Pressure cooker duck legs in Hoisin sauce

This is what I like to call a 'fridge tea'.  It's the end of the month, I have run out of money and food supplies are low.  So, I have to be a bit creative with whatever ingredients I happen to have left.

I had two duck legs and a jar of hoisin sauce.  Sounds like the basis for a Chinese style duck dish. 
I added to this:
Shallots (I had a few lurking about)
Garlic (slightly sprouty)
Ginger (I keep this in the freezer)
Red chilli (also from the freezer)
Five spice powder
Runny honey
Szechuan peppercorns
I have recently purchased a rather retro pressure cooker.  Seeing as it was a Monday night I didn't want to be cooking for hours so I thought I'd give this a whirl in the pressure cooker.

First I browned the duck legs in the pressure cooker pan with a tiny bit of sunflower oil. 
Then I added the shallots and fried them off for a couple of mins.
Then I chucked the rest of the ingredients in with a bit of water, stirred it round and cooked under pressure for 40mins.
After taking the lid off I added some frozen peas (only veg in the house!) to cook through for a couple of mins.

Served with boiled rice.

Well, I love my pressure cooker.  This was really rather tasty and required very little effort.  The meat had started to come off the bone and the sauce was lovely and thick.  I would omit the honey next time though as the Hoisin is already quite sweet and personally I don't think it needed any more.  I reckon it would have been done after 20mins but I went for 40 to make sure the duck legs were tender.

I sometimes think of duck as a bit of a treat but two duck legs are only £2.50 which results in ducky goodness!

Les Deux Salons

Les Deux Salons
William IV Street, London
Les Deux Salons opened in late 2010 and is the same chain as Arbutus and Wild Honey.

I've walked past this place many times but have never thought to go in.  It's quite unassuming from the outside so is easy to miss.  So when the opportunity to go out for dinner with the outlaws for a pre-theatre meal came along this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out.

I was slightly concerned about eating here as it gets very mixed reviews on the web ranging from fab to down right awful with very poor service.  However, I'd had a recommendation from a friend so decided to risk it.

Inside has an informal French bistro feel and it is a large space over two floors.

We were meeting the outlaws there and we arrived about 15mins early so asked if we could sit at the bar.  We were told this wasn't possible and were shown straight to our table.  Not sure why we couldn't sit at the bar but this wasn't really a problem.  We were shown to a comfortable and roomy round table upstairs.  We'd booked for 5pm so the restaurant was completely empty at this point.  The waiter was very quick to bring over some water and take our drinks order.  They then left us alone until the rest of our party had arrived, which, in my opinion, is how it should be.  Once the outlaws had arrived the waiter gave us time to settle in before taking more drinks orders.

We had booked the pre-theatre menu which sounded like an absolute bargain at £15.95 for 3 courses. 

The menu had a choice of 4 starters, 4 mains and I think 3 puddings including cheese.

Due to general gassing and indecisiveness we had to send the waiter away at least twice because we weren't quite ready to order.  At no point did we feel rushed or as if this was a problem.  When we were finally ready we ordered three duck rillettes and one puff pastry leek tart to start. 

The duck rillettes came with sliced apple, lambs lettuce and sourdough toast.  It was a good sized portion with a meaty shredded duck texture.  The sweet but tart apple complemented it well.  All in all very nice although it was very salty.

I didn't try the leek tart but it was well presented and by all accounts was very nice.  I struggle to get excited about non meat/fish dishes though unless they contain goats cheese!

For the main course two of us ordered sausages with puy lentils and preserved lemon.  The outlaws both ordered the lamb.

The sausages came in a pan straight from the oven and the lid was removed at the table (nice touch - I'm easily pleased!).  Inside was one large Montbeliard (I think) sausage cut in half resting on a bed of puy lentils.  The sausage was lovely and meaty.  I was worried that this dish might be a bit heavy and not leave me room for dessert but the preserved lemon really lifted and lightened the whole dish.  I had no trouble polishing the whole thing off!

The lamb looked less substantial.  It seemed to be slow cooked lamb shoulder topped with potato.  This also went down very well though.

For pudding I had a bitter chocolate mousse which came with crumbled meringue on top.  This looked huge but again I didn't struggle one bit to finish it.  Normally I would order the cheese but in this case it was just one cheese served with bread so not great.  The other half ordered a lemon syllabub which was very nice but also very light.

We then had coffee/tea/dessert wine all round.

There was a two hour turnaround on the table and the restaurant had completely filled up while we were eating.  This gave it a great atmosphere.  We didn't leave until 45mins after the two hours but at no point did we feel that we were being pressured.

Overall I would say that this is a relaxed place that offers good value food.  It wasn't outstanding but it was very nice and I'd definitely go back.  The staff were very friendly and unobtrusive.  My only criticism is that their food is very salty.  I like salt but this was right on the edge of being too much so might not be to everyones taste.  Also if you are very hungry then you might still be a bit peckish when you leave as the portions didn't leave any room for wastage.

I'd be interested to know if anyone else had tried it!

Tues 10 Jan

Salmon topped with pesto served with asparagus and potatoes.

Get a large square of tin foil.  Put some asparagus in a single layer in the middle.  Lay salmon on top of asparagus (I normally use green beans), top with a generous spoonful or two of green pesto and add the juice of one lemon.

Wrap up parcel and cook in the oven at 180 for 15mins.

Serve with boiled or oven roasted potatoes.

Surprisingly tasty for such a quick meal.

Mon 9 Jan

Tilapia fillets in an Asian style glaze (bought these ready made from Waitrose) with Pad Thai style noodles

Pan fry the fish until done.  The glaze was very mild but caramalised nicely.

For the noodles I put in a pan:

2 packets of Sharwoods straight to wok pad thai noodles, one egg beaten, the juice of one lime, a large glug of fish sauce (I love fish sauce), some sliced green beans, some sliced mushrooms, two chillis.

Heat for about 4mins until hot and serve the fish on top.  It was dead tasty and healthy but I was still rather hungry all evening.

Sun 8 Jan

Venison casserole with parsnip and swede mash

I started this off in a pan and then finished it in a slow cooker.  Left it over night and then ate it the next day.

Overall I was disappointed.  Was more like a normal beef stew.  Next time will leave out the veg, add some bacon at the beginning and some mushrooms at the end.

Sat 7 Jan

Tortellini with pesto and pine nuts

Boil ready made tortellini for 4 mins (I used Sainsburys wild mushroom).

Drain then stir in some pesto.

Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and shavings of parmesan.

Goes well with spinach and watercress if you have some too.  Just stir it in to wilt.

Super quick tea.

Fri 6 Jan

Fajitas (whispers out of a packet)

This was a ridiculous thing to buy.  As I rather annoyingly said all through making them ‘I could have made these better myself’.  But the pack was 50% off in Sainsburys and I had some left over poached chicken from the Asian poached chicken I had made on Tuesday.

The pack comes with 8 flour tortillas, a sachet of salsa and a spice mix.  You add some chicken, peppers and onions.  I also added some grated cheese and some crème fraiche (this was in the fridge and made a substitute for sour cream).

You then fry the chicken (if raw, mine was cooked) and the veg with the spice mix for a few mins, microwave the tortillas and serve.

The salsa tasted of very little so I added coriander, chilli, fresh tomatoes, salt (too much salt as the lid of my grinder fell off – I have now finally thrown it out) and lime juice.  This helped but it still tasted watery.  Should have made it myself!

The spice mix was ok.  Smokey BBQ taste but not as good as the spicy fresh one I make myself!

Saying that though they were ok and made for a bit of a naughty Friday tea.  The cat was very excited by them – she is a junk food kitty.

Thurs 5 Jan

Prawn and chorizo paella

250g raw prawns

Some sliced chorizo

1 onion

2 red peppers

Crushed garlic

Chicken stock

200g Arborio rice (I didn’t have enough so used mostly basmati)

Smoked paprika

Tumeric (in place of saffron)

Frozen peas

Fry onion in oil until soft, add garlic for a min, add chorizo and fry for a couple more mins. 

Add smoked paprika and tumeric, stir round. 

Add stock cube, rice, peppers and enough boiling water to cover. 

Cook without stirring until the rice is almost done. 

Then add the prawns and peas and cook until done. 

Serve with chopped parsley and lemon for squeezing.

I’m sure this is not in the least bit authentic but it does the job for a quick and tasty tea.

Weds 4 Jan

Stuffed trout with potato bake

Get someone else to scale and prepare fish (in my case this is a Bob).

On a square of foil put some sliced mushrooms, lay fish on top.  Stuff trout with lemon slices.  Top with sliced shallots.  Pour over a large glug of white wine and some pepper.  Wrap up foil parcel and bake at 180 for about 20mins.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve with potatoes and green veg or rice.

I layered up sliced potatoes and onions with lots of seasoning cooked in stock for about 40mins.  Came out soft and gooey inside with nice crusty potatoes on top. 

Tues 3 Jan

Poached Asian chicken. 

Take a whole chicken.  Put it in a pan with some chopped onion, spring onion, carrots, celery, star anise, Schezwan Peppercorns & black peppercorns.  Top with cold water.  Bring to the boil.  You are supposed to boil rapidly for 20mins and then turn the heat off, cover and leave for 3-4hrs.  The chicken should then be cooked and still hot.

I didn't have time for this so I simmered on the heat for about 2hrs.  Skim any impurities that come to the surface.

Then shred the chicken from the bones.  Sieve the stock and discard the veg.

Put the chicken bones in the oven for about 20mins at 180 until golden brown.  Add to the stock and simmer for another hour.

I used some of the shredded chicken and stock to make a chicken noodle soup.

Sharwoods straight to wok pad thai noodles.

1.5pts stock from the poached chicken

Ginger, chopped into slivers

1/2 tsp Schezwan peppercorns

Spring onions, chopped

Chilli

Pak choi

Soy sauce, glug of

Fish sauce, glug of

Lime juice

Boil the stock, ginger & peppercorns.

Add the rest of the ingredients and heat through.

Serve in big bowls and slurp like crazy.

All very healthy and yummy but not sure the rigmarole of poaching the chicken is actually worth it.  I got the recipe from another blog where people raved about it.  Admittedly I didn't follow the recipe exactly but I suspect it wouldn't have made much difference.