Thursday already?

Criminy, where's this week gone?

Last night was duck night in garde manger.  We smoked duck breasts that had been cured overnight, then browned them in the oven.  Then pan seared the skin to get it crisp, then sliced it extremely thin (chef: "one duck breast should give you at least 27 pieces") and arranged over an Asian slaw.  The slaw dressing turned out nice, but I only managed about 14 pieces of our breast, and my cuts were jagged.  Not my best knife work.

We also had duck leg and thigh on the stove in a confit - poaching the duck in its own fat.  we let the duck confit go at 190 degrees for about three hours.  When done, the duck meat slid off the bone like a slow cooked bbq rib.  (I reserved most of the duck confit and made Marcel a duck sandwich for lunch, thought that would be pretty gangster.)

The night before last was slow, sauce building.  Nothing earth shattering.  Tonight will be cool though, getting in to forcemeats.  We're making three different kinds of sausage.

Also today, I have a meeting with chef J from Fino; I'm trying to secure a spot for externship beginning in August.