Month: December 2019

Easy Does It # 38 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

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When you read the title of this post and then see the final dish, you might wonder – whats easy about this ? 🙂
Let me assure you, everything is ! 🙂
The total preparation time is only about 20 minutes, although the total cooking time is more like 4.5 hours, give or take a few minutes.
How can this be, you ask ?
Well, I prepared this meal on Christmas day just for Bella and myself, so I took some shortcuts which I usually might not have taken, namely using frozen creamed spinach, which I enhanced with some additional heavy cream and a pinch of nutmeg. The result was VERY yummy.
I also used frozen pommes croquettes, which turned out surprisingly delicious, especially when paired with the wonderful duck sauce. (I always have demi glace of pork, poultry and veal in my freezer, so it is easy to produce excellent sauce in a relatively short time. 🙂
Actual prep time was approximately :
10 Minutes – unpacking, washing, drying, salting the duck, and, at the end, portioning the duck.
5 Minutes – unpacking the spinach, adding to a small sauteuse, adding cream and nutmeg.
3 Minutes – unpacking the croquettes, placing on the grill in the oven.
The most difficult thing was to wait for all these hours until we could finally dig-in, while the aroma coming from the kitchen made us hungrier by the minute. Of course, I started the duck for dinner right after lunch, so it was bearable for me, while Bella experienced four hours of nearly going nuts in front of the oven 🙂
I, on the other hand, had things to do, so, for me, the time went by fast.
At the end, this was a superb meal with very little effort. Bella and I loved all of it. I am sure that if we would have had visitors, they would have been impressed by all the skills and effort and hard work I have spend for them with this dish. 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Easy Does It # 38 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

Serving Suggestion #1 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

Serving Suggestion #2 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

Easy Does It # 38 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: Large Raw Duck

: Demi Glace

: Frozen Creamed Spinach ( 20 oz)

: Frozen Croquettes

: season duck inside and outside with kosher salt

: place on a rack over a rimmed tray (to catch the fat and juices, place into a 400F (205 C) degree oven, turn down temperature to 300F (150C), roast for 3 Hours/45 Minutes, turning every 30 Minutes

: after 3 H/45 M, turn the temperature to 420F (215 C) remove the duck with the rack to another tray (I used a cast Iron pan) roast breast-side up for another 20 to 30 minutes or until the skin is very crisp and golden brown, remove from oven and let rest for 10 Minutes before carving

: resting pretty………

: add 1/2 cup heavy cream and a pinch of nutmeg to the spinach, simmer until thick and creamy

: add the croquettes to the oven, bake according to the package instructions

: pls note that, because of the low temperature, even without adding any liquid during roasting, the fond is dark brown and not burned

: add 2 cups good quality red wine, simmer until all the fond has loosened from the bottom of the tray

: add 1 cup demi glace, simmer another minute

: strain the sauce, check/adjust the seasoning

: well rested, ready to carve

: because of its large size and plenty of side dishes, I only used 1 breast and one leg, the rest was for next day´s “Duck Soup With Noodles & Spinach” (post coming up)

: Bellas wing at bottom left……

: Serving Suggestion # 1 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

: Serving Suggestion # 2 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

: Easy Does It # 38 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

: Easy Does It # 38 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

: Easy Does It # 38 – Slow Roast Crispy Duck, Creamed Spinach, Pommes Croquettes & Red Wine Jus

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Happy Holidays 2019/2020 !

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Dear Friends,
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As 2019 draws to a close I would like to thank you all to have spent
time with me in real life and on ChefsOpinion during this eventful 2019.
I wish you all the most wonderful and happy holidays, and a healthy, blessed and prosperous 2020,
filled with love, harmony, and goodness.
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The best from Bella and me to all of you,

Hans Susser
(Soupi)
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God Bless !
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Beef Goulash & Bread Dumplings

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A stew is one of these typical, beloved, easy to prepare dishes that have almost disappeared from fine restaurant menus and, sadly, from most household dining tables (or kitchen tables).
Many home cooks shy away from it because of the extended cooking time. But, once you realize that the actual prep time is usually short and easy, things look a lot more simple. After all, as long as you are at home, you can do whatever you want/need to do around the house as long as you check on your stew once in a while. The reward is a meal chock-full of flavor and debt, hardly achieved with any other cooking method (this one being “Braising.” )
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While this one looks like a typical goulash, the seasoning changes it into a very different animal.
In my own opinion, not better or worse, just different. I eat stews and goulash regularly, so I love to change the ingredients/seasoning often, to avoid monotony in my nutrition.
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Beef Goulash & Bread Dumplings

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: 20 oz indersuppen fleisch (boiling beef), 20 oz sliced onion

: saute onion in 2 tblsp sunflower oil

: cover onions, steam until broken down, about 15 minutes

: cut the beef into 1 ” cubes

: add to the onions

: cover, braise until most liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes

: add 2 tblsp tomato paste, saute until lightly caramelized

: 7 tblsp sweet Hungarian paprika, 4 ea dried red chillies, 2 tblsp cracked szechuan pepper, 2 tblsp oyster sauce, 2 tblsp finely diced lemongrass, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme, cayenne pepper and kosher salt to taste

: add to the meat

: add 2 qt stock (best for this dish is beef stock, but chicken stock or veggy stock will do)

: simmer until meat is almost tender and stock thickened, about 1 1/1 to 2 hours, depending on the meat, add 1 cup sliced or diced raw carrots

: when the carrots are tender, add 1 cup cooked, diced potatoes, 1/2 cup diced green peppers

: check/adjust seasoning

: almost………… 🙂

: Beef Goulash & Bread Dumplings

: Beef Goulash & Bread Dumplings

: Beef Goulash & Bread Dumplings

: Beef Goulash & Bread Dumplings

: Beef Goulash & Bread Dumplings

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Not Your Mama´s Chicken/Noodle Soup – “Chicken Pho” (Phở Gà)

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If you have followed ChefsOpinion for a while, you might be aware of my passion for soups, especially for chicken noodle soup, prepared any-which-way.
Without a doubt, the soup featured on this page is by far the best chicken noodle soup I have ever tasted.
The combination and the amount used of the special chicken and all the veggies, as well as the seasoning/aromatics and the six hours of cooking resulted in a heavenly broth, for which only the wide rice noodles and garden-fresh cilantro was needed to transform these simple ingredients into a wonderful, immensely satisfying culinary delight. 🙂
( The plate prepared for the original photo shoot already was all that – but then, the plate I prepared later on with all the “secondary cuts” (neck, wings and dark meat), which was originally not intended to be included in this post, was even better and “hit it out of the park” ) 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
To prepare the best tasting chicken broth, one must use “Suppen Huhn” (Boiling Fowl, which needs to simmer between three to six hours to be sufficiently tender for the meat to be enjoyed.
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Not Your Mama´s Chicken/Noodle Soup – “Chicken Pho” (Phở Gà)

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And later on, the second helping looked like this :
(Originally, these photos were not intended to be published 🙂
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Not Your Mama´s Chicken/Noodle Soup – “Chicken Pho” (Phở Gà)

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: Chop Stick Holder

: The Good Stuff…..

: 1 ea 3 lbs “suppenhuhn”, 2 lbs chicken backs, 3 lbs “suppengemüse”

: simmer in 10 qt lightly salted water (the stock will reduce to about 2-3 qt, so take it very easy with the salt at this time)

: after 2 hours, the chicken is still extremely tough

: at this point, add 8 ea star anis, 3 ea cinnamon sticks, 2 tblsp szechuan pepper, 1 tblsp ginger/garlic paste, 1 tblsp brown sugar and 21 tblsp lemon juice and a inch of cayenne pepper

: simmer until the chicken is tender (between 3 and 4 hours more)

: after 6 hours of slowly simmering

: remove the chicken, cover with a damp clothe to avoid discoloring of the meat

: strain the soup, discard the solids (there should be 2 qt soup at this point, if not, adjust bey reducing or adding liquid), recipe makes 2 generous main courses or 6 appetizers