Compensatory Duck Fat and Brandy

Sigh, requisite apologies are in order for being such a terribly negligent gastroslut. I moved to a magical land where one can fritter their time away in public saunas, and the excessive consumption of alcohol is accepted - nay, encouraged! So really, my absence should come as a surprise to nobody. 

Sorry pals, here's a little something to tide us all over until I morph back into a responsible adult:

...aahahhahah, GOOD ONE ALI!!!

Good Greasy Greens:
Duck, Mushroom, and Spinach Sauté

-3 cloves garlic

-1 yellow onion

-8 oz smoked duck breast

- 5 cups spinach

- 6 cups mushrooms of your choice 

(I did shitaake, oyster, and button)

-1/3 cup brandy

-pepper+salt to taste
-1/4 tsp hot chili flakes.

Really, all this dish involves is sequentially throwing things in a hot pan to get brown, but I will elaborate for the curious.

start by NOT WASHING THE GODDAMN MUSHROOMS and NOT ADDING IN ANY SALT UNTIL THEY ARE DONE BROWNING. Brush them or wipe them, hold on the salt - doing otherwise ensures that they flood the pan with water and don't brown as quickly.

Mince the garlic, dice the onion, and chop the mushrooms to whatever size you like - same goes for the duck and spinach. You should know that all of my amounts are pretty approximate and very flexible...meaning that I did a shit job of remembering to measure things before I stuck them in a pan.

Now the cookery: put a large pan over high heat, and fry the duck until crisp and brown. Remove the meat and set it aside for now. Also remove most of the rendered fat from the pan - keep about 3 tbsp in, and set the rest aside for other purposes. 

Add the mushrooms to the hot duck fat and fry until nice and dark. You don't need to stir constantly, just shovel it around every couple of minutes and repeat until thoroughly browned. Add the onion + garlic to the mix, and stir often until the onion bits soften and go a bit translucent. Pour in the brandy (cheap is fine, I used the last of an $8 bottle from Christmas) to deglaze the pan. Finally, lump on the spinach and allow it to wilt for a minute or two. Give it all a  quick mix and allow the greens to cook for a couple more minutes. Throw in the chili flakes, and season with salt and a generous amount of pepper  to taste. Boom, you're done.

....Sort of. It's very tasty as a side or as a savory crepe filling, but I like it atop noodles best. Toss some freshly boiled pasta in a tablespoon or two of the rendered smoked duck fat from earlier, liberally dole out some of the sauté, and cream your effin' pants while you down it like a champ. I'm sure this concoction would also work great with thick slab bacon in lieu of the duck. Enjoy until I sober up long enough to post again!