I love how blogging begets blogging.
Since Ella Dee gave me the headsup on buying Burrawong Gaian products in Sydney, I’ve been dropping in to see George and Yiota at Dulwich Hill Gourmet Meats and picking up a bird on a monthly basis.
Last Friday, we slow roasted one of Beth’s ducks for three hours in the Römertopf – after rubbing with a little salt, the duck was placed into the presoaked pot, covered, and given 40 minutes at 200C with fan, followed by a couple of hours at 150C with fan. This was followed by a brief bake with the lid off at a slightly higher temp to crisp up the skin.
A couple of times during the roasting process, I took the Romy out of the oven and poured off the oil. The end result was so tender that it practically fell apart as I lifted it out of the pot. My sons attacked it like cavemen…
As I mentioned to Beth on Twitter the next day, the duck was sublime, but the leftover fat and gelatinised stock were gold…
The ever fabulous Chica Tanya mentioned recently that in Spain, lard is often mixed with a little pimenton and served on grilled toast for breakfast. Inspired, I combined 50g of the duck fat with half a teaspoon of pimenton (paprika), and smeared the paste onto half a kilo of risen high hydration sourdough that I just happened to have on the bench…
The dough was rolled up into a thick log – it was a seriously messy process – then cut into slices. Further inspired by Lorraine’s bacon ring, I stretched each slice out and twisted it up. At this point, the dough was looking like torqued intestines, complete with blood (but I was having fun)…
After a brief rise while the oven preheated, the sticks were baked at 220C with fan for twenty minutes. They were divine. Big Boy and Small Man ate them hand over fist…
See what I mean? Blogging begets blogging! We had a lovely dinner, with thanks to Ella Dee and Burrawong Gaian Beth, and scrumptious, unique, whacky bread inspired by Tanya and Lorraine! ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Celia, my mouth is watering, even though it’s only just breakfast time! Love it!
Thanks darling! They were great fun to make!
Other bloggers are so inspiring. Its a wonderful world we live in.
Fran, we’re very lucky to have each other, aren’t we? :)
It’s wonderful the generosity of the blogging community, isn’t it Celia! My mum and dad used to eat beef dripping on bread instead of butter, but DUCK dripping- DELICIOUS! Xox
Becca, the duck fat was divine, particularly as it was off a roasted duck, so it was a little bit seasoned!
Oh, yes, I am going to try a variation of that for breakfast – I have some duck fat in the fridge and lovely Orcona Sweet Smoked Paprika (a local product) – actually it’s nearly lunchtime maybe I shouldn’t wait for breakfast!
Rachel, hope you loved it! That paprika would be perfect! :)
Absolutely yummy. I can smell them from your description. Don’t have any duck fat but bacon, paprika and a hint of garlic?
Sounds perfect! I’m sure your version will be amazing, Liz! :)
Your boys are blessed Celia, with the wonderful food and memories you make for them. My grandmother used to make me bread with bacon fat and being aussie/irish served it with home made tomato sauce. Delicious, I can almost taste it still, 60 years later.
Good for your grandmother, Madge, that sounds like a wonderful treat! I hope my boys will still be telling stories about me when they’re adults! :)
You are so right Celia … i am not a blogger yet, but i love reading all the posts from everyone … including you! It is so inspiring to try new things and to not be limited by just one recipe, but to combine a few like you have done here … thank you again for all that you do! xo
Gina, it’s the evolution of ideas that’s really fun! :)
Sounds and looks amazing!
Thank you!
Perfect!
Thanks Tandy! You’re right too, the boys adored these, so that means they really were perfect!
It’s so true about blogging Celia. If you listen to the mainstream media blogging is the domain of awful trolls spouting vile remarks but your blog, and others l read are not like that at all. A friend and I were discussing the appalling state of government in this country (don’t worry I’m not going to get all political here) and l was telling her about your blog and another one l read and how there is a lot more information even on Facebook about growing your own food, building sustainable housing, taking back areas of the city for food production and, generally, fostering a sense of community again. I like the fact that l make Pete’s yoghurt each week and have passed on the recipe to 2 other people. All this has come about through blogging and it’s all good:)
Jody, I LOVE the fact that you make Pete’s yoghurt every week. And he’ll be very chuffed too when I tell him, thank you! :)
Awww thank you for the lovely shoutout! And it’s very true. I don’t read any magazines (well trashy mags yes and Vanity Fair) but I get so much food inspiration from food blogs-yours included! :D
As I was twisting the dough and it was getting more and more gruesome looking, I thought to myself, “ooh Lorraine would LOVE this..” hahahaha
How lovely to find a source of kindly produced duck and poultry. I haven’t come across one for duck locally, will try harder, chickens seem easier to find here. Lynne on Twitter made something called ensalmadas, a sweet Mallorcan spiral breakfast bread that uses lard spread on a very very thin dough and rolled and spiralled to give layers, a version of lardy cake, made me think of you and all your experiments! I have my home rendered lard stashed in the freezer for cooler weather to play with in the future xxx
Jo, we’re fortunate to have two reputable free range duck suppliers – they can be hard to find because of biosecurity concerns. I’ll have to google the ensalmadas, I’ve never heard of them before, thank you! xxx
Nothing goes to waste at your house and everything tastes better than it does anywhere else. Your family should know that not all people eat this good. :)
Hon, you don’t know it tastes better here, I’ll bet the absolute best tasting food is at your place. :)
You had me at duck fat ❤️
Hahaha…food bloggers! The only folks for whom “duck fat” is click bait! :D
What a delicious way to use some of the duck fat…I can see why the twists would be popular with the boys I would love them as well.
Karen, thank you! They were great fun to make too!
I definitely agree with you – I’m often being inspired by other blogs. I love the sound of your duck and once again I feel the urge to go out and buy a Romy. Your ‘twists’ look fabulous xx
Charlie, the twists were crazy – I was really surprised at how they baked up! :)
How delicious.
Thanks Deb! Hope all is well? I’m sorry I haven’t popped in recently, have been trying to cut back on my computer time!
I can completely believe they tasted divine – they must have smelled pretty good too.
Jan, they were scrumptious! The paprika added something very special too!
Celia I’m not a blogger but I’m so grateful there are such wonderful blogs out there, when I’m stuck for dinner ideas I often go and look up recipes not from my cookbooks but from food blogs I read. Duck is the only meat that I eat and goodness your dish looks delicious! My parents are in Dulwich Hill and I never knew about the Gourmet Meats store, we visit most weekends but don’t venture to the stores very much. There seems to be lots of new places from when I was living there.
Stef, Burrawong Gaian delivers a small quantity to George at Dulwich Hill Meats every Wednesday, so if you want something, do give them a call and ask them to set it aside for you. The duck isn’t cheap, but it’s divine.. :)
Thanks Celia, I will be sure to call them. I don’t mind paying more for food as long as it’s good, that’s something I’ve learnt from my parents. We didn’t grow up with lots of material things but we always ate as well as they could afford. When I have time I’m going to cook my own duck, it will be a first for me :)
Gold indeed! Gorgeous bronzed bread too. Last week I found duck bacon at a local butcher and HAD to try it — it wasn’t as remarkable as I’d hoped, but the rendered fat made my sweet potatoes delish!
Judy, I’m glad the fat was great – even if the bacon wasn’t! :)
You had at the words duck fat…
Ha! You and Fran! :)
Its 4.40am and I must need another cup of tea because where you wrote “we slow roasted one of Beth’s ducks for three hours in the Romertopf – after rubbing with a little salt,” I read “We slow RUBBED one of Beth’s ducks for three hours” I knew you were a gourmet but rubbing ducks for 3 hours has knobs on ;).
Anything that Chica makes is drool worthy. Its a good thing that duck fat and lard are both excellent for your skin as I bet your hands were covered in it after that rolling event ;).
Goodness Fran, I’m a committed foodie, but I don’t think I need to BE committed.. :D
LOL! Its ME that needs committing…I was the numpty that read “3 hours of massaging a duck” ;). Thats almost to Anthony Bordain levels of foodie methinks ;) (cept he would get someone else to do the massaging ;) )
Oh I do wish that I had a source for duck around here. Yours looks scrumptious! The dough might have been a mess to work with but it sounds like the results were a huge success. I know I’ve been inspired by so many bloggers and it’s so much fun to see other people’s creations.
Diane, thank you! It was a huge success, and a gigantic oily red mess! :)
Hmmm, I need to roast another duck… I miss my opportunity to make the most of the duck fat last time.
I have never bought a lot of magazines but my only subscription expired a while ago, and I’ve never thought about renewing it. I get all the inspiration I need… possibly more than I can handle, and real life information & perspective from real people via blogging, Etsy and Pinterest.
The duck fat is the best bit IMO – we keep it in the freezer and it lasts for ages! :)
Aha…. I put the gelatinous stock in the freezer after using some in the ragu and finding out a little goes a long way but didn’t realize I could freeze the fat. Will do next time.
Oh Celia, I got a Römertopf for a wedding present YEARS ago, from a German family friend. It was very well used, but i broke it awhile back. Time perhaps to invest in a new one. Just looked online, did you get the medium or large size? Duck looks lovely!!
Kathy I have both sizes – the big one is more versatile, I think, but it depends a bit on the size of your oven!
Brilliant!!!
Thanks Mimi!
Your bread is always so creative Celia! Yum x
Jane, thank you! It’s so much fun to play with, as you know! :)
Seriously… Yum! And I agree about the left over gold… I treasure my duck fat too! Liz x
Liz, there’s always a huge stash in the freezer – I can’t bring myself to throw any out! :)
I use it every time I roast potatoes… It makes them the best crispy roast potatoes ever!
Inspirational, again!
Maree, you’re very kind, thank you! x
LOL on the intestine with blood haha! You described it so aptly! But look at the finished product…good-looking twists!
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
They did look better by the time I was finished, but it was a bit gruesome along the way..hahaha
I always learn something new from your posts, thanks for continuing my food education. I’ve also just made it in time for the IMK:July with my latest post, thanks for hosting.
Great stuff in your kitchen this month, Danielle! Thanks for playing! :)
Wow! (Sorry I’m late to the party by the way) How clever is that? They look amazing and I can only imagine the flavours. I need a few hours to myself to get baking and I’d love to give these a go :)
Chica, they were fabulous! I still haven’t brought myself to eating lard mixed with pimenton on toast though.. :)
It’s usually made when the lard renders off some cooking meat, then they add pimenton and maybe some salt and garlic and cook it off, then they let it get cold…it’s pretty much like the render you get off a chorizo when it cooks. It’s sooo good, promise!
omg these look absolutely incredible! I’m salivating!
Thanks Lisa! How’s the pregnancy going?