Monday, January 09, 2006

Mmm... Daniel... you like duck liver... don't you?

To feed my brother and I today at lunch, I looked again to the children's chapter.

238. Duck Liver Sauce

Now, in my opinion, you really can't go wrong with a Nigella recipe for pasta sauce. Or can you? After today's pasta, I'm unsure. Nigella says that duck livers are "sweeter and moussier than chicken livers, and so more child-friendly". Hmm. Sweet? Moussy? Since when would I want a sweet and moussy pasta sauce?

I bought some duck livers yesterday (when I bought the salmon), with a view to using them in this sauce today. I wasn't feeling optimistic as I opened the bag of duck livers - they smelled feral. But I persevered, rinsing them under water and letting them drain in a colander.


sweet and moussy

The method for the sauce is pretty much the same as normal - start by cooking an onion/garlic/bacon/carrot mixture until soft, then add the livers, followed by tomato passata, hoisin sauce and tinned tomatoes. Once it's all cooked, you whizz it up in a processor.


Check out my very 80's spag-bol presentation - tomato sauce on top of pasta.

Dan and I ate it in front of the tv, (Futurama, of course). Daniel very politely ate all of his pasta like a good boy, and didn't complain. I, on the other hand, was not impressed. It had this weird fluffy texture and taste (because of the livers, obviously), and I needed a shitload of parmesan cheese and chilli to make it palatable for me. About halfway through eating, I got used to it and didn't mind it any more, but I wouldn't be in a rush to make it again. In this instance, I think that ordinary meat (beef, chicken, lamb) would just taste better.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh man, what a trooper you are, lol. And Daniel! I guess you now have a Sweet & Moussy Miss for your next progress report. It's so dull if everything's spectacular, we'll get jaded.
xoxo

Randi said...

Yeah, you are a trooper, I couldnt have done it.

Karen said...

duck liver? ick. i wouldn't even have tried, even though my motto is "in nigella we trust!" what a champ you are!

kc