Pretty much my favorite lunch is confit de canard with sauteed potatoes and a green salad with mustardy vinaigrette dressing. Sorry that part of the photo got cut off, but it's exactly what I had for lunch today at a little place down the street. This plus a glass of wine and an espresso put me back just 21 euro and gave me the fuel I needed to pound the pavements!
I'm continually mystified as to why nobody in the Twin Cities can seem to make a decent confit. Most places seem to just slowly-roast the duck leg & thigh, but it lacks the brilliant juiciness, tenderness and rich flavor of the French version, which is cured with sugar and salt, then roasted slowly in duck fat, then packed in a crock with the fat from the roasting process. When you want to serve it, you merely remove a leg/thigh from the crock, wipe off the excess fat, stick it under the broiler to crisp up the skin and reheat it, and ~voila~ there you have it! I think I'm just going to have to go into the confit de canard business back home!
Across the street from my lunch table I saw this sign above the awning. What do you suppose it means? "No unaccompanied children" or "do not fail to hold hands with your child" or what??? Gotta say this was a first for me!
[UPDATE: my pal Dale, the world traveler, tells me that this sign indicates the end of a pedestrian zone. And he's right, it's at the very southern end of rue Montorgueil, a pedestrian street, where it intersects with rue de Turbigo. Dale wins a prize; I just need to figure out an appropriate one!]
On my way back to the apartment I stopped by Comptoir de la Gastronomie to pick up a thinly-sliced smoked "Magret de Canard" (the breast of ducks specially bred for foie gras) - tender, succulent and lightly smoked over beechwood (according to the package). Some lunchmeat, hey?!? And just 8 euro. The 250g package (1/2 pound) might last me for the rest of my stay, but no guarantees!
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