Beautifully imperfect

I used to be a perfectionist but not anymore.  I once read an article by Henrik Edberg and he said:

“Does life have to be perfect before you are happy?

Do you have to behave in a perfect way and get perfect results to be happy?

If so, happiness will not be easy to find. Setting the bar for your performance at a level higher than reasonable usually leads to low self-esteem and feeling like you are not good enough, even though you may have had a lot of good or even excellent results. You will likely feel that what you do is never good enough. Maybe once in a while might feel like something goes just perfect, but then it will be on to next challenge."

I agree with Henrik, chasing for our idea of what is perfection will not only place ourselves on uncessary stress but it will spill over to our love ones or co-workers. So, when I bought this duck from the wet market a few weeks ago, I had the duck deboned and then realized it was the wrong thing to do if I were to make braised duck with ginger . In the old days, I would have run out to go buy another duck but now, I decided to just use what I had. Although the meat was a little dry, the flavors were great. By allowing myself to carry on, without stress or rush, and hoping for good enough, I enjoyed the cooking, and I enjoyed the "good enough duck". 

Okay here is the braised duck with ginger. With bone left in, it may come out pretty close to perfect. Let me know what you think of this close-to-perfect or beautifully imperfect dish?

Braised duck with ginger
adapted from smokywok.com with modification

Ingredients:

1kg duck cut into big pieces

150 g young ginger, cut into thick sliced

1 bulb garlic, sliced

½ C shaoxing wine

1 tbs oil

Seasonings:

2 tbs fermented Soya Bean Paste (Taucu)

1 1/2 tbs Oyster sauce

1 tsp Sugar

Method:

Heat oil and brown all the duck pieces. Remove duck pieces and set aside. Saute garlic and ginger. Add in duck pieces and seasonings and stir well. Add wine and leave to boil for about 5 mins. Pour water until it covers all the ingredients. Bring to boil and lower heat to simmer until meat is tender and sauce is thick for about 30 to 4o minutes. This dish will taste better the next day.

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover 

Pork & Duck Terrine with cranberries & hazel nuts - featured in Group Recipies (12/25/10)

If you are a regular reader, you already know that my hubby loves to cook and most of the western cuisine recipes are from him. He has been the main cook for our Christmas dinners the past several years but due to his back problem this year, he has to leave the cooking to me. However, he just could not stay away from the kitchen. While I was out doing some last minute Christmas shopping, he sneaked into the kitchen and cooked. When I returned home, I could smell the fragrance of food even before I opened our main door. Know what? He made this wonderful dish and he told me he thinks it is worth it even if his back hurts because of all the standing during the cooking. This is truly a dish filled with passion and I am sure this will 'WOW' our guests when served.

Pork and Duck Terrine with Liver

Before baking

Putting a heavy brick on top of the terrine to slough off some of the fat and make the terrine more dense

After baking

After it is removed from the loaf pan

Ingredients:

2 deboned duck breasts , about 300g/10oz each, skin on

200 g (approx 8 ounces) sliced bacon (can use pancetta)

700 g (approx 1 ½ pounds) pork shoulder, cubed

120 ml (1/2 cup) milk

3 shallot , roughly chopped

5 slices of day old bread

2-3 whole cloves

200 g pork, duck or chicken livers, roughly chopped

6 black peppercorns

2 teaspoons coriander seed

2 cloves of garlic

Generous pinch of ground cinnamon

1/2 cup Cognac

2 eggs, lightly beaten

75 g shelled nuts (chestnuts, pecans, walnuts, pistachios)

75 g (1/2 cup) dried cranberries

Method:

1. Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Put the duck breasts and skin in a shallow dish, then place in the hot oven for 20 minutes. Discard the shriveled bit of skin that remains, then pour the duck fat into a bowl to cool. Roughly chop the cooked duck meat and place in a large mixing bowl.

2. Roughly chop the pork, three slices of bacon, and liver to a coarse texture and mix with the chopped duck in the bowl.

3. Tear up the bread and soak in the milk for 5 minutes. 
Squeeze the milk out of the bread and put in a food processor with the shallots and garlic. Pulse the processor to get a coarse texture, then add to the bowl.

4. Grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds and cloves to a coarse powder (pestle and mortar works just fine). Stir in the cinnamon. Add the spices to the meat along with 4 tbsp reserved duck fat, the Cognac, the eggs, and 2 tsp salt. Mix together very thoroughly – the best way is to use your hands.

5. Lightly grease a 1-litre loaf pan. Line the pan with the bacon (or pancetta), slightly overlapping the slices and leaving enough overhanging the edges to cover the top.

6. Press half the mixture into the pan leaving a slight indentation down the middle. Scatter the pistachios and cranberries over all, then cover with the remaining meat mixture. Fold over the bacon strip and augment with more so as to cover the entire loaf. Cover the dish tightly with foil, then place all into a roasting tin. Pour boiling water into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the dish.

7. Bake for 2 hrs, remove foil, then bake for 15 minutes more to brown the top. When completely cooled, remove from pan and wrap in fresh foil and chill. For the best flavor, let the terrine chill in the fridge for at least 2 days before eating. The flavors will mature and blend.