Orange duck pilaf

[redbird]

Tonight's pilaf came out reminding me pleasantly of the Afghan shireen palow. I made my basic pilaf recipe, with the following changes:

• the meat was Chinese roast duck, but not very much of it [what we didn't use Monday night, from a half roast duck that I bought to go with potato leek soup];


• I sauteed the onions, noodles, and rice in a mix of duck fat and butter (about 2/3 butter);


• when I defrosted the broth, I used about 12 ounces of broth (a cup plus three ice cubes), poured boiling water over them to make 500 ml (allowing a little for evaporation), then transferred the liquid to a small saucepan, heated it to a simmer, then tossed in a handful of dried orange peel, which sat a few minutes until I was ready to add the liquid to the onions/rice/noodles;


• I used some fresh ginger root (a hunk maybe a centimeter thick and 2 in diameter), chopped not too fine, which went in with the duck, spices, and cherries (dried cherries instead of more usual raisins or cranberries);


• I didn't put in cinnamon or cloves, just bay, cardamon, the ginger, and a little black pepper.

I tossed the duck etc. in before the liquid had come fully to a boil, covered the pot, went away for a few minutes, and returned to stir it and lower the heat. It didn't quite look ready (too moist) when the 20-minute timer went off, so I gave it another three, and it was perfect.

(I think I've posted my pilaf recipe here before; if you can't find it and want it, I can post it, but you may have to wait until next week.)