February 2013March 2013 April 2013

03/31 - Late Season Duck Confit

Duck confit is usually a fall or winter dish Chez Kaleberg, but this winter we kept delaying things. Preserving four ducks in their own fat is a bit of a production. We skipped January after all the excitement and cooking of the Christmas season back in December. Then we skipped February due to miserable colds. Then came March and the start of spring. We almost never make a duck confit in the spring or summer, but this year we let the equinox slip by without getting our ducks in a row. Still, when it comes to duck confit, it's better late than never, so we ordered our ducks and cut them up and rendered the fat, and you can see the results, still warm from the oven to the right. Let's face it. It's never too late for duck confit.

Keywords: ducks, spring, food, kale

03/30 - Sunny Day and Low Tide at Dungeness Spit

Saturday was a perfect day at the Dungeness Spit. The low tide was negative a bit after noon, and the weather was sunny and warm. It may have been a bit bright for some, but for most it was a perfect spring day. The walking was fairly easy with a fair bit of sand, though there were some soft spots. Take a look at that sky in the photos, and you will wish you were there.

The view from the spit

The view of the mountains

Driftwood

Keywords: dungeness spit, spring, tides, weather

03/26 - Three Shots

We haven't been up to much. Here are three photos of a sunset, some clouds and a fishing lure caught in a tree that we originally thought was some kind of early blooming flower.

A sunset (from our yard)

Some clouds (from along the Strait)

That fishing lure caught in a tree (looking down at Morse Creek)

Keywords: port angeles

03/14 - Veronica Mars - Support the Movie at Kickstarter

We're big fans of Veronica Mars. A friend of ours sent us a DVD of the first season, and we let it sit on our bookshelf for years. Eventually, we noticed it sitting there and decided to, of all things, pop it into a DVD player and watch a few episodes. Well, one thing led to another. The series is long over, but there is a Veronica Mars movie in the works, where by "in the works" we mean desperately looking for funding since no major media player is interested. Since it is 2013, this means there is a Kickstarter project for a Veronica Mars movie, and it has raised of two million dollars already. If you are curious about the series, you can find out more here or here or here. If you want to find out more about the movie project and how you can help, click here.

That's Veronica (Kristen Bell)

Keywords: art

03/08 - Memelas of March

We made up a batch of memelas. These are basically little Mexican pizzas. We made ours from scratch, so we make our own corn chips from masa harina, water and salt and fry them in a hot pan. Then we made the tomato sauce and topped the chips with sauce and queso fresco. Unlike a pizza which is baked in the oven, we just used the broiler to melt the cheese.

Memelas are little Mexican pizzas

The Corn Chips

  • 2 cups masa harina
  • 1 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Just mix everything together until it forms a nice dough. You do have to work it a little, but you don't have to knead it as you would pizza dough.

Heat up a frying pan (or even better, a cast iron skillet). Wait until the pan is nice and hot before cooking the chips or they'll stick.

Cut the blob of dough into 16 roughly equal pieces. Press each piece of dough in a tortilla press using wax paper or parchment to keep it from sticking. Cook three or four chips at a time, until each side is golden brown. This takes us about 2 minutes per side, but keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

The Sauce

  • 1 lb tomatoes
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, 2 serrano peppers or 2 tbsp nacho sliced jalapenos
  • 1 small onion, or 1/2 a larger one, chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped
Cut the tomatoes in half and cut out their cores. Put them skin side up on a pizza tray and put them close to a hot broiler until the skins char.

Toss the tomato skins and put the tomatoes, the jalapenos, the onion and salt in a food processor and puree everything.

Heat up a pan and add the olive oil. When it is very hot, add the puree slowly, a bit at a time so that the sauce is boiling furiously. Cook the sauce, stiring now and then, until it thickens, for maybe 3-5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the coriander and stir it in so it cooks.

Assembly

Lay out the chips on a pizza tray and put some of the sauce on each. Crumble the queso fresco and put some of the cheese on each. It's just like making pizza now.

Put the tray under a broiler (or in a hot oven) to melt the cheese.

Serve as they are, or you can add jalapenos or fresh chopped sweet onion or ....

  

Keywords: recipes, food

February 2013March 2013 April 2013