Speedy special supper using frozen "convenience" ingredients. Seared & glazed duck with crushed potato, swede & carrot towers
Sometimes you need to pull together a meal quickly. You could make beans on toast or microwave a ready meal but you could create a really nice supper using frozen ingredients.
I saw some duck breasts reduced in price a couple of weeks ago and popped them in the freezer. When my husband said he would home a bit later than usual on Friday I decided to defrost them to make a bit of a special supper to celebrate the end of the week.
I knew I'd be tired and not in the mood for fiddling with "from scratch" ingredients so totally cheated using frozen mashed potatoes, frozen mashed swede and carrots, frozen honey glazed parsnips and frozen oven bake roast potatoes.
I made a glaze by melting 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly and 3oz port in a saucepan, simmering for about 10 minutes until liquid is reduced.
While the frozen ingredients were cooking (using microwave and oven) I seared the defrosted duck breasts on my cast iron griddle then popped into the hot oven (about 160C) for 15 minutes.
I used a run to make mash and carrot and swede towers then popped the duck on top and glazed using my jelly and port liquid which by then was nice and sticky. As it cools it becomes more of a glaze.
Adding parsnips and roasties bulked up the meal for my hungry husband who had no idea I had simply opened packets until I confessed!
Just goes to show the freezer section of the supermarket is a fabulous resource for busy cooks, even those who want more than a pizza for tea!
I saw some duck breasts reduced in price a couple of weeks ago and popped them in the freezer. When my husband said he would home a bit later than usual on Friday I decided to defrost them to make a bit of a special supper to celebrate the end of the week.
I knew I'd be tired and not in the mood for fiddling with "from scratch" ingredients so totally cheated using frozen mashed potatoes, frozen mashed swede and carrots, frozen honey glazed parsnips and frozen oven bake roast potatoes.
While the frozen ingredients were cooking (using microwave and oven) I seared the defrosted duck breasts on my cast iron griddle then popped into the hot oven (about 160C) for 15 minutes.
I used a run to make mash and carrot and swede towers then popped the duck on top and glazed using my jelly and port liquid which by then was nice and sticky. As it cools it becomes more of a glaze.
Just goes to show the freezer section of the supermarket is a fabulous resource for busy cooks, even those who want more than a pizza for tea!
