Lilikoʻi Glazed Roast Duck - Never Change

I've read and enjoyed several of Elizabeth Berg's novels, and this book is definitely one of her best.  Never Change - is a winner, with totally engaging, if occasionally frustrating characters (as in real life) who finally face their need for change in a sometimes sad, lovely, and inspiring story.
From Publisher's Weekly:

Myra Lipinski has been lonely all her life; she trained as a nurse "because I knew it would be a way for people to love me." Now 51, she lives alone with her dog and works as a visiting nurse in Boston, caring for an array of eccentrics that includes the feuding Schwartz couple, the feisty DeWitt Washington and the anxious teenage mother Grace.

Resigned to spinsterhood, Myra is secretly thrilled when her agency assigns her to care for a former crush, Chip Reardon, who has returned to his parents' home with end-stage brain cancer. In high school, Chip was a golden boy, athletic and clever, out of ugly duckling Myra's league. Now, though, he and Myra strike up a friendship based on their mutual loneliness and on Chip's resistance to his parents, who want him to pursue aggressive treatment for his cancer. Chip prefers to die peacefully, a decision that only Myra seems to understand.

A Not So Rhapsodic, Gourmet Rhapsody

 Just finished a little, 156 page, novelette, Gourmet Rhapsody, by Muriel Barbery.  I had read a review of this book last month, which led me to check it out myself.  So, my two cents' worth follows.  Especially as it follows Dinner with Edward, which we did for Cook the Books Club, this provided such a contrast in characters.  One a loving  husband, caring father and warm human being, the other a greedy, self-indulgent, self-absorbed and cold hearted individual, who treats his wife, children and most other people with contempt.  We know from the outset that he's an arrogant douche-bag, so no surprises there.

The book alternates the reminiscences of a renowned food critic, Pierre Arthens, on his death bed, trying to recall a particular flavor from his past, with chapters from the point of view of Pierre's various relatives, acquaintances, etc.  He blatantly  enjoys his power to make or ruin both chefs and restaurants; a man who has spent his life, as Barbery notes, among those erecting "temples to the glory of the goddess Grub."  Definitely an extreme of living to eat, rather than eating to live.  I found the whole thing rather sad, as there are so many in this world who do spend a lifetime seeking pleasure in one form or another, often at the expense of others, dying unregretted, and spiritually bankrupt.

Survival Garden Duck Soup

Not long ago I posted about a type of tropical spinach, the Pacific Spinach, after I had succeeded in identifying it.  In doing so, I mentioned other types, that it wasn't, but one of which I was then going to get, if that makes sense.  It's here now and planted, Okinawan Spinach, with mulch all around.  It's a bit wilty, having just been put into the ground. You will notice it has a sort of maroon color underneath the leaves and green on top. The Pacific variety is more tree like, this one is a lower growing, ground cover sort, hopefully. Trust me, this is going somewhere.

A Low Country Specialty, Duck Purloo, for Cook the Books Club

 I've had quite a Holiday blog break, finally getting back for our current Cook the Books Club selection,  A Place at the Table by Susan Rebecca White, which is the blended story of three main characters who live through forms of discrimination or betrayal.  Beginning with Alice and James, sister and brother who live in rural North Carolina; then Bobby from Georgia who is coming to terms with his sexuality; and Amelia, going through divorce and the discovery of her true ethnic heritage.  All three find friendship and careers through cooking.

Some of the book is engagingly written, and holds our interest for a time, however the plot stumbles as the various characters' trajectories become muddled in the overall story, sometimes stretching credulity.  Also, my opinion here, some of it was just offensive.

I think it goes without saying (or should) that compassion is important, that unkindness toward, and discrimination against homosexuals or anyone else is certainly wrong, however, including an accurate picture, or at least a hint, of causative background would be more honest.  Less of the "he made pink cupcakes" type references.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of authors, both in fiction and non-fiction, have adopted a PC point of view, misunderstanding the dynamics of homosexuality - at the root -  which in most cases is reaction to early sexual abuse.  We are meant to believe an inclination is just present at birth, which theory does a real disservice to those countless numbers, and going up every year, of women and children who are physically and or sexually abused, usually by someone close, though often in settings such as camp or day care.  A truth which powerful lobbies have shoved right under the rug of psychiatric jargon. According to Dr. Peter Breggin, in Toxic Psychiatry:

"A large proportion of sexual victimization takes place in infancy, often striking two year olds, and thus a great deal of it falls into the mental darkness of childhood amnesia.  Even when recalled it may not be reported."

Well, enough of that, and I do realize we're going against the flow here.  Not my favorite book, but as far as meal inspiration, I did enjoy White's descriptions of Cafe Andres, a fictional New York City restaurant featured in the lives of her various characters, and was caught by the mention of one specialty of Bobby's, duck with green olives.  No real description however, other than that.

Being as I do love duck, a bit of research led me to Duck Purloo (pronounced per-low), also spelled perloo and sometimes called pilau, a favorite in the Low Country of South Carolina similar to jambalaya or paella, with serious African and Caribbean influences at work in its creation. 

Duck Roulade with Sweet 'N Sour Ginger Passion Fruit Sauce

 I will start off this post with a disclaimer about sausages.  They are not my favorite food.  Also, grinding meat and stuffing pig intestines is not my idea of a fun cooking project.  To begin with, our old grinder is a bust, as opposed to "the bomb", just so you know.  And secondly, I do not possess a sausage stuffer, nor have any plans to get one.  But it's okay, there were alternatives in our Daring Cooks' challenge for this round.

For the January-February 2013 Daring Cooks’ Challenge, Carol, one of our talented non-blogging members and Jenni, one of our talented bloggers who writes The Gingered Whisk, have challenged us to make homemade sausage and/or cured, dried meats in celebration of the release of the book Salumi: The Craft of Italian Dry Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn! We were given two months for this challenge and the opportunity to make delicious Salumi in our own kitchens!

As discerning readers may have noticed, I do have a fondness for duck, so thought I would give Michael Ruhlman's Duck Roulade, from his book Charcuterie, a try.  Though it is a fairly difficult process, which briefly stated, involves removing the skin in a piece large enough to envelope the rest of the duck, which has been ground into a filling, augmented with pieces of sauteed duck breast, herbs, seasonings, etc.

Roast Duck with Cassava and Dandelion Greens

For Cook the Books Club, our latest read has been The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.  An inspired selection, for which the challenge was coming up with food to match.  Perhaps something from the extravagant feasts of the Capitol higher-ups or relating to the frugal, hungry foraging of the masses.

I had put off reading this particular book, not only because it is classed as "Young Adult", but its category, Science Fiction, is not my usual choice.  As a teen I went through an intense period of reading only this genre.  Perhaps got it out of my system.  Well, except for the Eve Dallas thrillers (by J.D. Robb), which do appear occasionally in my stack.  However all the adults I questioned gave it a thumbs up.  And, I must say, I was hooked right from the first page.  What a terrific read.  Even though you come to realize that nothing is really resolved or happy ever after, given that world.

At the same time, a scary reminder of what can all too easily happen in our own world.  As Gale muses, "It's to the Capitol's advantage to have us divided among ourselves."  Harkening to our recent elections as well as the continuing media and governmental drive to divide, by economic status and color.  So, not a completely lightweight book, but one which gets you to think as well as be entertained.

My inspiration for our cooking challenge came from the book's characters, Gale and Katniss, foraging and hunting in the forest, using whatever they could, to keep themselves and their families from starvation.  When Bob and I bought the property we live on here in Hawaii, one ideal (back in the day) was to grow some of our own food, to be able to survive if necessary, in an emergency situation, on what we could produce.  As I mentioned, an ideal.

So for this meal, duck traded with a friend, and cassava grown in our garden along with greens. Especially dandelions I thought, since they're not really cultivated, but foraged, would be a good survival meal.  Along with a glass of Lemon Mead, not necessary for existence, but groovy and  made from our own lemons.

Death by Darjeeling, and Tea-smoked Duck Breasts for Cook the Books Club

Our current read for Cook the Books Club is the cozy tea shop mystery, Death by Darjeeling, by Laura Childs.  If  death can be considered "cozy."  I've always wondered about that murder mystery appellation, though the tea shop and cafe she describes is certainly cozy enough to make me long for one in our town.

I've read others of her delightful books and come away with that same longing, as well as enlightenment on the subject of tea, the multitude of types with their unique flavors, from all around the world - India, Africa, South East Asia and China to a tea plantation in South Carolina, and, yes Hawaii.  We do have our own tea estates outside the town of Volcano, on the "Big Island."

I was so fascinated with the whole subject, thanks to Childs' book, that for purposes of burgeoning interest and research, I made an appointment to tour a local tea plantation,  Tea Hawaii, with hostess Eva Lee.

Eva Lee and her husband, Chiu Leong, founders of Tea Hawaii,  grow most of their tea in the understory shade of ohia trees.  I discovered that tea will thrive in shade or sun, and at various elevations.  Though, apparently the finest teas grow at higher elevations, due to the slower growth caused by a cooler climate.  Several cultivars  have been planted, and are kept pruned to just below waist height.