Day 59

We started the day by getting our duck confit submerged in duck fat and into the oven at 250 degrees F so that it could slow cook until tender.  

 

For today's production we had to make a pan-seared duck breast with gastrique, potato gratin, and sauteed spinach. A gastrique is a reduction of vinegar and sugar that is simmered until it is borderline "syrupy".  I topped my gratin with some crispy shallots and garlic-laced sauteed spinach. 

We also had to produce a composed salad. I made a salad of roasted candy-striped beets, watercress, candied walnuts, orange segments, and Cypress Grove Chevre (goat cheese) tossed in a citrus vinaigrette. 

We finished the day by prepping some pork belly that we will cure for the next 7-10 days so that we can smoke it and turn it into bacon. We covered the belly in a mixture of maple syrup, brown sugar, sriracha, molasses, and selrose (also known as "pink salt" or "sodium nitrate").  

Homemade Bacon? ... I might die of happiness.