A recent special guest included chef instructor and author Sara Moulton. Here are edited excerpts from that online chat.
Q. While visiting Charleston, S.C., a friend and I had memorable duck at Husk, and we're inspired to try cooking duck for the first time this weekend. I'm thinking sauteing might be the best way to start. Any tips for getting that crispy skin?
A. I love duck. We eat sauteed duck breasts once a week. The secret to crispy skin is to score the skin in a crisscross pattern, season the duck and place it skin side down in a cold pan. Turn the heat to medium-low to medium and cook until the skin looks quite crispy (about 12 minutes). Do not pour off all the fat that accumulates in the pan, because that fat will help to pull out more fat from the skin. When the skin looks crispy, pour off all but a few tablespoons, turn the breasts over and cook them for about three minutes on the second side for medium-rare meat. Let them rest for eight to 10 minutes before slicing.
It takes no longer to cook duck breasts than to cook steak, so you should add it to your weekly lineup. Also, save that fat to saute vegetables in. Potatoes are especially good cooked in duck fat.
- Sara Moulton
Q. I love Mexican food but rely heavily on beans when I cook it, which tends to get a little old after a while. Are there other easy vegetarian ways to get some protein into a Mexican meal?
A. Do you eat eggs and cheese? Those are obvious ways, of course - but so are nuts/seeds (I'm a huge fan of pepitas and pumpkin seeds) and even grains. And of course there are tofu and tempeh, which aren't traditional in Mexican cooking but can be easily employed.
Can I make a plug, yet again, for my favorite Mexican tofu treatment - tofu chorizo? I wrote about it in terms of tacos, but it can go in tons of dishes.
- Joe Yonan
Q. What are your thoughts on how one can eat healthfully at restaurants?
A. I generally order two appetizers instead of an appetizer and an entree. I try to pick a vegetable-y kind of app and then a protein app, like a beet salad followed by grilled octopus.
- S.M.
I second that strategy. I'll also say that, in general, trying to slow down and appreciate dishes and flavors rather than shoveling them in is a good strategy/mind-set.
I tend to use my food snobbery to my benefit: I don't indulge in the bread basket unless it's amazing bread; I don't eat fries unless they're fantastic, best-in-class fries; same with dessert.
I do think the small-plates trend can work to your advantage here, although it can also make it that much harder to keep track, and it can get you in trouble.
- J.Y.
Q. I'm working on cooking fish more frequently, and it's going great. However, I realize I'm not very adept/tidy/good at eating whole fish, at home or in a restaurant. Any tips?
Recently I baked a small red snapper whole. How should I approach eating it without constantly picking bones out of my mouth?
A. It will make your life much easier if you bone it first.
The best way to do that is to locate the backbone, which runs down the back of the fish, and, holding a soup spoon turned upside down, use the edge of the spoon to loosen and saw off and remove the top fillet. Then you can just lift off the center bone, and the bottom fillet will be good to go.
- S.M.
Q. I come from a family of wing lovers. I want to try making wings at home, but how do I know when a chicken wing is fully cooked?
A. When fried in 350-degree oil, wings that are lightly golden brown should take about eight minutes to cook.
If you want to be really sure, the internal temperature (taken away from the bone) will be about 200 degrees.
If you're baking/cooking them further in sauce, aim for just shy of that eight-minute mark.
- Bonnie S. Benwick
