Cabbage

My first time with a whole duck

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader, 

I find myself in Brisbane for personal business. I cooked a whole duck while here. I’ve never done a whole duck before—bits of a duck, yes; a whole one, no. 

The duck had sat in a freezer for months. A home freezer means some temperature fluctuations, and being poultry, I’m thinking salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis. 

To overcome this concern, I’m using a meat thermometer to ensure I reach an internal temperature of 76 °C in the thigh. 

The duck took two days to defrost. After defrosting, I dried the skin with a paper towel. I then hung it by its neck over the kitchen sink for a while to get as much blood out as possible. Unfortunately, a new white shirt is now a wearing-at-home shirt. 

Recipe 

Equipment 

  • Meat thermometer 

Ingredients 

  • Duck 
  • Salt 
  • Ginger marmalade 
  • French onion soup mix (low sodium) 
  • Cabbage 
  • Broccoli 

Instructions 

  1. Defrost the duck and make sure it’s properly defrosted. Cooking partly frozen poultry is a point of failure regarding the risk of food-borne infection. 
  2. Dry the skin and hang it to let the blood and juices drain away. 
  3. Salt the skin so you are dry brining the duck. Do this the night before you plan to cook it. 
  4. Refrigerate the uncovered duck. 
  5. Turn the oven on and set it to 190 °C (fan-forced). 
  6. Place the meat thermometer into the thigh and put the duck on the middle rack. 
  7. Cook the bird until the internal temperature has reached 76 °C. 
  8. Rest the bird for at least 20 minutes before carving it. 
  9. While the duck was in the oven, make the marmalade and French onion soup sauce. 
  10. Boil a litre of water in a saucepan and add the soup mix. 
  11. Add a couple of tablespoons of ginger marmalade to the soup and gently boil until it reduces and thickens to a loose syrup. 
  12. Cut the cabbage and broccoli into small pieces and parboil for a few minutes. 
  13. Sauté the cabbage and broccoli in a frying pan. Help the process with some wine and maybe a teaspoon of marmalade. Cook these vegetables to the desired firmness or tenderness. I like my cabbage and broccoli firm in my mouth, but others like them mushy. I was cooking for some people with poor dentition, so we went with a softer version. 
  14. Carve the duck with a sharp knife and plate up. Drizzle some of the sauce over the duck and the cabbage. 
  15. Give thanks to the Lord. 
  16. Eat with a knife and fork. 

Thoughts on the meal 

I like eating duck. I like the fatty, oily, and gamey tastes and feel in my mouth. I also like eating the odd bits. I enjoy the uropygium and pygostyle of poultry. The uropygium is the fleshy protuberance, visible at the posterior end. It looks swollen because it contains the uropygial gland that produces preen oil. I also like eating the neck and dissecting out the œsophagus and trachea. Because of the limitations of available tools and photographic equipment, I couldn’t undertake the dissection on my plate like I have done previously.

The skin was crisp, and the meat was succulent. The marmalade and French onion soup reduction sauce accompanied the duck well. My dinner compatriots were pleased and I received 👍👍

Photographs

Whole duck. half price
Whole duck. half price
Whole duck dry brining
Whole duck dry brining
Whole duck dry brining
Raw duck after dry brining overnight
Raw duck
Raw duck waiting to enter the oven
Roast duck
Roast duck
Roast duck with cabbage and broccoli. My plate with uropygium prominently on display and the severed neck.
Roast duck with cabbage and broccoli. Drumstick and thigh along with some air fried potatoes.

Pork and cabbage

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader,

Hello and greetings from Melbourne. I’m here for the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Pathology Update 2023. The theme for 2023 is Laneways to Discovery. In the clinical (medical) microbiology stream, we’re receiving tremendous information on new advances and innovations in parasitology. Some of the cases presented have been fantastic examples of parasitic infestations related to poor food choices and handling. I love being a specialist microbiologist.

Sorry Melbourne 🤣 It seems “The Lume Melbourne” is a thing.

Most people never have a problem when it comes to food. That is usually because the balance of the pathogen and host relationship works in the host’s favour. Often, it’s a combination of good genetics and good health. However, many people do not have robust immunological systems (cellular, mucosal, and humoral); in some situations, the pathogen can be abnormally more virulent. Parasite infestation is why we have basic food safety standards. I come across people who boast of good health and say they are at no risk of infection; that’s great for them. As healthful hosts, they are likely to survive colonisation and infection without the disease. I am concerned for susceptible people who may experience infection after colonisation and end up with the disease.

It has been good catching up with colleagues. Many of them have been former trainees, and seeing how they have made a dent in the universe is always marvellous.

I’m of an age where I look at people and ponder marks on faces, colour and volume of hair, and shape of bodies. I make comparisons with memories from decades ago. It is reassuring that they all look so fit and healthy, albeit obviously, we’ve all got more marks and wrinkles. Some have greying hair, and some, like me, have no hair.

I haven’t cooked anything this weekend because I’m away; however, I have eaten out and thought I’d share my thoughts on the meals.

I arrived Thursday evening because I presented a talk first thing Friday morning. I didn’t eat dinner because I had some Bega cheese and crackers on the flight from Canberra.

Friday

Lunch

The conference catering was the usual fare. There was a mixture of cold salad and some hot dishes.

This plate has cold broccoli, peas, beans, cucumber, hot cauliflower, and meat. I added a spoonful of Queensland nuts too.

Pathology Update 2023 Lunch

Dinner

I took dinner at a Munich Brauhaus on South Wharf. The purpose of such establishments seems to be the consumption of large quantities of beer, mostly in 2 L steins. I was there for a different purpose. I was there for pork and cabbage. I ate a piece of pork belly with red cabbage, and for dessert, I ate some apple strudel and ice cream.

The main meal consisted of a rectangular prism of pork belly with some rind on top. It sat atop “creamy” potato mash with red cabbage, some apple compote, and bier jus.

The cabbage was pleasant. It was sweet but not sickly. Likewise, the apples were firm and not overly sweet. It would have been better if the apples were tart. I’m not sure if cinnamon is part of Germanic cuisine, I would have added more flavour from cloves and cinnamon. The bier jus was a bland thin gravy. If I were cooking this, I would have tried for something with a little more body.

The pork belly itself was well cooked. I’m guessing it was sous vide pre-cooked. It wasn’t excessively fatty, and the texture was soft and tender. I was happy with the flavour. The disappointment was the skin. I was hoping for crackling, but this wasn’t crackling. It was edible, and it wasn’t so tough I was fearful for my teeth.

All in all, it was a meal I was happy to eat. I’d probably eat it again. Is it the best pork belly and cabbage I’ve eaten? No, but it wasn’t unpleasant. I’d give it four stars out of 5.

The remarkable thing about the meal was the apparent lack of excess salt. Restaurant meals are often too salty, and at night I feel thirsty. That didn’t happen at all. Probably a good thing for my blood pressure. Perhaps this is the benefit of not having crackling which often requires generous salting of the skin before cooking.

Pork belly Red cabbage Apple compote Potato mash Bier jus
Pork belly Red cabbage Apple compote Potato mash Bier jus
Apple strudel Ice cream
Apple strudel Ice cream

The strudel was disappointing. It didn’t really excite my tongue and it lacked mouthfeel. I think I’d prefer some stewed apple with baklava and ice cream.

Saturday

Melbourne view Novotel South Wharf

Lunch

Today’s lunch was enjoyable. This plate had some cauliflower and radish, plus lentils and pumpkin. There was also a rice noodle roll and a bit of salmon.

A bowl of beef curry and polenta accompanied the plate.

The salmon was dry but perfectly understandable, given the presentation on parasites in salmon from an international expert who was one of our plenary speakers for the conference. The beef was also dry, and I suspect it was cooked separately from the sauce and added later. The meat lacked flavour.

Pathology Update 2023 Lunch
Pathology Update 2023 Lunch
Pathology Update 2023 Lunch
Pathology Update 2023 Lunch

Dinner

I wanted to compare the pork belly with another pork and cabbage meal tonight. I was interested in a pork knuckle and sauerkraut.

I went to Munich Brauhaus again and got a seat next to where I sat last night.

The pork knuckle was good. The crackling was crunchy, and the underlying fat was enough and not too much. The meat was tender but a little dry.

I’m now in two minds about red cabbage and sauerkraut. I like both. Given a choice, though, I like the red cabbage more. It could be because of the colour.

Pork knuckle Sauerkraut Apple Potato mash Bier jus

I also had a black forest gateau for dessert. It wasn’t that good. It was straight from the refrigerator, and the cream-to-cake ratio was too much.

Black Forest Gateau

Final thoughts

I preferred the pork belly over the pork knuckle. The pork belly would have been perfect if the skin was crackling.

My perfect meal would be the pork belly with red cabbage and probably no dessert. I’d walk to a gelato shop and enjoy a gelato while walking around the boardwalk.

My aim tomorrow is to settle back to the small meal portions and hopefully when I weigh myself on Monday I won’t cry. 😆

Coles Tomahawk Steak and cabbage

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader,

When I read “tomahawk”, I think of a small axe! This steak was more like a small hatchet.

I saw this in the supermarket yesterday while grocery shopping and my eyes shone like dinner plates.

Two weeks ago, when I went out for the chicken parmigiana dinner with workmates, I saw the Fenway Public House tomahawk steak on the menu. My friend, MG, said her husband loves a tomahawk steak. My reply was that we should all return for a meal and enjoy a steak.

Sous vide tomahawk steak

When I saw this steak in the meat display cabinet, I immediately thought to cook it at a low temperature in the oven. I’d follow this by searing it in a castiron skillet. To prepare for this approach, I dry brined the meat with monosodium glutamate, also known as MSG, and King of Flavour!

Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

The more I thought about the meal; I concluded I would cook it “under vacuum” (sous vide).

Ingredients

  • Steak
  • MSG
  • Cabbage
  • Sesame oil
  • Shallots
  • Red chillies
  • Carrot
  • Parsley
  • Instant gravy

Instructions

  1. Think ahead and give yourself a day to prepare so you can dry brine the meat.
  2. Place the steak on a rack over a baking tray.
  3. Season the steak with MSG.
  4. Place the steak on the rack and then into the refrigerator and leave uncovered overnight.
  5. When you want to cook the steak, place the meat into a vacuum bag and seal it.
  6. Cook the meat in a water bath at 54 °C (129 °F) for two hours. This temperature should produce a medium-rare result.
  7. Remove the meat from the bag and pat it dry with kitchen paper.
  8. Sear the surfaces of the steak in a hot castiron skillet basting it in some butter.
  9. Allow the steak to rest for between 5 and 10 minutes.
  10. Make the instant gravy as per the maker’s instructions.
  11. Make the cabbage side dish with sliced cabbage, julienned carrot, sesame oil, shallots, and parsley.
  12. Put all the vegetables in a microwave cooking container and add some vegetable oil, MSG, and pepper. Heat with microwave radiation until it’s cooked and the cabbage still has some crunch.
  13. Carve the flesh from the rib bone, and with a sharp knife, follow the muscle bundle fascia to prise apart the principal muscle bundles.
  14. Keep the eye fillet aside for meals later in the week.
  15. Slice the fat cap meat.
  16. Place the bone plus the fat cap meat on a dinner plate alongside the cabbage side dish.
  17. Spoon over some gravy.
  18. Give thanks to the Lord.
  19. Eat with a steak knife and fork unless, like me, you live alone and eat with fingers in a primal fashion.
  20. The best part may be gnawing the meat from the rib bone.

Monosodium glutamate

Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

You can find the FSANZ technical report on their website. MSG=monosodium glutamate; CRS=Chinese restaurant syndrome. I recognise and acknowledge there are many people who prefer to avoid MSG and I’d never suggest they should try it or that they don’t have a legitimate reason not to use it or consume it.

I’ve had a few people ask me about MSG and my opinion so I thought it best to refer to a published report in which I have no concerns.

A friendly Tweep who has asked about MSG

The report concludes:

“There is no convincing evidence that MSG is a significant factor in causing systemic reactions resulting in severe illness or mortality. The studies conducted to date on CRS have largely failed to demonstrate a causal association with MSG. Symptoms resembling those of CRS may be provoked in a clinical setting in small numbers of individuals by the administration of large doses of MSG without food. However, such affects are neither persistent nor serious and are likely to be attenuated when MSG is consumed with food. In terms of more serious adverse effects such as the triggering of bronchospasm in asthmatic individuals, the evidence does not indicate that MSG is a significant trigger factor.“

Final thoughts

  • Do you like gnawing meat from the bone?
  • Do your eyes shine like dinner plates when you see something you lust after in the supermarket meat display cabinet?
  • What would you do with the leftover fillet meat?
  • What are your thoughts on MSG?
A small Coles tomahawk steak
A small Coles tomahawk steak dry brining with MSG
A small Coles tomahawk steak dry brining with MSG
A small Coles tomahawk steak dry brined with MSG
A small Coles tomahawk steak dry brined with MSG and vacuum sealed.
Sous vide tomahawk steak
Sous vide tomahawk steak
Coles Tomahawk Steak and cabbage
Coles Tomahawk Steak and cabbage
Coles Tomahawk Steak and cabbage
Coles Tomahawk Steak
Coles Tomahawk Steak and cabbage