> > Saturday my friend Serfty served me fries fried in
> > duck fat with a spiced duck gravy. Mighty good, and
> > I ate I believe three or four of them.
> That's an interesting combination.. I'll have to try that the next time I buy
> some duck.. it's been a while since I've purchased it, now I'm thinking of
> putting duck on a shopping list for our next venture to Wegmans :)

It's getting a little expensive again, but it can
be cost effective if you use everything but the
quack, as they used to say. Especially the fat,
which substitutes nicely for chicken fat or even
butter if it's gently rendered.
 
> >> Sounds weird to some, but the combined flavors are incredible.  :)
> >> I think I like that better than Atlantic City NJ's fries with vinegar ..
> > Fries with vinegar is an English thing I think (they
> > put vinegar on lots of things, from peas to fish to
> I've seen vinegar on greens, not crazy about that.

Not my favorite. People lemon up their spinach,
partly to counteract that astringency, but modern 
spinach has been bred to minimize that aspect, so
why bother. Green leafies haven't been my food of
choice anyway - I'm no rabbit. Recently acid foods
have begun to bother me as well. Old age.

> > potatoes); I'm not sure which is worse, that or the
> > mayo that people in the Low Countries (there's a
> > reason for them being called that) use.
> It's a nice flavor that I enjoyed a lot on french fries :)

Mayo? For me a bit of rich on rich, I have a 
strong preference for animal fat. Now if we were 
talking about a nice auscitaine (now not very
fashionable mayo-like emulsified sauce made with
poultry rendering), then I'm your guy.

> Not your ordinary fry, these tangy boardwalk-inspired spuds are soaked in
> vinegar, refrigerated to allow the natural sugars to develop and then fried to
> a golden brown finish. Dress the rustic cut potatoes in plenty of vinegar and
> salt to enhance the already-tangy flavor.

Not sure about that - might match okay in a 
cultural mashup with something like this, though.

"Curried away" lamb/chicken staff curry
categories: English, Indian, poultry, main
servings: 8 to 10

8 oz Anchor butter
1/4 c ghee
1/4 c olive oil
4 bay leaves
6 cloves
1 star anise star
3 in cinnamon
4 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
2 ts cumin seeds 
2 ts ponch phoran (panch phoron)
- (mixture of whole seed spices)
4 lg onions, sliced
8 cloves garlic, sliced
2 in ginger, peeled, minced
4 hot green chiles, chopped, more to taste
2 ts salt
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro with stems
1 Tb turmeric 
2 ts cumin powder 
2 ts coriander powder
1 ts red paprika 
1 ts garam masala
2 cn (28 oz ea) plum tomatoes in juice
- chopped or pureed
6 tomatoes, chopped
5 lb assorted chicken parts
- or lamb stew meat, bone in
1 c water or chicken stock

In a stock pot or casserole pot add 1 std pack 
of anchor butter. 1/2 chefs spoon of butter ghee 
and 1/2 a chefs spoon of olive oil.

Once heated add in 4 bay leaves, 6 cloves, 
1 star anise, 3 x 1" pieces of cinnamon stick 
or cassia bark, 4 green cardamoms, 2 black 
cardamoms, 2 ts cumin seeds and 2 ts ponch 
phoran. Fry off the whole spices 2 to 3 min.

To this add 4 sliced large onions, 8 sliced 
garlic cloves, 1 2" finely chopped piece of 
fresh ginger and 4 to 6 chopped green chillies 
with seeds and 2 ts salt. Handful of fresh 
chopped coriander with stalks.

Cook the onions for 15 to 20 min until they 
have sweated down and become almost transparent.
Now add 1 Tb turmeric, 2 ts cumin powder, 2 ts 
coriander powder (The cumin and coriander, we 
grind fresh ourselves weekly), 1 ts paprika 
powder and 1 ts fresh ground garam massala, 
if you have any.

Cook out the spices and then add 2 std cans 
peeled plum tomatoes and 6 fresh chopped 
tomatoes. Cook for a further 20 min satirring 
occasionaly until the oils seperate.

If you are using Mutton or Lamb, try and get 
your butcher to supply back chop on the bone (any 
asian halal butchery will know what you want.)

If using chicken, skin the bird, wash inside and 
out in cold water. pat dry, chop into small pieces, 
bone in , and brown in same way as the lamb below 
before adding to the pot.

In a seperate pan brown and seal the meat add 
this to your curry pot.

Add water or chicken stock and simmer for 1 1/2 hr
or until the meat is tender. Serve with pilau or 
plain rice, warm pitta bread and some natural 
yoghurt, DELICIOUS.

adeypayne at curry-recipes.co.uk