Duck breast "Thai style" with foie gras sauce

This is an Indian inspired but Thai style duck marinade.  With a foie gras sauce again Indian inspired. Served with coconut spiced veg. An utter dream to eat.  Not spicy, just incredibly perfect in every single way and I cannot describe it better than utter deliciousness.  Hence me writing down the recipe.  

For 4 serves

2 small or 1 large lemon grass stalk

3 kaffir lime leaves

3 cardommon pods, ground, husks removed

1 desertspoon of fennel seeds, ground

salt

1 heaped tsp miso paste

1 heaped tsp apricot compote

1 tsp Kashmiri chilli paste

A knob of ginger

2 big cloves of garlic

2 tbsp coconut cream

Smash the whole lot toghether in a pestle and morter. 

Smear it on the duck flesh (and skin if it’s a summer duck, but if it’s a winter duck leave the skin to render as usual and smear the whole lot on the flesh side)

The veg:

One courgette cut into large strips or a couple of handfuls of fresh green beans or same amount of finely chopped cabbage or fennel

1-2 tsp black mustard seed

A handful of curry leaf

A knob of ginger

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp desiccated coconut 

salt

1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

the juice of half a lime or lemon

A touch of turmeric powder

Heat some oil.  Cook the mustard seed off (until they start to cackle) add the  curry leaf, . Add the veg, high heat then the ginger garlic salt and chilli Finally after 2 minutes add the coconut and limon/lime juice and turmeric.  Give it a good stir and it’s ready.  

The sauce:

Foie gras or whatever is on hand (pate, terrine etc) blitzed down.  With water to create a sauce.

The chutney:

Apricot compote with lime juice

To serve:

A portion of veg, a portion of sauce, duck breast and serve extra sauce and chutney on the side.  

With crispy garlic flat bread.  

Petanque

Our beautiful property does my head in with it's glorious beauty!

Wee Kitty cats in our barn, but orphaned. (sad face)

We have little kittens in our barn (as you do).  They were born there and now their mum is no longer around. They are feral cats and we absolutely cannot encourage them but what  we  can do is provide sustenance until they are able to fend for themselves.  Poor wee things.  They are so so so CUTE.  Anyway while they live in our barn they’ll be fed and OK. Warm, fed and safe.   They live in the wood stack.  Very hard to capture on camera because they duck under into the wood hence the wonky photos.  

  

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Dinner in the cave.....

It’s been hot.  HOT.  We have aircon for this summer which is heaven on these very hot days and nights but we prefer not to use it during the day if we can.  We certainly don’t wanna be sitting inside for dinner just because it’s 30 outside but our tolerance for heat is low these days.  So to the cave it is.  

The most incredible spot.  We light the candles, take down our dinner and a corkscrew and eat and drink the good stuff from down there.  We might have to take a trusty cask though because if we continue to eat in the cave we will be drinking our Margeaux far far too often and we can’t afford that!

It’s cool and quite and very very very awesome.  I have left salt and pepper and matches and candles and the basics so all we have to do is bring the food.  There is no damp, it is prisine.  A stunning example of early 18^thcentury foundations.