A new year always brings with it a lot of promise and a deep-seated desire to be more successful than the last! But before we delve into the New Year it would be good to look back at 2012.
If you recall I was dreaming of a White Christmas! And a whitish one I had! When visiting friends over the holiday most would have some dark meat (red) to go with the main meal but anything I did at our house was not so dark 🙂
Image source |
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/
The first meat to make it to the platter was roast duck. Duck is an amazing bird. Served with potato wedges, ratatouille and plum sauce it simple dazzles. The preparation was as per the recipe I shared in my earlier post. Simple buy the duck clean it up, prick some holes on the breast, salt, put in the oven for 45 min turn it over put it in for another 45 and your are good to go! I made a few alterations, as my bird was not very fatty! After about an hour in the oven I basted it with some oil and then foiled it for the rest of the time. This ensured that the meat was not too crispy and it cooked well in a moist environment.
My son and His best friend waiting to serve duck and more!
To my surprise the duck had a lot of meat on the flanks and the breast. And this was no big bird! About 2.5 kg at most 3kg. The meat appears dark in colour but the taste was simple lovely. Duck will definitely make it as a meal in the year and I’m surely going rear some. At the butcher store I bought one Kilo for kes 695 that is approximately $0.75 per kilo. I’m yet to try duck eggs and once I get to those you bet, you will be informed!
Image source |
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/
guinea-fowl
The other white that made a surprise appearance was guinea fowl! This was least expected as it’s usually not common in the butchery and sometimes can be expensive. The bird is not tender so do not be fooled and just cook or roast! What I did was, pre cook in a pressure cooker for about 40 minutes with some veggies in the broth to add flavour then foiled it and then grilled for about another 40 minutes to an hour. The end result was amazing but still not as tender. The meat however was more white and bordering to the taste of turkey. The bird was well received by my family I assure you if you had not had enough on the first go you were definitely sure not to get anything on you second serving.
To compliment the tough bird we had three different types of quail (preparation that is). Smoked, grilled and made in the pressure cooker. All three were amazing but the best was smoked quail. It was well spiced and medium spicy. Â Quail always goes well with chips or sweet potato wedges. The bird is so sweet and tender you simply never have enough. Believe it or not the bird is approximately 275 grams when served but most of that is just meat! So it makes a good portion and very filling I might add.
California Whites
Well the bunny burgers did not make the menu but they are still a very serious contender. My butcher now sells rabbit meat so I have a source 🙂
The Christmas break was not all about fun and food! There was some adventure on the 27th of December I went for 31Km mountain bike ride. The adventure dubbed “turkey burner” was simply excellent. The trails were so muddy and the thickets in the forest were so overgrown so you can imagine my joy with thorns and brushes all over. I managed to fall 4 times and had one flat but the good news is I made it! Next time I’ll try get a GoPro camera to capture the action as I could not use my camera due to the rain. That was an amazing experience and I’m looking forward to going for another later on this year!
Terantula | Hairy bug
GoPro or not what is Christmas without a thrill? We had some action no less. After wining and dining while taking a casual stroll to the car, my niece notice an odd looking frog. It was dark so it was hard to see what it really was but on looking closer this frog was not hopping as they usually do, it was quite hairy and it had 4 pairs of legs! You can imagine the dramas that ensued but luckily the camera was not too far away! This tarantula is apparently harmless and is also know as the baboon spider but if you have it crawling up your sleeve I highly doubt you’ll be debating if it’s harmful or just another hairy bug!
As for what is in store for 2013 definitely some good things are coming!
urbanshamba 