[ProtegeManiac]

  Can you buy duck fat in manilla? Amazing for potatoes!

 
Either expensive stuff in premium delis, or I can go straight to a duck farmer. Used to be we can only get duck fat and foie gras in the delis, and maybe imported from France or Indochina, but now we have local farms making foie gras with fattened ducks (not force fed by tube, just a high overhead on keeping their food containers full) after somebody probably realized, "hey, we got one province next to Manila chock full of ducks, and we're making eggs that give foreigners nightmares instead of foie gras on top of whole ducks for Peking Roast?" I'm gonna check where I can buy the stuff but for the most part I think hotels and restaurants probably get all the stuff.

Speaking of ducks, one other bird we have here that's also delicious is the ostrich. We farmed them supposedly for a dictator who set up a safari in one of the islands (why it wasn't made as a tiger reserve instead is beyond me), but now many of the non-traditional Filipino restaurants serve them. My favorite is the Duck Tenderloin Steak cooked in the Tagalog steak sauce. The traditional steak is a mix of salpicao flavor and Swiss steak techniques - thin slices of sirloin browned then cooked slow in a lot of extra oil, soy sauce, and stir-fried onions (and a bit of garlic). For thicker cuts like Duck tenderloin (the same restaurants do the same with beef ribeye or tenderloin), I think it's a quick sear in oil where the onions were stir-fried, then seasoned with soy sauce and popped in the oven for a few minutes, then served hot without any of the liquids save for what's caramelized on the steak. The crust won't be as crisp owing to all the sauce it cooks in but the soy sauce (maybe honey too) caramelizes well, and it comes out medium rare and as tender as better grades of beef. The $12 that would get a Grade 2 beef tenderloin steak here would get double the size of an Ostrich tenderloin steak.
 

  Ya, it depends on what diet you're on. But the keto is all about fat. You eat pretty much no carbs so that your body is forced to use fat as energy. So you need to eat extra fat just for your body not to fall into starvation mode - keeps the weight on because you're not eating enough. Your body needs one energy source: carbs or fat. 

 
Looks like I'm gonna try eating mostly sirloin and broccoli, but no rice, noodles, and potatoes next month

 

[EmpJ]

Great! Ostrich is such a high quality meat! I've only had it a few times myself though as it's not super super common in Canada. However, you can get pretty much anything these days from various speciality stores...
 
Duck fat is so great you should look for some! It's cheapish or you can just render your own duck fat. Super easy, but make sure you strain the fat to remove the solid pieces that will eventually cause the fat to go bad. If you clean it, the fat can stay for a long time in the fridge/freezer  
 
I lived in France and couldn't get enough of foie gras in all forms! Fresh, canned, bottled, I want it all! Even though we all think that the ducks are constantly force fed, this is not the case always. Those are just for the low quality foie gras. But lots of the stuff you find in France will be from good farmers producing natural foie gras. 
 
 
Fun fact: 
 
Who invented "gavage" - force feeding to make fatter foie? The Jews way back when they were slaves to the Egyptians. The pharaoh discovered this foie gras and demanded that the Jewish people supply their whole royal family with constant foie gras or suffer punishment. 
 
So the Jews came up with this method to pump out more and more out of pure survival. And that's how it allllll started

 

[PalJoey]

Ostrich was briefly fashionable in the Uk about 10 years ago, and you could get it in the supermarkets. Nice meat, but harder to get these days.
 
Duck fat, or even better, goose fat, makes amazing roast potatoes, and is widely available in the UK. Thanks, Delia Smith!
 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Speaking of fat for cooking, if you guys are anywhere near Filipino or Vietnamese groceries, grab some crab fat (Tagalog labels would say "Aligue" or "Taba ng Talangka" which is just one type of crab). Add a little bit of this (I cannot emphasize "little bit" enough - roughly one spoonful per single serving) to aglio olio pasta along with some prawns or lobster meat, or mix it with scrambled egg then throw all that over fried rice still in a wok and give it all a vigorous stir. You can also season the filling for seafood dumpling with these before wrapping.
 
You can eat it out of the bottle with crackers or corn chips, but it would be best to have a defribrillator ready.

 

[PalJoey]

Where do nutcrackers disappear to between purchase/first use and the next time you need them? A mystery of the ages, there, and me with a bag of cobnuts I want to open.
 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Where do nutcrackers disappear to between purchase/first use and the next time you need them? A mystery of the ages, there, and me with a bag of cobnuts I want to open.
 

 
I keep mine in the drawer with the other silverware, right next to the crustacean-cracker. It's usually just in the same bag as the nuts, but once they're gone, I put it away in the drawer.

 

[PalJoey]

 
 
I keep mine in the drawer with the other silverware, right next to the crustacean-cracker. It's usually just in the same bag as the nuts, but once they're gone, I put it away in the drawer.

Lucky you; many nutcrackers I've bought have apparently relocated to a parallel dimension, only reappearing once I have finished eating the nuts (cracked with the inadequate cracker part of my kitchen scissors). Tomorrow afternoon, they will turn up...

 

[PalJoey]

Just back from the shops with a kilo of goat meat. I'll marinade overnight, then get the slow cooker/crockpot fired up and it'll be Caribbean curry tomorrow night! 

 

[Clayton SF]

I was asked to fix an iMac in exchange for a home-cooked meal. I accepted the challenge. The computer has been fixed; I am happily fed.
 

Braised Eggs with Lamb, Tahini, & Sumac

Oh, and a side of spinach pomegranate salad.
 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 

Braised Eggs with Lamb, Tahini, & Sumac

 
I was craving soft boiled eggs and then I saw this. Looks like I know what I'm whipping up this weekend.

 

[Clayton SF]

I am at work peering out my window.
Food Truck!
Guess which one looks interesting down there.

 

[Eee Pee]

Hah!  That's great!
 
Cool pic too.

 

[luberconn]

i smoked a turkey over the holidays.  dont think i'll ever bake or deep fry a turkey again after smoking one.  it was great. 
 

 

 

[eke2k6]

I've been binge watching Chopped the last few days, and I've been going food crazy as a result. Today's lunch:
 
7-spice pan seared chicken breast, with parmesan and herb radiatore
 

 

[Clayton SF]

I made Moroccan tagine of aubergines and yams with a side of roasted rack of lamb for my Christmas meal. Topped it off with Crosse & Blackwell's Mint Sauce with Egyptian mint leaves.