Saturday Night Sunday Night Dinner!

Sup cuz! Here I am in Minnesota, it sure is nice to be home. Tomorrow is Momma's birthday, and I cooked tonight so we can go out tomorrow. Mom has a fantastic kitchen to cook in, and Mom is the whole reason I love to cook so much, so tonight was a real treat.

Menu:

Olive tapenade bruschetta

Duck ragu with polenta

Tomato and cucumber salad

Totally rad. Here's what you do:

The bruschetta is a super tasty appetizer. Take some pitted kalamata olives (I'd say a half cup) and throw them in the food processor. Pulse a few times. Next add one clove of chopped garlic, two tablespoons of chopped fresh basil, two tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley, one tablespoon of fresh thyme, one tablespoon of lemon zest, a handful of capers, some ground pepper, and about a half of a cup of olive oil. Put everything but the olive oil in the food processor and pulse. Keep the mix going and stream in the olive oil, then taste for seasoning. Meanwhilst, toast some sliced ciabatta bread, then spread the tapenade on the warm bread, put a dollop of ricotta cheese, and top that beauty off with some drizzled olive oil. En - effing- joy.

Take the help where you can get it - Costco sells a half duck that is fully cooked. It is so delicious and so versatile. You can roast it in an oven until it is heated through and pour the orange sauce that comes with it on it. ORRRR you can make duck ragu. Totally up to yous. For the ragu, heat a three count of olive oil in a sauce pan and get it nice and hot. Put the duck in skin side down and brown it: render some of that delicious, precious duck fat. Uhhhh, duck fat.....Back on track. Once some good fat has rendered, take the duck out of the pan and set it aside. Chop one onion and throw into the pan with the duck fat, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and some salt/pepper. Get that nice and browned (10 minutes), and toss in a good tablespoon of fresh rosemary and two cloves of chopped garlic. Cook that for a few minutes longer, and then deglaze with 1/2 cup of red wine (or white, whatevs. I used white because I didn't have red). After the wine cooks down for a few minutes, toss in one fourteen ounce can of diced tomatoes and 2 cups of chicken stock. Let that simmer for at least an hour so the flavor can develop. Your next step involves using one of my favorite kitchen tools: the immersion blender. Get one. Now. I'll wait.

Sweet, that's a rad new immersion blender. My pal Emeril and I call it a boat motor. Stick that sucker in the pot with the ragu and blend away. This will puree and thicken your ragu. Set it back on simmer, and shred up that duck that you heated up earlier, then throw the shredded meat (sans skin, boo) into the pot with the ragu, and set to low. Finish that pot of love with three or four heaping tablespoons of ricotta cheese.

Now it's time to make that polenta! I freaking love polenta, it's delicious, easy to make and has a great texture. Not everyone is a giant polenta fan, so if you're not, you could totally make some linguine or pappardelle with this.

But I think you should man up and make the polenta. My mom made it tonight, and she's super cool. One cup water, and one cup half/half (Sunday night diiiiiiinnnnnerrrrrrrrr) into a saucepan with a teaspoon of salt and bring that shiznat to a boil. Throw in a half cup of corn meal and whisk your life away. Whisk, I say! Whisk until it thickens, and then switch to a wooden spoon. Guess what's next? Butter! Woot! Put a pat of butter in the polenta with some freshly ground pepper.

This is where my Aunt Carol lent a hand. She chopped up some garden fresh tomatoes and a giant cucumber from Farmer Rog's garden. Next she added some salt, pepper, a few dashes of balsamic vinegar and some fresh basil. Done, and delish.

Serve the ragu over the polenta with the tomatoes and cucumber salad and BOOM. Super awesome Saturday Sunday Night Dinner. Boosh.