Sunday dinner

Last weekend my husband came home with a mad Pole and a pair of duck crowns. It was far too late to cook, so we took the mad Pole to the Sugar Loaf Inn for dinner and the ducks have languished in the fridge for a week - thank god they had a good long best before date! But I hate wasting food and we were pushing it a bit, so we had to have one of them tonight.

Really simply roasted, seasoned with salt & pepper. Did some celeriac mash with olive paste, because I read someone saying this week that they only like celeriac that way. Rocket salad, and some home-grown mange tout. The duck was good - I should have roasted it on a rack though. I usually do, completely forgot. Such a pity I don't need any duck fat, I've got a good cupful rendered out.

The mash was OK, although the olive paste turns it a terrible colour; the mange tout were gorgeous. It's hard to believe that some vegetables can be so much better fresh-picked. I tried to think of a sauce for the duck, but there was too much going on already, so the little bit of vinaigrette on the rocket was all, and it was enough. I'm going back to my normal celeriac mash though - which is just plain and buttery with a spoonful of capers stirred through. In total, the meal for the two of us cost about 6 quid - not including the wine. Pretty reasonable, I thought!

Of course, we still have a duck crown to get through. Hoping tomorrow will be good barbecue weather, because I think the smokey flavour from cooking it in the Weber will do excellent things for duck. And, because I have been meaning to try it for a while, I've got the duck in a brine in the fridge. I keep reading how much flavour and moisture brining adds. We'll see how it goes!