Pauline was previously in marketing for Superquinn/Supervalu after all. Silver Hill has been around for about 50 years ago and is found all over the world.

When it came time to cook them, I read the back of the pack for guidelines. I have only ever roasted whole duck before so I was curious to see what cooking fillets was like. It’s a little different but the instructions were almost spot on as I found out. So you don’t have to rely on the image above, here’s what it says more or less. I used the garlic and black pepper fillets here.

• Remove all packaging – Obviously
  Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180ºC/Gas mark 6. – Easy enough
• Score the fat, this is already done so ignore this part.
• Season with salt and pepper, these were pre-seasoned so I could ignore that part.
• Place fillets fat side down on a cold dry pan and turn to a medium heat. As the pan heats up the fat will start to render from the fillets. – OK interesting
• Cook until fat is golden in color (time will depend on the speed of your hob) Turn fillets over and continue to cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes (be sure to save the fat from your pan for wonderful roast potatoes and vegetables) – I had mushrooms so kept for that.
• Place fillets on a roasting tray and cook for a further 10 – 15 minutes depending on oven and taste.
• Remove from oven and allow fillets to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
• Ensure that the duck is thoroughly cooked, no pink meat remains and the juices run clear – Probably to be safe. A little pink for duck is usually fine. That’s how it’s served in restaurants after all.

So the first thing to do was place them fat side down into a cool pan on medium heat. As the pan heats, the fat melts until it’s about a centimetre thick. Under no circumstances should you pre-oil your pan as there’s simply no need. Once there was a nice brown on the fat side, I turned them over for about 3 minutes before popping in the oven.

I then started frying my mushrooms in the leftover duck fat. I had also spooned some fat over my potatoes before putting them into the oven. This would give them a nice crisp and flavoursome coating.

About 15 minutes later, I took them out of the oven and enjoyed. It was juicy and delicious with just a tad bit of pink in the middle. Since the packs are convenient, the potatoes I used were also convenient packs so they are pre-cooked and their instructions mentioned 15 minutes in an oven at the same temperature as the duck so in terms of timing, they worked perfectly. They were from Finnegan’s Farm. Of course, the potatoes were not as good as freshly cooked potatoes but for the sake of 15 minutes and no preparation, they were brilliant.

I have since cooked the Maple & Mustard pack and the Aromatic pack with equal success. Looking at the website, they have a Smoky Spice pack too which sounds great but they were out of that one at Bloom.

Speaking of Bloom, I only got in to that for the last two rainy hours on Monday. I can’t recommend going late on Monday enough because most of the vendors are giving major discounts to get rid of stock. The duck breasts for instance are €5 per pack but I think the deal on the day was 3 packs for €10 so that was a great deal. It didn’t end there, we got a load of steaks and a full leg of lamb for a mere €45 from The Premium Butcher. That’s possibly half the price or very near it.

Even on the way out, there was a wood sculpture. They were all sitting under a tree after the long day but I headed over with the intention of buying Pauline a little pig in boots made of wood for €25 but without having to ask, he offered it for €10 and then up-sold us the little teak folding table which was marked as €35 for I think €15 or near enough. It was a complete bargain of a day and I look forward to next year.

The post Silver Hill Farm Duck appeared first on Reuben Gray's General Musings.

Walking around the streets of the old town in San Sebastian, you can’t help but wonder about the whole pintxo thing. They are everywhere, almost every bar is packed full of plates of random pieces of food. 

A pintxo is sort of like a bigger version of tapas and is often sitting atop a piece of bread, pierced by a cocktail stick. They are the Basque version of a pincho but don’t call them that when in the Basque region. Pintxo is pronounced peen-cho by the way.

So, how long has your pintxo been sitting on that bar? At least a number of hours and likely since opening time. It’s also possible that it was sitting on the bar the day before. If visiting the Basque region, you really don’t want to be picking anything off a bar, even if it looks appetising. I suppose it depends on the pintxo. If it’s in a pot that gets heated up, it’s probably fine. Also, if you are there when a fresh plate is put out, that’s also fair game. There’s a far better way of doing things though, look for a menu. If there’s one on the wall, that usually means it’s cooked or prepared to order meaning it will be fresh.

Last week, I spent two days in San Sebastian with my girlfriend. She had been there before but it was my first time. We couldn’t get any of the Michelin star restaurants as they were either closed or fully booked so the first day we sort of wandered around and grazed a little. I was pretty underwhelmed by most of what I had in terms of pintxo but the wine was good and stupidly cheap for someone from Ireland. Two large glasses of rioja for about €3.50? A complete bargain!

We needed a better plan for day 2 and thankfully that came in an unlikely form. As you probably know, I’m a beer writer. My normal blog is www.taleofale.com and you can read my beer post here. After we were finished grazing in pintxo bars, we headed to a beer bar called Akerbeltz up the hill near the Santa Maria church, probably the best place for good beer in the city. While there, we were informed about a brewery birthday party in a nearby city so we hopped in a cab and went there. We had a great time but a local Welsh guy we met at the party emailed us a list. That list not only contained the name and address of his favourites, but also suggestions of what to order while there. Armed with that list, we headed out the next evening in search of a foodgasm and we pretty much got it.

Cuchara de San Telmo was my favourite one from the list but it’s a little different than the others as they only do made to order. The bar is too small and busy to really eat inside but there’s a small seating area outside at the back if you are lucky to get a seat. they do table service there too. We were lucky because one table was taken up with one man. When I inquired if the other seats were available, he invited us to sit down. Apparently, this place can be incredibly busy with queues around the corner but it moves quickly enough. A long queue might just be worth it though. Pretty much everything on the menu is likely to be pretty amazing so if you only have one place to visit, make sure it’s here.

Below is the list we were sent. The name of the bar is in bold and the name of the recommended dishes are underlined. I have also added in comments of what we thought of the ones we made it to. We didn’t quite make it half way through the list before we were stuffed. I hope the list helps if you find yourself in San Sebastian and are overwhelmed with choice.

Zeruko (Calle Paesacderia, 10) – La Hoguera (a cod dish)
Sashimi de tolosa (beef prepared in different 3 ways) – Closed when there.

La Cepa (Calle 31 de Agosto, 7) – Jamon de Jabugo – lovely plate of sweet ham. Big plates available but spendy. Worth it though.
Hongos a la plancha (Grilled mushrooms) – A Must get. So rich! They also had some of the best wine we had in San Sebastian.

La Vina (Calle 31 de Agosto, 3) – Tarta de queso (cheesecake) – Skipped as we didn’t want dessert.

Galtxagorri (Calle 31 de Agosto, 22) – Magret de Pato (duck breast)
Cochinillo (Suckling Pig) -1st stop. The duck was amazing. Suckling Pig good but too fatty. Also potato and cheese dish was great, that one we actually picked up from the bar but they heated it.

Cuchara de San Telmo (Calle 31 de Agosto, 28) – Carrilleras (beef cheeks) – Amazingly succulent.
Viera ‘Toro’ (scallop) – not available.
Cochinillo (suckling pig) – Beautiful crispy crackling. 
Also had risotto which was amazing. Frois gras – nice but not my thing personally. Also had some squid which was good but not great so I wouldn’t bother with that one.

Gandarias (Calle 31 de Agosto, 23) – Solomillo (little fillet steak on bread) – Just had wine. The steak looked nice but just steak on bread. Not worth bothering with.

We didn’t make the rest below but if you read this and try them, be sure to comment and let me know how you got on.

A Fuego Negro (Calle 31 de Agosto, 31) – Makobe (little burger)

Goiz Argi (Calle Fermin Calbeton, 4) – Brocheta de Gambas (prawn skewer)
Pimientos de Padron (green peppers)

Casa Urola (Calle Fermin Calbeton, 20) – Hamburguesita (little burger, changes depending on season)
Viera en crema de ajo blanco (scallop in garlic cream)

Borda Berri (Calle Fermin Calbeton, 12) – Ravioli de Txangurro (crab ravioli)
Pulpo (octopus)
‘Kebab’ Costilla (pork rib)

Egosari (Calle Fermin Calbeton, 15) – Brocheta de rape, bacon y langostino (monkfish, bacon and prawn skewer)

Astelena (Plaza de Constitucion, 120) – Solomillo (little steak)
Bacalao (salt cod)
Rabo de Buey (oxtail)

La Mejillonera (Calle del Puerto, 15) – Mejillones (mussels, they’ve got them in different styles)

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