Our Thai Duck Curry

You voted and we listened. So here is our take on the traditional Thai duck curry. Simple but full of flavor, your family is sure to love this dish.

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 lbs fresh duck
2 ounces curry powder
2 ounces coconut cream
2 cups homemade duck stock or chicken stock
2 tbs chopped spring onions
2 tbs chopped basil
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 tsp red chilly pepper or red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 cup pineapple chunks 
1/3 cup sliced bamboo shoots
4 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt

THE PROCESS:
With a sharp knife, cut duck into 2 inch pieces then rinse and pat dry with paper towel. In a large skillet (12 inches or larger)  add 2 ounces of oil and heat on med/high. Add duck pieces skin side down and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside. Add remainder of oil and and reduce heat to medium. Add the curry powder, stir and let it cook for about 1 minute. The nutty aroma of the spice should fill the air at this point. Add chopped herbs and aromatics (onions, garlic, basil, ginger and chillies) and simmer for 1 minute.
Carefully put duck pieces into the pan and immediately add 1 cup of stock. It's now time for the coconut cream and salt. Cover the skillet and simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes. After time has elapsed, uncover, stir and savor the amazing aroma. Add bamboo shoots, pineapple and remainder of stock. It will be hard but cover again and cook for another 30 minutes keeping the heat at medium.
The moment of truth has arrived! You may now turn off the heat, serve and enjoy. We served ours with Jasmine rice.
I hope you make this sure winner for your family. It sure did make our tummies happy. Happy eating.

We never stopped eating - November Birthday at Cabana

For foodies such as ourselves a break in food blogging does not equal a break in restaurant eating. The food must always go on. What better excuse to chow down than to get together with friends you haven't seen in over a decade and go out to celebrate your birthday? That's exactly what I did on a chilly Sunday afternoon in November.

The occasion was my 28th birthday. The lovely Cindy traveled from the far east and the stunning Yosanne came from the west to dine with me at the Cuban inspired, nuevo latino restaurant Cabana. Located on 107-10 70th Road in the trendy Forest Hills area of Queens, Cabana is a not so hidden gem. Although a relatively small establishment the vibrant colors and even more lively diners make this place a festive treat.

We started with some classic Mojitos that were served with cane sticks (for stirring) and were so yummy it was hard not to swallow the contents of the glass in one big gulp. Although we hadn't seen each other since the early years of high school we didn't need anything to break the ice. We fell into comical banter and observations of how little we all changed. Soon after, our appetizers arrived and were even more delicious than the beverages. A trio of empanadas filled with shrimp, ground beef and chicken made its way to our table and were soon followed by Baccalaitos (a crispy fried codfish cake) and Tostones Rellenos (fried green plantains filled with seasoned shrimp and ground beef). Oh how happy we were after that.

Selecting entrees proved a bit difficult, partly because we were so engrossed on our conversation and also because we wanted to order everything on the menu. We finally settled on Coco Cabana Pollo (chicken breast, Caribbean root vegetables, red potatoes, broccoli and green beans served in a coconut milk, habanero pepper and curry sauce), pan seared salmon with black rice and lobster empanadas with grilled chicken and shrimp served over safron rice. There wasn't anything I would've added or taken away from any of those dishes. They were perfect!

We laughed about old high school memories and caught up on our now adult lives, filling in the stories of the missing years all the while making room for dessert. Boy, what a treat that was. Pastry with guava jelly filling, served with coconut ice cream, banana fritters with coconut and passion fruit ice cream, and more ice cream for me (banana, passion fruit and coconut). This needs no further explanation. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

 This place represented for the Cuban/Latin community very well. My only complaint was that the space between seats were quite small and we constantly had to get up to let someone through to their seat. Also our waitress seemed a bit impatient with us because we were there for quite a while. I'm not sure if she was afraid of not getting her tip if we happened to be there past her shift or she was just having a bad day. Whatever her problem was we were too happy to be reunited to let that stop our fun. We ate, laughed and had a good time. So look on and drool and all I'll say is "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAUNA".