Over the Top

Do you ever get the urge to go over the top in the kitchen? To make a dish that will give you goose bumps; make your jaws ache; curl your toes? I get this urge all the time. In fact, I have to keep the inclination bottled because it’s like a drug — the more I do it the more I have to do it. Sometimes you need to buy a pizza, or make scrambled eggs, or grill a minute steak. Sometimes you need to back off.

Backing off and eating a Quarter Pounder or even homemade Buffalo Wings brings the bar back in focus. It enables you to remember that simple is often best. That if we can engage all five tastes and add some flavors to them we can eat like kings. And such is the case in this meal.

This is a meal too fundamental, too unencumbered with frivolity to ever succeed in a restaurant.

This wasn’t a quick and easy meal — I had to make the duck confit first. That’s a multiple-day process as the duck legs first cure and then simmer ever-so-gently in duck fat, something I’d done a few weeks ago with six legs (if you’re going to that much trouble, make it worthwhile). Nor are Maine Fries quick, it takes an hour to cook them, again over very low heat.

So what I did was add a couple of tablespoons of duck fat to a cast iron skillet over low heat. Then I added a couple of potatoes (Yukon Golds) cut into bite-sized chunks, covered the skillet, and left it alone for 20 minutes. At that point I turned the potatoes to a new side to brown and gave them another 10 minutes. I turned the potatoes one last time and pulled the meat off the drumstick in shreds (reserving the thigh for a future use) and added it to the pan along with the skin from the leg (and thigh), some salt, and some cracked black pepper and gave it another 10 minutes. At this point I had the salty and savory (and some sweet from the just-harvested potatoes) tastes in hand.

Meanwhile, I made a vinaigrette using balsamic vinegar (sweet and sour), olive oil, and Dijon mustard (hot and sour).

When the potatoes were done I dressed the salad of frissee and arugula (bitter) and sat down to eat a simple meal of fried potatoes and salad. I doubt you can find a more-satisfying meal in any restaurant in your town. This is a meal too fundamental, too unencumbered with frivolity to ever succeed in a restaurant. And yet it brings together all five tastes, a multitude of complex flavors, and textures ranging from silky smooth to crisp to chewy. It was completely over the top.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | duck | potatoes

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