Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Smoked Duck Soup

The other week I smoked a whole duck in my electric smoker. So this week I decided to make some smoked duck soup. I toured the InterWebs for ideas and really didn't find what I wanted, so I made this up on my own. 

Ingredients

1 smoked duck carcass with legs and wings

Leftover smoked duck breast

1 yellow onion, quartered

2 carrots chopped into chunks

3 stalks of celery chopped up into chunks

5 bay leaves

Handful of whole peppercorns

Enough water to make duck stock

2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin half moons

1/2 of a yellow onion diced

4 cloves of roasted garlic, chopped

2 packages of baby Bella mushrooms, sliced thinly

Salt and pepper to taste

Health smidge of Penzey's Old World seasoning

Leftover wild rice

Process

To make the stock, put the carcass and chunks of onion, celery, and carrots into a large stock pot along with the bay leaves and peppercorns. Use enough water to cover the duck. Set to boil and then reduce to simmer slightly covered for approximately four and a half hours. Skim the duck fat from time to time. 

Once the stock has been created, pour the stock into a different pot using a strainer. Pick out the good pieces of meat from the carcass, legs, and wings. 

Add that meat and the leftover duck breast into the stock. Add in the thinly cut onions, carrots, and mushrooms into the soup pot along with the roasted garlic. Add in some of the Old World seasoning at the start and taste later to add salt and pepper. Simmer for about an hour and serve. I added in some leftover wild rice I had in the fridge to give it a little something more. 

Music Friday: "Run Run Rudolph"

It's Xmas Eve day, so this classic proves appropriate. 

Random Notes from a Crank

The article about omicron and its spread in Denmark in the The Washington Post is a good one to read since the Danes are the best folks in the world to test and track the virus: "What Does the Omicron Variant Mean for a Highly Vaccinated Country? Denmark Has a Dire Answer." 

I checked the other day, and in my county in east central Illinois, only 43% are fully vaccinated. 77% of those 65 years and older are fully vaccinated, and 50% of those 18-64 are fully vaccinated. Those percentages are terrible. 

If you're interested in your own county or state, check out the Post's "Tracking the Covid Vaccine" link. 

I recently got a smoker, and I've spent the past two weekends smoking various meat. Last weekend it was a pork loin and then salmon fillets. This weekend it is spare ribs and then a whole duck.

I picked up a case of Sierra Nevada IPAs at Costco on our last visit. That is some great ale. It could be argued that Sierra Nevada is the brand that helped start the craft beer movement in the US.

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Dry Rub for Pork

Here's the ingredients of a dry rub I used on some spare ribs today. My early Xmas present was an electric smoker. 

Ingredients

1 cup of light brown sugar

3 tablespoons of kosher salt

2 tablespoons of onion powder

2 tablespoons of smoked paprika

1 tablespoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of Old Bay

1 teaspoon of dry mustard

1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Music Friday: "I Wanna Be Sedated"

I have spent the last two days interviewing a bunch of people, 14 to be exact, for a position we have open at my work. 

My brain feels like mush. 

As a result,...

Musing of the Moment: "It's Been a Minute"

There's a verbal trend out there that I don't care for.

I watch a lot of sports and sports commentators, so I've heard this phrase said in those environs, but I've also seen it used in non-sports contexts.  

People are using the phrase "it's been minute" to ironically mean that it's been a long time since someone has done this or that. So "it's been a minute" actually means it's been a long time. 

Where did this horrible little ironic phrasing originate from? And who coined this unnecessary verbal irony? 

Music Friday: "I Can Get Us Out of Here"

I've been listening to Lucero all day today as I was doing work. 

When I got done, this song was playing. 

Sunday Hangover: Georgia - SEC Championship

That's why they play the games. 

Going into last night's SEC Championship Game, I would have given Alabama a 10-20% chance of beating Georgia. 

SEC Champs.

Bryce Young put in a Heisman-winning performance against the best defense in college football. He had 26 receptions on 44 attempts for a whopping 421 yards and three passing touchdowns. He also had a touchdown on the ground. 

Comparing the Tide's offensive line play last night to the turd-like performance they had against Auburn is telling. For the most part, the revised O line kept Young clean, and on occasion Young used his legs to beat the Bulldogs. 

Jameson Williams went off again, but it sounds like the Tide will lose Metchie for the rest of the season, which is a major blow. 

The Crimson Tide will face off against Cincinnati on New Year's Eve Day.

Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Sausage and Deconstructed Broccoli Vegetable Soup

I made this soup last week. I wanted to get it all down, so I don't forget what I did. I am calling it deconstructed broccoli because I used broccoli florets, and their structural integrity does not hold up if you put them in early, so they just infuse the liquid with killer broccoli flavor. 

Ingredients

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

3 carrots, finely chopped

Olive oil

2 tablespoons of harissa paste

1 lb. of turkey kielbasa, cut into half moon slices

1 carton of vegetable stock

2 cartons of chicken stock

4-5 cups of broccoli florets

1 package of baby spinach

1 can of dark red kidney beans, drained

1 package of baby Bella mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons of roasted garlic seasoning

2 tablespoons of smoked paprika

1-2 tablespoons of Penzey's Northwoods seasoning

1 tablespoon of ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Process

Coat a stock pot with olive oil over medium-high heat and add onions and carrots. Put in a healthy smidge of kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. Sauté the aromatics for approximately ten to minutes. 

Add in the sausage and brown it for about ten minutes. Add harissa and cook for roughly five minutes. Dump in the stock and add the vegetables and seasoning. Kick up the heat to boil and then set it to simmer for a couple of hours and enjoy. 

Music Friday: "What If I"

I picked up the new album from Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats this past week. It's another solid offering from a great musical outfit.

Here's one of my favorites after a handful of listens.