It is hot. Too damn hot. So, in response to the unseasonably hot weather we're suffering through just now, tonights dinner was a salad. I think this is probably the first time I've made a warm salad for dinner, and I'll certainly be doing this one again; particularly if this weather carries on...
Going on my pet theory that chillis will cool you down in hot weather, I picked Nigella's "Gingery-Hot Duck Salad" from "Nigella Bites" as it looked both simple and also yummy. The recipe can be found on her Channel 4 microsite, here. This is a surprisingly healthy recipe for Nigella, however, plenty of flavour is packed in. I'd certainly eat this if I was in a dieting mood!
Very simply, the salad consists of griddled duck breast, thinly sliced afterwards, tossed in a citrus based dressing which is seasoned liberally with fish sauce (perhaps a little too liberally) and then stewn artistically over a bed of tender young greens. I used baby spinach leaves which were delicious.
I'm not sure that I managed to discern the cayenne chillis from birds eye chilli's in the pack of Thai chillis that I bought, but the dressing had just the right amount of heat and chilli flavour for us. In our household that generally means enough heat to make Dave gasp, and just enough to make me hum happily to myself.
Next time I would cut the fish sauce down to 1.5 tablespoons as it was a little overpowering. Adding the sesame oil helped immeasurably, so I really would consider this a necessity rather than merely optional. A tiny drop was all I needed to bring the dressing back into balance. I'm very keen to try this on beef, as alluded to by Nigella in her introductory paragraph. As beef is quicker to cook than duck it would make for a very, very quick lunch.
My only regret was that I don't own a splatter guard. My poor stove is well and truely splattered in rendered duck fat. I don't need a crystal ball to foresee what I'll be spending tomorrow morning doing...
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Oh my! Duck. Ginger. Some leafy bits! So when are you going to teach me to cute exactly? :D MMMMMMMMMMMMM I NEED Gingery-Hot Duck Salad! :D
1. Posted by Poz on November 19, 2007
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Oh dear. I mean... So when are you going to teach me to COOK. COOK, i tell you. I was distracted by a TV ad for TROY. honest. :P
2. Posted by Poz on November 19, 2007
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I'll teach you to cook when you move Down South :) The duck salad is really, really easy - give it a go!!!
3. Posted by Angela on November 19, 2007