Shot in the Knee, Root Canal and More

I am glad it is a new week. Last week was one of those crazy weeks. Monday started off with me having a 7:30 doctor's appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. He examined my knee and said yes I did have a torn ligament and also a sprain. He treated the sprain by injecting a steroid that came in a very long scary needle. Yikes! He said I would most likely need surgery on the knee. We are doing a wait and see approach and maybe it will improve or whatever. Anyway that is on hold until after my trip.

Right after I came home from the doctor on Monday I received a phone call from a co-worker to learn our office had been burglarized. At that point I had to go into the office and give a report to the police officer as to what was stolen. My office was the only one disturbed and luckily they did not take my computer. They took a safe which had an external hard drive in it with my computer files. They took my kick ass chair which we think they used as transport for the 150 pound safe. They pried open my file cabinets. They cut all the phone lines and the security lines. Stupid idiots.

Keeping with the shitty week theme I had to have a root canal on Thursday. My appointment was for 4:00 on Thursday which made me the last root canal of the day. Having a procedure done at that time of day makes a person wonder if you are going to get a rush job. I guess it went OK.

I noticed I have not blogged in a while about food and thought I would mention last night's dinner which was very delicious. I have been reading On Rue Tatin and selected a couple of recipes from the book to cook last night; Duck Breast with Cider and Tiny Baked Potatoes with Chervil and Cream.

Duck Breast with Cider
Two 13-ounce fattened duck breast
Fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup hard cider

1. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. When it is hot but not smoking, place the duck breast in it, skin-side down. Cover and cook it until the skin is deep golden, about 8 minutes. Turn the duck breast and cook it for 2 to 3 minutes on the flesh side, then remove it from the pan. Drain off all of the fat and return the duck breast to the pan, skin-side down. Continue cooking it, covered, just until the meat is done on the outside, but is still very rare inside, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the duck breasts from the pan and season them with salt and pepper. Add the cider to the pan, scrape up any browned bits from the bottom, and reduce the cider by about half, until it is slightly syrupy, 4 to 5 minutes.

2. To serve the duck breast, cut it crosswise on the bias into thin slices and arrange on a warmed platter. Drizzle the slices with the cider sauce and serve immediately.

4 Servings

Tiny Baked Potatoes
1 dozen small potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 cup (125 ml) crème fraîche
The leaves from 1 large bunch chervil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in the center of the oven and bake until they are tender, about 30 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are baking, mince the chervil and fold it into the crème fraîche. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. When the potatoes are baked, remove them from the oven and split each one down the center. Gently push the ends of the potatoes together to open them up, and season them inside with salt and pepper, and a large dollop of crème fraîche. Serve the remaining crème fraîche alongside.

Makes 4 servings.

Also with the dinner I made Roasted Brussels Sprouts for a side dish from this month's Gourmet magazine. It was very good. I don't think I have ever used Rice Krispies in a dish before.

Today I went shopping to return a pair of shoes and look for some last minute items I needed for our trip. I had sticker shock when I went to purchase underwear. I was looking around and all of those fancy pants the kind that are supposed to suck you in and give you a nice firm look without panty lines were $40. I thought WTF I am not going to pay $40 for a pair of underwear. I did buy two pair one was $20 and the other $16 which is still too damn much for underwear. Although I will say they are black with lace.