Rendered Goose, Chicken, Duck or Turkey Fat & Crackling

We recently purchased a few Schiltz young American free-range geese and we went on a cooking spree!  We began by breaking down two of the geese, taking off the leg & thigh sections which we would confit.  We boned the breasts and those were set aside to make in different preparations.  The bones, wings and miscellaneous parts were roasted and then put in a stockpot for soup.  All the excess fat and skin was put into a pot so that the fat could be rendered and the skin made into delicious crackling.  Seriously, if you’re a fan of bacon fat and pork rinds, you ain't seen nothin’ till you’ve had goose fat and crackling…off the charts crazy delicious!

Making crackling and rendering the “liquid gold” fat is such a simple process.  It’s going to be wonderful having the fat in the freezer to use in making so many dishes.  Seriously, potatoes & vegetables roasted or sautéed in goose fat are the bomb!!  The cracking we enjoy snacking on and also using as a crunchy topping on salads and soup.  Any way that you’d enjoy pork rinds you can enjoy crackling.  This post shows us using goose, but the same process is used for chicken, duck and turkey fat.  All are wonderful and worth making.

Rendered Goose, Chicken, Duck or Turkey Fat & Crackling

• Fat and skin, cut into approximately 1-inch pieces, we used the excess skin & fat from 2 geese but you can use as much or as little as desired
• 1 cup water
• Himalayan sea salt 

Add the fat, skin & water to a heavy pot that is twice the depth of the amount of skin & fat.  The addition of the water will help the fat begin to render and more is not needed with the addition of more birds, but if using the skin and fat from 1 bird or less, reduce the amount to 1/4-1/2 cup.   Turn the heat to high, cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a full boil, remove the lid and reduce the temperature to bring the pot to a light boil.  As the fat renders and the water evaporates, the mixture may hiss or spatter.  Let the fat render out on the stove for about 2-3 hours depending on how low you have your flame. Be sure to give the fat a good stir with some tongs about every 1/2 hour  The fat will start out yellow and milky butt will turn clear and the skin and fat pieces with be golden brown. Now you’re ready.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the cracklings from the pot and drain on a paper towel lined plate, salt immediately.  Allow the liquid fat to cool slightly, then strain into clean, sealable containers using a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Store the duck fat covered in the refrigerator for up to 6 months or in the freezer for a year or more.

Enjoy!!

Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

These are Eammon’s absolute favorite potatoes but because of the calories in them, I make them only for holidays or as a very special treat.  When I make these special potatoes I use a very special ingredient, FAT!!  Yes pure, delicious, culinary gold, saved fat from when I previously made either chicken, duck or even as a last resort, bacon.  I keep containers of rendered fat in my freezer for when I want to make these potatoes or other special recipes.  My favorite fat to use when making these potatoes is the fat skimmed from a pot of Cheaters Chicken Soup as it not only has the rich chicken fat flavor but also all the garlic, onion and other flavors from the “Rotisserie” Chicken and the soup so it gives these potatoes the most delicious flavor EVAAH!! {Sorry, I’m originally from Boston and the accent just comes out every once in a while.}  I have also used pure rendered chicken and duck fat and while not as flavorful, still off the charts delicious.  If you’re not into saving chicken fat, fry up some bacon and use that fat.  Once you try these potatoes you’ll find fried or oven potatoes made with oil…well just boring and bland.  These potatoes are a special treat and oh-so-very worth every.single-calorie!!

Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

• red skinned potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes 
• chicken fat skimmed from Cheaters Chicken Soup, rendered chicken, duck or bacon fat, enough to liberally coat the potatoes 
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
• peanut oil, oil of your choice or cooking spray 

Pre-heat oven to 450F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with oil or cooking spray.  Cut each unpeeled potato into eight pieces or for large potatoes, ten pieces.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes.  Parboil the potatoes for five minutes, until just the outer edge of the potatoes are soft but the potatoes are still raw in the middle.  Pour the potatoes into a colander to drain and toss them around to get the edges roughed up.  Place some of the chicken fat into the now empty, still warm pot and allow it to melt.  Add the drained potatoes to the pot and toss to coat with the melted fat.  Pour the potatoes onto the prepared baking pan in a single layer and place them skin side down.  Roast for 30 minutes.  Toss the potatoes and cook another 10 minutes, toss one last time and cook for a final 10 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper and serve hot.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower with Seared Peppers and Caramelized Onions & Garlic

Cauliflower was a recent loss leader at my local market so I’ve been on a cauliflower binge so get ready to see lots of recipes including cauliflower.  Also a recent loss leader were packages of red, yellow and orange bell peppers so they too have been making a showing in a lot of our meals lately.  

I served this cauliflower dish at our Thanksgiving dinner this year along side the Spatchcocked Turkey.  As I said in previous posts, because we were only a small group, the three of us and my parents and that fact that Maisie, my Mom and I were all sick,  I went simple and easy with our meal and used only the ingredients I had in the house.  With this recipe, I knew what flavors and textures I wanted and I just made it up as I went along.  Thankfully it came out exactly as I envisioned and everyone loved the dish.

The dish includes sweet, caramelized onions and garlic, seared sweet peppers and seared and steamed cauliflower.  What really added an additional, phenomenal flavor, was that I used some chicken fat from my Cheaters Chicken soup as the oil/fat for the dish.  While I could have used any cooking oil, butter or even bacon grease, I just adore the flavor that the seasoned chicken fat added to the dish.

Cauliflower with Seared Peppers and Caramelized Onions & Garlic

• 1 head fresh cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 6 large garlic cloves, sliced thinly 
• 1 cup sliced red, yellow & orange peppers
• rendered chicken fat, bacon grease or oil of your choice
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat a thin layer of fat or oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-low heat.  Very slowly sauté the onion until it begins to caramelize.  Add the garlic and continue cooking until the onion and garlic is nicely caramelized.  Remove the onion & garlic from the pan, set aside, return the pan to the cook top and turn the heat to high.  Once the pan is really hot add the peppers and sear quickly so that they retain some of their crunch.  Remove the peppers to the dish with the onions & garlic and then add the cauliflower to the hot pan.  Allow the cauliflower to sear a little, stirring when necessary.  When the cauliflower has some toasted bits, add a cup of water to the pan and cover immediately.  Reduce the temperature to medium and allow the cauliflower to steam cook until tender but not mushy.  If there is any water left in the pan once the cauliflower is tender, just pour it off.  Add the cooked onions & peppers back into the pan with the cooked cauliflower and toss gently to mix.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

Enjoy!