There’s not a lot that Jonathan won’t have a crack at.
Pete’s baby cousin, who has never abseiled before in his life, recently announced that he was going down the side of the 28-storey AMP building at Circular Quay. And with typical Jono panache, he did so in a lycra Spiderman costume.
He then told me in no uncertain terms that such bravery should not go unrewarded, so last week he invited himself and the lovely Laura over for dinner. He’ll squeal in protest when he reads that and, truth be told, we’re always delighted to have the opportunity to share a meal with them (particularly Small Man, who likes to bend Uncle Jono’s ear about golf).
We served Mystery Meat Pie (although I knew what the meat was this time), and Pete’s dinner party speciality – duck ragu pasta.
The day before, I roasted four duck marylands for a couple of hours in the oven until brown and crispy. I fed one to Big Boy who was home for lunch, and stripped the meat from the other three, discarding the bones and skin.
The roasting process produced a large quantity of duck fat and juice, which I poured into a bowl and popped into the fridge. Once cold, the fat lifted cleanly off the top (and was stored in the freezer), leaving behind a small quantity of jellied stock which was used in the pasta dish.
Duck Ragu Pasta
(adapted from a recipe in Jamie Oliver’s Cook With Jamie)
- shredded duck meat from three roasted marylands (thigh and drumstick portion)
- olive oil
- 6 slices of pancetta, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 yellow capsicum, seeded and chopped
- ½ red capsicum, seeded and chopped
- 2 sticks celery, finely diced
- 6 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 x 400g tins of San Marzano peeled tomatoes
- ½ bottle fruity young red wine (we used an Ashton Hills Pinot Noir)
- leftover duck stock from roasting
- 500g pasta (we used orecchiette, but Jamie recommends occhi di lupo)
- 50g salted butter
- flat leaf parsley for garnish
- 4 teaspoons of chardonnay vinegar
- 2 teaspoon of sherry vinegar
- 1 – 2 teaspoons sugar
- salt to taste
1. In a large saute pan, heat a little olive oil and fry the pancetta until brown, then add the onion, capsicums, celery, rosemary, cinnamon and garlic. Fry until softened, about 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes and red wine. Lower the heat and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.
2. Add the shredded duck and duck stock, and simmer for another half an hour, adding water if required. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta.
3. Remove the cinnamon stick and add the vinegars, sugar and salt, all to taste. The purpose of the vinegars and sugar is to give the dish a sweet/sour taste. Jamie’s original recipe specifies orange juice and zest, combined with red wine vinegar. Heat for a few minutes more to amalgamate the flavours, then add the butter and allow to melt into the sauce.
4. Boil the pasta until al dente, then drain well and add to the sauce. Serve with a scattering of chopped parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.
. . . . .
We finished the meal with Small Man’s Treacle Pudding and a large bowl of microwave custard. Having eaten himself into a food-induced coma, Spiderman fell asleep on the floor shortly thereafter!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Best to keep Spiderman on side, never know when you need an extra superhero to help out! Sounds wonderfully rich and delicious. ! Congratulations Jonathan! :D
He is a bit of a superhero, actually. I think Laura had heart palps watching him from the ground!
How cool! With a Spiderman costume and all!
Now, did I read the word “golf”? Who is the golfer in the family? You know, I am a certified hacker, in permanent state of love/hate with the game, but Phil is a scratch golfer, at some point he considered becoming a pro, but I’m glad he stuck with science, or we would never have met ;-)
Celia, I’ve always wanted to make duck ragu, but it’s one of my cooking projects that never seem to happen (sigh)
lovely dish, lovely dinner get-together
Sally, Small Man has decided he wants to play golf. Pete and I have absolutely no clue – I went into the golf store and asked the man for a “stick” and some lessons. Anyway, Small Man is smitten – we ended up buying him a half-set of clubs for his birthday, and his brother bought him a putting mat, which now lives in his bedroom under his bunk bed. Now at night we hear…“whack…thunk..” coming from his room as he practices his putt, misses the hole and thumps into the bedroom wall. :)
The Boy is taking golf at school and having a good time of it. He hopes to make the team, so typing with fingers crossed. :-)
Oh the duck rugu pasta recipe is so amazing! I will definitely make this some time for dinner :)
Tes, I hope you enjoy it, it’s a lovely dish and we’ve made it several times now!
Celia, I will gladly abseil down the side of a building for this wonderful dish – spiderman suite too boot.
:-) Mandy
Mandy, you are sweet, and brave – no amount of food would convince me to jump off the side of a building! :)
Oh my goodness. Both the abseiling, and the pasta.- can’t wait to see what the the duck fat winds up in. It’s my favourite thing about cooking with duck.
Tori, I stash the duck fat in the freezer and use it for duck confit – I wrote it up here in case it’s of interest:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/09/19/aylesbury-duck/
Nothing wrong with a sleepy food induced coma now and then :-)
Brydie, we ate until we were sick. Then we sleeeept.. :)
Wow, I used to rock climb and the part I feared the most was coming back down. It’s so much scarier to look down than it is to look up. And making this dish seems a bit scary as well. I’ve never made duck before and you make it sound so easy. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Thank you! Duck is an interesting thing to cook – I only cooked it for the first time a year or so ago, and then couldn’t figure out why I’d waited so long. It’s actually very versatile! I hope you get some to play with soon!
your duck pasta looks delicious celia..and your post has reminded me to make more effort to source a good duck supplier..
Jane, if you’re keen to find free range duck, look out for produce from Thirlmere Poultry. I spoke to them when I was last at the markets, and they assured me all their ducks and chooks were free range. They’re very tasty birds too!
This sounds too delicious for words. I can’t wait to make it.
Deb, thank you, and I know you can source all the stuff – I personally think the San Marzano tomatoes make a big difference, but it could probably be made with other sorts of tinned tomatoes if necessary.
I’m looking for a spiderman to paint the steep side of my house!
Yes, that would be good wouldn’t it, Christine? Our place could use a paint job too! :)
Sounds delicious. I love duck!
Thanks Meg! :)
the abseiling was nothing compared to the adrenaline that gripped me on arrival at Celia’s last Wednesday. For I quickly came to the realisation that dinner consisted of two main courses….. how delightfully wicked!
The Mystery Pie was amazing and the Ragu Pasta was hands down the best dish I have ever eaten. Fact! Don’t even get me started on Custard that was so good it could have been dessert on its own.
Thanks so much Celia xx
Hello darling, I did warn you not to fill up on bread before dinner, right? Pete asked me to make him microwave custard again the next night – it literally only took less than five minutes. You’ll have to nag Laura to give it a go.
Come over again soon, ok? :)
That’s a pretty substantial meal – very blokey indeed and quite fitting for a super-hero. If he can abseil down a building without fainting or throwing up, I’m sure such a great meal wouldn’t faze at all.
I forgot to mention that he’d competed in a triathlon the weekend before he came over. He’s a bit of an action man, our Jono. :)
What a brave man. That definitely deserves a feast. Pete’s duck ragu looks amazing. I’ve never cooked duck before. It’s another one on my ‘must do’ list.
Claire, I think he was very brave! Especially to do it in a spidey costume! :)
Hope you find some nice duck soon – does your Super Butcher stock it?
Rather Jonathan than me …. eeeek! The pasta looks sublime :)
Cindy, I agree, although I’m not sure if I agree because of the abseil or the costume! :)
I like his style! I also like the sound of that cinnamon stick in the ragu, yumm…
I guess it was lucky there weren’t any crimes to fight that night with such a sleepy Spidy :)
Becca, Jamie Oliver uses a mix of orange and red wine vinegar – we subbed chardonnay and sherry vinegar and sugar. I think the sweet/sour flavour balance is necessary for the duck, and the cinnamon added a really nice touch, without being overpowering.
oh wow, this sounds divine! I must spend some time reading my recipe books :)
Tandy, I often find stuff in old books that I’ve missed on the first dozen readings! :)
That duck ragu pasta looks awesome. Lucky Spidey! I really do need to try making duck some time. The only way I’ve seen to buy it around here is just prepackaged breasts. I was surprised at the number of ingredients in that pasta dish, its a long list, but it sounds good. I have a package of orecchiette that hasn’t been opened yet. I hope Spidey still fits into his costume after that meal:)
Mel, it was a complicated recipe, but not too hard to put together once the duck was roasted up. I think it would work with duck breast as well!
Lol!! Thats SO awesome :)
Thanks Nic! :) Jono had just finished a triathlon the week before, so we were dining with a stud too that night. :)
Ragu looks really delicious but you threw away roasted duck skin?? I would kill for that, it’s so crispy and flavoursome with some fat rendered. Love the nicknames in your family and LOL at the thought of Spiderman asleep on the floor although I’d imagine he wasn’t in his lycra suit at your dinner :)
Chopinand…um…I should have written “I fed one maryland and the skin of the others to Big Boy..” :)
I tried, but I couldn’t persuade Jono to come over in his spidey suit.. ;-)
Jonathan loves to do special things, I see! Good for him. There is nothing better then a good adventure! That’s what you need in your live!
To treat him with this georgous & festive duck ragu pasta is a good & lovely reward!
MMMMMMM,…!!! ;)
Sophie, thank you! Jono is a bit of an action man! :)