Duck duck roll

Our pitch team had a long, but productive day today. The plan was to be home by about 6:30 and work a little more on another blog post I started writing yesterday. But I have to put that one off for at least one more day. Therefore just a quickie here in its place because even I have noticed that the blog posts have become too infrequent...(hey mom! more coming soon...!).

This morning, as I sliced through a frozen bread roll for breakfast and popped it in the toaster, I noticed that we were down to almost no bread...anywhere...and somehow I kept forgetting at the last moment to go by the baker before or after work to pick some up. Got home late this evening because of the longer day - perhaps around 7:30 - bakeries closed - and in no mood to cook. As I rounded the last street corner before approaching the apartment, I did the mental inventory in my head of what was in the fridge. Duck - I had picked up a cooked boneless duck the other day at the chinese grocer near work and thrown it in the fridge. These cooked ducks, I have discovered, are incredibly versatile. Pre-cooked and seasoned, I have chopped them up for quick noodle and veggie dishes a couple times in the past. But I knew I didn't have much in the way of veggies at home either...and no rice noodles...(Argh!)

But...yesterday, I had bought some really delicious apples...(here is the mental inventory coming...), and I knew I had at least half a big cucumber, finding an onion wouldn't be a problem, and maybe there was a wrinkled red pepper that would still be edible, I definitely had some hoisin sauce, and I almost always have a package of rice paper skins lying around. The ah-ha moment when you know you are saved and something will be found in the fridge to eat.

So I ended up with a Chinese spin on the classic Vietnamese spring rolls. Nice and super fast too because the duck was already done. Simply saute an onion until it is soft and a little brown. Chop up a half an apple and some cucumber and red bell pepper into sticks. Grab a handful of cilantro. Boil your water and start softening the rice paper skins (I've discovered that if I roll them up on a clean cloth towel, the skins will stick and hold easily. On a plate, it's all a slippery mess because the water slips and slides around rather than draining). For each one, put a dab of hoisin sauce in the middle and rub it around, a few pieces of duck go in next, some "twigs" of cucumber, apple, red pepper and onion, and finally tuck in some cilantro sprigs and roll up your duck rolls.

Nice light supper.

Back to the other blog entry now...and more on that tomorrow.