Play Reading - The Mousetrap

If you've been trailing me closely, surely you can bear witness to the nefarious things that I've been up to in the last few months, to be unearthed here and here. So whodunnit? We all did--with another play reading, that is. This time it was Agatha Christie's classic mystery The Mousetrap, which is celebrating its 50 year run in London's West End. My friends and I took it on recently over an appropriately murky evening just perfect for...a murder. A tangled web of clues set the scene tableside, including a pair of mysterious gloves, strands of purloined pearls, kitchen shears and an overturned brass candlestick as well as a flickering candelabra.

More evidence from the scene of the crime. I drew the picture of the lead pipe!

And we definitely ate, too--cider roasted vegetables, fish pie, duck pot pie and figgy pudding for dessert rounded out the table. Despite a particularly dreary incident that occurred last year over dinner involving a duck serving dish, a friend suggested that I bring it out again and make something new in it, to create a different memory instead of just throwing the whole thing out. So here's the proud, plucky fellow below, much happier this time, stuffed to the pin feathers with duck pot pie.

Take notes on the carving of the Native American referencing "Ten Little Indians" and the clock nearby in a nod to "The Seven Dials Mystery." I also drew the fingerprint with large whorls.

Tonight's Menu
Duck Pot Pie
Fish Pie-- an absolutely delicious facsimile from Baby's favorite restaurant in London, J Sheekey (and I daresay a better recipe!). We used a half pound each of salmon, tilapia and shrimp for our fish
Cider-Roasted Vegetables from Real Simple magazine

Figgy Pudding courtesy of Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet via about.com.

It all turned out to be a veddy veddy British evening, quite suitable, in tribute to Agatha Christie, the grande dame of the murder mystery. Don't you find...???

Soundtrack: Ambient Thunderstorms; Chopin Nocturnes; British Bands Play Noel Coward.

Lame Duck

Sometimes dinner parties just don't work out and our guests fall apart. The evening I present here dissolved into something most disappointing, frustrating and ultimately just plain exhausting. I'd hoped to write with absolute vigor about my Duck Pot Pie but I can't find it in me. The food was great, really great in fact, and took me several days to prepare. I made the stock a week ahead of time and froze it. I made my own duck confit, in a brilliant shortcut. So much for that. Here are the salted legs:

Set your simple table and take these recipes as you will, inspired by Good Dog Bar and Restaurant in Philadelphia where Baby and I spent our Easter weekend. Do find pleasure in creating a truly special dinner, at your own home. As always, wish for the best and choose your guests wisely.

Menu
French and Australian Cheeses on a rustic cutting board with crackers and a bed of parsley
Baby Arugula Salad with Blood Orange & Bacon Vinaigrette
Duck Pot Pie with a side of Corn Bread (the linked recipe is similar to what I did but I would hardly find all the butter or eggs to be necessary; incorporate at your own discretion). Black truffle honey is shrewd indeed for dipping
Rich Chocolates for dessert with pink Peeps, almond cookies, and Brandy, Armagnac, as you go

Dressing for your salad course: use the chart of my favorite Michael Lomonaco's Shallot and Champagne Vinaigrette with a few alterations. As classic duck a l'orange is so delicious I thought that using blood orange olive oil would set the whole duck deal up perfectly, which it did, with ribbons of bacon flavor too to stand up to the approaching game bird. Use 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1 tb Dijon mustard, 1 tb sugar, 4 peeled shallots, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 ground black pepper--throw into a blender and then slowly incorporate 1/2 cup blood orange olive oil and 1/4 cup softened bacon grease. Creamy, divine, and far more interesting than impeding company!

Click Duck Pot Pie for the recipe. The link from Saveur will help you make your own duck confit that the recipe requires but I suggest cutting to the chase as I did (otherwise buy it already done from D'Artagnan or a local butcher): pull the duck fat off the legs, render it in a cast iron skillet to release the most fat and when it's at room temperature, set the fat aside in the fridge. Pour coarse salt on all sides of the stripped duck legs, cover and leave to consider in refrigeration for at least eight hours. Wipe off the salt and slather with your rendered duck fat (I didn't "submerge" as the recipe calls for); put in a 250-degree oven for about 90 minutes, turning over once, halfway through. When you make your filling, keep the duck meat on the bone for flavor while it fully cooks in the stuff and then remove the legs. Once simmered down to a manageable temperature, use a deft fork or your own hands to pull off the meat and then proceed to stuff the innards of your extraordinary pie with abandon.