place cooked bacon on paper towels to drain.  Pour off excess fat, leaving about 3 tablespoons in the pot.

2.  Add onions and shallots.  Cook on medium heat until translucent and softened.  Add garlic and cook another minute or two more.  Stir in mashed pumpkin and cook until pumpkin is heated through.

3.  Add coconut milk, chicken broth, and parsley.  Bring up to a gentle simmer.

4.  Puree soup.   If you have an immersion blender, you can do this right inside the pot.  If you don’t, you should get one, because it will change your life.  Barring that, you can puree the soup in a regular blender.

5.  Add spices, fish sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Gently simmer for 15 minutes or so to allow flavors to meld.  Taste and re-season if needed.   Serve soup with pieces of crumbled bacon on top.

Makes about 4 quarts.