To continue the repetition theme, we copied last Sunday's lunch of hot dog in French bread with fried onions. The sausage was cooked less, and hence better, than last week's attempt. We also had French's mustard this time round, a must for hotdogs and burgers. The problem with using French bread, as opposed to the softer purpose-made variety of bun, is "sausage slippage". Messy business.
Dinner consisted of duck with cherries and Madeira sauce, with roast carrots and salsify. A whole duck was purchased from Moens (£20), and expertly jointed into sections by V, the legs kept for another day and the carcass made into stock. The duck was slightly overdone and the sauce was a little thin (should have been reduced further) but it still tasted superb - we've only recently started cooking with Madeira, it's been a bit of a revelation, giving all it encounters a depth and sweetness that I've only experienced in restaurants before. A "cheffy" ingredient worth having. A winning meal, and perfect accompaniment to the Kiwi pinot noir we opened. Or should the wine be a perfect accompaniment to the food? Yep, that sounds more like it.
The meal finished with the first good cheese I've bought since Christmas. I'd never visited Hamish Johnston Fine Cheeses on Northcote Road in Battersea before. It's a well laid out shop, selling the typical disparate range of high quality foodstuffs that you'd expect to find in a London deli. We chose Ogleshield (my current favourite), Comte, Stinking Bishop and Blue de Bresse. All were enjoyed except for the Ogleshield, grrrr. I don't know whether this was because of the cow's diet (silage vs grass) or the because it'd been sitting on top of the counter for too long (it was on promotion) but it was lacking the usual high notes, tasting farmy and a bit grubby. This was the only cheese I didn't taste in the shop. There's a lesson in there somewhere.
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