Monday, May 5, 2014

Super-easy-peasy Roasted Duck

Sometimes I think that an OVEN is the human greatest invention. I could eat roasted and baked and grilled EVERYTHING. Oven is a miracle box - you put something slightly appetizing, say carrots or sweet potato or chicken (or something totally unappetizing like Brussels sprouts) and out comes a food for gods. Amen.
And there are only few thing more delicious MADE IN OVEN than roasted duck. Crispy skin on the outside, melting-on-your tongue meat on the inside. Yum! And the best part - it's super easy to make!


You'll need:
1 duck
1 apple
salt

Salt your duck generously on the inside and outside and let the salt work its magic for one hour or up to whole night. (If you don't have time, don't panic: I left my duck on the counter for one hour and it was enough.)
Preheat your oven to 200°C. Wash the salt of the duck, pat it dry and stuff it with the apple. Put it in the roasting pan breast-side down, salt it "just right" and add 1 cup of water to the pan. Cover with the lid and roast for one hour. Take the lid off and roast for another 30 minutes. Then turn the duck carefully so the breasts are on top and roast for another 30 minutes. Ta-da! You're done!
And wait - that's not all - the watery substance in your roasting pan when it cools down - that is muy delicious duck fat. Booyah! That's what I'm talking about. The oven is a real magic box!




Serve with your choice of veggies and ENJOY! (I served it to my fiance - still getting used to calling him that ;)- and he literally licked the plate and made an observation how much he enjoys his affianced life. It's this good.)

SK:
Niekedy si myslím, že rúra na pečenie je najlepší vynález ľudstva. Je to taká zázračná skrinka - do vnútra sa vloží niečo priemerne chutné ako napríklad sladké zemiaky alebo mrkva alebo kura (alebo niečo nepríliš chutné ako rúžičkový kel) a po chvíľke vyberiete odtiaľ jedlo pre bohov! Amen.
A jedno z najchutnejších jedál MADE IN RÚRA je rozhodne pečená kačica. Chrumkavá kožička zvonka a na jazyku sa rozpúšťajúce mäsko vnútri. Mňam! A najlepšie na tom je, že je to neuveriteľne ľahké jedlo na prípravu.
Potrebujeme:
1 kačica
1 jablko
soľ
Poriadne posolíme kačicu zvonka a zvnútra a necháme soľ pracovať najmenej hodinu až po celú noc. (Ak sa ponáhľate, nepanikárte, ja som ju nechala hodinu na stole a stačilo :)).
Rúru rozohrejeme na 200°C. Kačicu umyjeme, osušíme a do vnútra vložíme pokrájané jabĺčko. Vložíme do pekáča prsiami nadol, posolíme "přiměřeně" a podlejeme vodou. Pečieme prikrytú 1 hodinu. Odokryjeme a pečieme ďalších 30 minút odokrytú. Potom ju opatrne otočíme prsiami nahor a pečieme ďalších 30 minút. Voila! Hotovo.
A to nie je všetko - tekutinka, čo nám zostala v pekáči sa po vychladnutí zmení na fantastický kačací tuk. Mňam po druhýkrát! Veď Vám hovorím, že rúra je zázračná skrinka.

Servírujeme so zeleninou podľa Vášho výberu. (Ja som to naservírovala svojmu snúbencovi - stále si ešte zvykám na toto nové pomenovanie ;) a on doslovne vylízal tanier a poznamenal, že tento snúbenecký život sa mu celkom pozdáva. Až také dobré je toto jedlo!

Saturday, May 3, 2014

I said "YES"

Today wasn't the most beautiful spring May day but after late breakfast and cancelled golf plans we decided to embrace the nature...


....(some of us quite literally) and visit Arboretum. I was snappy-happy and smelly-happy, too. Don't you just love spring with all these beautiful colors and smells. Divine!






I was fooling around and when we found my most most most favorite flower in the world - Iris - I was just super happy. See the smile below. I love how Irises smell because my grandma used to grow them and they always remind me of my childhood. 





When we found another Irises I snapped another picture:


...and when I turned around I found my boyfriend kind of kneeling behind me so I snapped his picture, too.


He was very bemused (as is obvious at the photo) because he realized that I had no idea what was going on. And then he showed me the box he was holding in his hand. (Now you see the box, too). And I got a little bit teary. And then he asked me the question and I said YES. (I literally said "yes" because he asked me in English and later when I told him he did, he didn't even realized it. I know, we're weird this way. I write this blog in English so I don't have a right to cast any aspersions. And I have to say I kinda liked it :)).


O gosh, now I am going to love Irises even more! Then I had this huge big smile on my face.


But here's a picture for you as a proof that I am not the only one in this relationship to do crazy stuff:


Then we went to see (and tell) my parents, I called my brother and my fiancee (heh, I will have to get used to this :D) called his mom. And then I have to confess I posted it on facebook. I have no idea if it's proper or absolutely not.


I can't stop looking at the ring. It's soooo prettyyyyy. It's perfect. It's my dream ring. (But I'll try to forget the big fight I instigated a few weeks ago cause I was getting a little bit (a lot) nervous about the fact that we've been together for almost eight years and everybody around us was getting married and having children, and I was getting older and everybody was asking me WHEN will I get married and I had no answer to that cause I had no idea what he was waiting for and... well, I guess I am, too, only human.)