Plum-Glazed Duck Breasts

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Cat

Wild Muscovy Duck

By Cat, July 2020 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

I finally found a frozen duck breast at my local grocer and just had to buy it; now I get to decide what recipe to use. I love duck with any kind of fruit sauce, so I’ve decided to give this recipe a try, since I LOVE plums.

It uses plum preserves, and of course, it’s best to make your own (for the healthiest ingredients). I’ve chosen a recipe from Epicurious (5) that makes about 1½ cups preserves (from 1 lb dried plums); it is quick and simple, and the end product can be frozen rather than canned.

I’ve included my test recipe for the plum preserves (using dried plums/prunes) below the duck recipe. If I like the results, I may move the full  recipe to its own page.

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Notes on Alzheimer’s, dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases; Nutrition: Supplements

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Cat

By Cat, 2019 and ongoing

Initially, the bulk of the information on this page was from Lee Euler of Awakening From Alzheimer’s, via email. I’ve since added other items not from Lee; if the item doesn’t list a different source, it is from Lee’s email.

The original post, Nutrition: Foods and Supplements, was getting too long, so I’ve broken it down into separate posts (see list, below).

Continue reading →

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Duck à l’Orange

Posted on July 15, 2020 by Cat

Wild Muscovy Duck

By Cat, July 2020 photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons

I have not made this classic French dish for years, not since the late ’90s in Portland. My housemate at the time also loved to cook, so we took turns every Sunday, making a special dinner. It had become a sort of “contest;” but that ended the last time I made this dish. I put my all into it, and it was so worth it, when he declared I was the winner, as we  ate our last bites.

The recipe requires a fair amount of detail and time, but so worth it.

See also: 1. Poultry, Fowl Main-Course Menu; 2. Brining Poultry; 3. Dressings Menu (to choose a vinaigrette for a side salad) Continue reading →

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Duckling Quarters with Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Posted on July 15, 2020 by Cat

Wild Muscovy Duck

By Cat, July 2020; ; photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons

This is another recipe from when I lived in Portland; I recorded it on a recipe card, where I found it the other day when looking for a recipe for my frozen duck breast. I believe I made this one year for dinner on Christmas Day, and it must have been delicious or I would have tossed the recipe card.

The original recipe for the pilaf uses white rice, but I far prefer to use wild rice, because unlike regular rice, it is not contaminated with arsenic. I provide both versions here, as the method for cooking the rice differs by type. NOTE: wild rice is not a true rice, but rather rice-like seeds from a plant that grows in shallow water, a common home for ducks. From Wikipedia:

“The plants grow in shallow water in small lakes and slow-flowing streams; often, only the flowering head of wild rice rises above the water. The grain is eaten by dabbling ducks and other aquatic wildlife.

I now live in NW Montana, where it can be difficult to find a whole duckling unless you are a hunter. But I can find frozen duck breasts, so that is what I will use to test this recipe.

I’ve not yet tested this adaptation of original recipe.

Continue reading →

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Roast Duckling with Wild Rice Stuffing

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Cat

Wild Muscovy Duck

By Cat, July 2020; photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons

I purchased a frozen duck breast, skin-on, a few months ago, and now I want to do something with it. It’s been years since I’ve cooked duck, but it is one of my favorite meats when I eat-out.

I don’t know the original source of this recipe, and I don’t recall the last time I made it, but because I still have my handwritten recipe card, I’m certain I loved it. And I definitely love wild rice.

I’ve not yet tested this adaptation of original recipe.

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BBQ Sauce (from Old Bridge Pub in Bigfork)

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Cat

BBQ Chicken on Grill

By Cat, June 2020 (photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

One of my fav places to eat in my hometown of Bigfork MT is the Old Bridge Pub. The chef (Louie) makes an excellent BBQ sauce and shared it with me, and gave me permission to share with others. Now that BBQ season is here, I plan to use this to make BBQ Chicken on my old outdoor grill.

The original recipe makes 40 fl oz (about 2½ quarts). His original recipe cites weight in ounces (oz), but weight varies with distance above/below sea level, so I prefer to use grams (g) which is constant no matter how far you are from sea level.

I intend to experiment with a smaller size recipe for 1 quart (16 fl oz).

Ingredients and Equipment for 2 different size recipes

  • Sauce, original recipe (40 fl oz or ~2½ quarts):
  • 3 cups homemade ketchup (24 oz or 680 g)
  • ½ cup molasses (4 oz or 113 g)
  • ¾ cup red wine vinegar (6 fl oz or 177 g)
  • ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce (2 fl oz or 59 g)
  • 1 cup packed Rapadura or brown cane sugar (8 oz or 226 g)
  • 2 Tbsp dry mustard (1 oz or 28 g)
  • 4 Tbsp chili powder (2 oz or 57 g)
  • 1 tsp cayenne
  • Sauce, smaller recipe (1 quart) I’ve not yet tested this size
  • 1¼ cups homemade ketchup (272 g)
  • 3 – 3½ Tbsp molasses (45 g)
  • ¼ – ⅓ cup red wine vinegar (71 g)
  • 1½ Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (24 g), or to taste
  • 6 Tbsp (¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp) Rapadura or brown cane sugar (90 g), or more to taste
  • 2 – 2½ tsp dry mustard
  • 4 – 5 tsp chili powder
  • ¼ – ½ tsp cayenne
  • Equipment:
  • measuring cups and spoons, and/or scale that measures in ounces or grams
  • sauce pan
  • storage container(s)

Method

  1. Combine all ingredients in sauce pan, and simmer 5 minutes. Do not scorch.
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Homemade Cat Food: Canned/Pre-cooked Fish

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Cat

By Cat, May 2020 (Image, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

Sardines in a Can

After reading a Mercola article about the importance of serving homemade food for your pets (9), I’ve decided to introduce homemade cat food to my elderly cats.

I prefer making food that is mostly raw fish, chicken or rabbit meat and organ meat (heart, liver, brain, etc.), but I’ll start with using canned or lightly-cooked fish to see how it goes. I present two different recipes here, each of which makes about 1 cup of food, enough for 2 days for 2 cats. and Minerals (the list may grow as I create more recipes)

  • Includes: 1. Canned or Lightly-Cooked Fish for Cats; 2. Canned Sardine Food for Cats
  • See also: 1. Homemade Pet Food; 2. Homemade Cat-Food (About) for notes about ingredients: Amino Acids, Fats/Oils, Fiber/Starch, and Minerals (the list may grow as I create more recipes)

Continue reading →

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Homemade Cat-food (About)

Posted on May 10, 2020 by Cat

Charlie & Cloe

By Cat, May 10, 2020

I’ve been feeding my cats both canned cat food and kibble over the years; I prefer canned food because it provides moisture they need, but they prefer kibble. Recently my Charlie cat (black and white in photo, right) has developed kidney disease; it’s still in the early stages, and I’d like to keep it there (if I can’t reverse it).

My vet recommended switching entirely to canned food or make homemade food for them, to increase the water content of their food (even tho they already drink lots of water). She also recommended giving them good quality fish oil daily. So I’ve decided to look into homemade cat food recipes.

NOTE: This article does not include recipes, only ideas. I plan to create a new article for cat-food recipes, as I experiment.

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Spiced Nut and Date Bars (No-Bake)

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Cat

By Cat, April 2020 (image, right, cropped from Wikimedia Commons)

Dates at market in Kuwait

I’m always on the lookout for healthful, keto treats, and this recipe fits that to a T. I can hardly wait to try it!

I have loved date bars since I was a child. You might wonder how this can be keto-friendly if it contains such a sweet fruit. Well, while dates are quite sweet, the sugars in the dates are bound by proteins, fats, and fibers, giving them a low glycemic load. That means the sugars are broken down and absorbed slowly over time. Plus, their combination with nuts lowers the glycemic load even more.

See also: 1. Cookies Menu; 2. Fruity Treats Menu Continue reading →

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Homemade Gyro Meat and Gyros (Sandwich)

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Cat

Gyros wrap

By Cat, April 2020 (photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

Gyro is one of my favorite Greek foods, but I’ve never made one for myself. Upon seeing this recipe online (1) I’ve decided I have to try making one! But first…

Gyros (gyro) is pronounced “yee’-rohs” (yee-roh), with a slight roll of the tongue on the ‘r’ in the second syllable – at least, that’s the way my Greek friends taught me to say it. But you can just pronounce it without that roll.  Note that gyros is singular and gyri (“yee’-ree”) is plural. See Stavros’ Stuff for a true Greek pronunciation, and for an explanation of the difference between gyros and gyro.

It is a cooked mix of ground meats and herbs that can be rolled flat and thin for a gyros sandwich (more on this below), or into balls for meatballs. Greek restaurants cook it on a hot, rotating cylinder, but you can bake it in your oven, or cook meatballs/burgers in a heavy cast iron pan on stove-top. This recipe bakes it in an 8″ x 4″ loaf pan, then sliced thin for use in a gyros sandwich.

As a sandwich, it is wrapped in pita bread, with lettuce, tomato and tsatziki sauce. The photo above includes fries, but that is an Americanization.

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