The Aspiring Luddite

	I carry no phone An aspiring Luddite In a wired world. Mastodon Verification Link	Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he migrated to the Fediverse. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance. He hates cell-phones.

Duck Confit and Mushroom Crepes
12 May 2011

Continuing the post-mortem on the great breaking of the Lenten fast, we move on to an entirely different animal - duck. Back in December, I made some lovely duck confit, and what didn't get eaten got put in the freezer for a rainy day. Or rather, a bright spring day when all the carnivorous impulses that only abstention can engender came raging to the fore.

Duck Confit and Mushroom Crepes

1/2 cup of duck confit, shredded
mushrooms to your taste, I used 4 shitake and 1 largish oyster
a few tablespoons of fat from the confit
crepes (see below)

Cut the mushrooms into smallish pieces while some of your duck fat heats in a skillet. Add the mushrooms and just a pinch of salt and let them cook until the mushrooms have given up some of their liquid and are starting to develop a nice dark color. You don't want to cook them dry, though. Then add the shredded duck confit and mix well. Continue to cook until everything is heated through.

Spoon some of the filling into the crepe and roll using your favorite rolling style. I fold the ends over and roll, something like burrito-style

The slightly sweet crepes set off the saltiness of the duck confit beautifully, but be wary! The first time I served these, I sauced them with a port wine and chocolate sauce, and it was far too rich. They are much better unadorned, save perhaps for a little grilled asparagus.

I served them with Leek and Mushroom Sops, a fairly medieval recipe - but that is for another day.

Crepes

6 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 Tb sugar
1/4 t salt
2 cups milk

Beat the eggs, then add the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the milk slowly and mix until smooth. This batter can be made the day before and refrigerated until needed.

Heat a skillet over a medium to medium high flame. Butter the pan very lightly. When the pan is up to temperature, pour in about a quarter-cup of batter. Swirl the pan gently to distribute the batter evenly and let cook for a minute or two until it's well set. Flip the crepe over, either using a spatula or with flair and panache - although in the latter case, unless you're sure the crepe is loose you may end up with less of a pancake and more of a lump.

You can use any skillet you like, but a non-stick one will make your life easier - and make flipping with flair and panache less likely to end in disaster.

The Aspiring Luddite