Our food storage situation was getting out of control. Half a duck fell out of the freezer and landed on my shoe-less toes. Random bags of grains leftover from this fall made getting the breakfast granola a daily battle. And somehow we had a whole shopping bag full of mushrooms in the refrigerator. Time to take charge!!
We sautéed two chopped onions (Paffenroth Gardens) with some garlic (Keith’s Farm) in sunflower oil (Stolor Organics). To that, we added a mountain of sliced mushrooms (Bulich Mushroom Farm) and sautéed them until soft with a little salt and pepper and a splash of Riesling (Chateau Renaissance). Then poured everything into the slow cooker.
We trimmed any excess fat and skin off of the duck parts (Hudson Valley Duck Farm) and used the same pan to brown them for a few minutes on each side (just until the duck released easily from the pan). Into the slow cooker it went, topped off by small handfull of farro (Cayuga Pure Organics), a few red sunchokes and a couple of handfulls of little potatoes (Berried Treasures) and covered in water.
We let it cook on high for six hours. We then removed the bones, shredded the meat, and returned it to the slow cooker for another two hours on low.
Served up with some (failed and very flat, but tasty) sourdough bread (flour from Cayuga Pure Organics, yeast from the Manhattan air) it was a very satisfying improvisation.
