How to Cook a Really Crispy Duck or Chicken

If you're like me you love the skin on the outside of duck, if it's crispy. The texture of the meal can totally be changed with a crispy skin.

The secret is to make sure the duck is scored across the front and salted heavily.

This helps dry up the skin and makes for a super crispy skin. You will not be the only one that enjoys this Crispy Duck Recipe, but everyone else at your dinner table.

Take the duck that you're going to use for your main dish make slits in the breast with a knife and poke with a fork. Salt the breast heavily use your discretion and taste. You can use this method for any recipe you can think of.

Just use the cooking instructions from the recipe you are using. Place the bird breast down on the baking pan and cook like that for about ¾ of the total time that the recipe says to cook it for, making sure to drain the fat from the bird, usually by sticking it with a fork under the wings and legs.

During the last 1/4 of the cooking use the broil on the oven to finish cooking up the breast. This should make the skin crispy while the duck is still moist. Since this way of cooking can be used for almost any recipe for crispy duck recipe you have, it gives you more choices for the texture you want to use for your meal.

Cooking is all about mixing things up and building your own ways of cooking and recipes.

Also since you are slitting only the fatty layer of the bird you can use that to tuck away some hidden seasoning. Try tucking your favorite herbs into the slits under the skin, as the fat melts away it'll trickle down and out of the bird but first it'll seep into the meat.

This can add a new dimension to the meat, making it even more succulent. Taking these tips you should be able to use your imagination to come up with many more combos. With crispy duck recipes you can add extra flavors and also add a whole new texture to the dish.

Use these two together to try out new things, using the crispy skin to add texture to an otherwise smooth meal. So the next meals with duck you cook try out some of these combos, just using your taste and imagination. There are thousands of recipes in books and the internet to mix and match with.

Use Lavender in Cooking As It's Really Good For You

Remember grandma always smelling like a flower? Well that was lavender, used by ladies through the centuries. Other than being extremely beneficial lavender smells delicious. The flower when crushed gives off the most aromatic fragrance there is. When it is dried, it still holds its lovely color and scent. Many will plant lavender around their gardens because of the beauty and the scent. Lavender will attract butterflies to any garden, and what is prettier than a few butterflies in the garden?

Lavender has been around over 2500 years, and was known to be used to mummify and perfume the Egyptian dead. Romans used it for cooking, bathing and scenting the air. So stated in the Bible, Mary took spikenard, or lavender to anoint the feet of Jesus. Lavender, some say was found in the Garden of Eden, but the scent was not there yet. It is stated that the scent came from when the clothing of baby Jesus was laid on bushes to dry, these bushes were lavender. It is touted as a safeguard against evil.

Using lavender oil is wonderful for the skin, taken orally will help the digestion of foods; it is also used to cure headaches and those sleepless nights. Some will use the oil added to water and spray where they spend the most time, energy practitioners such as healers will use it to clear the negative energy and clean the auras. You can use it to spray your skin and hair on a hot summer day. During the Great Plague of London in the 17th century it was used to ward off the deadly disease if worn on the wrist. In the 16th century in France, glove makers would put lavender into the glove to resist infection.

Love and lavender seem to go hand in hand. Listen up ladies; many use this wonderful plant to lure the one they want to entice. Cleopatra used lavender to seduce Julius Cesar and Mark Anthony. The Queen of Sheba offered it to King Solomon along with frankincense and myrrh. Lavender has such a relaxing quality, not many other herbs can hold that title. Some say that men like the smell of lavender and pumpkin, and lavender was found out to be the most arousing. Today lavender is used as scenting the dresser draws and hope chests. You can also sip a cup of tea with lavender and feel your body slow down about twenty paces.

Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe That's Really Incredible

My sister gave me this recipe for chicken tortilla soup with shredded after she served it at a special party at their house.

Ingredients of chicken tortilla soup recipe:

8 tablespoons Canola oil

5 10" to 12" corn tortillas

1 onion

6 garlic cloves

1 small bunch of cilantro

2 - 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes

8 cups chicken stock

14 ounces of canned or frozen corn

3/4 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cumin

1/2 - 1 Tablespoon chili powder

4 bay leaves

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or try thighs

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Juice from 1 lime

Preparation of chicken tortilla soup recipe:

1. Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
   


2. Wash and towel try the cilantro, remove stems and chop.
   


3. Open your cans of tomatoes and have them at the ready. You don't have to measure out all the spices unless you like the way they have it all ready on the cooking shows.
   


4. Rinse the chicken under cold water and dry.
   

Methods of chicken tortilla soup recipe:

1. Make this all in one large soup pot or fry the tortilla strips in one and make the soup in another. I like to clean as few pots as possible especially when I'm working one handed. Cut up 2 of the tortillas into 1/4 inch strips and fry them in 3 tablespoons of Canola oil. You want them to be a golden brown but be careful not to burn them, they cook quickly. Depending on the size of your pot, you may have to cook several at time.
   


2. Remove the strips from pot and transfer to some paper towels to drain. Season with a little salt.
   


3. Heat the remaining oil over medium high heat and sauté the onions for a couple of minutes.
   


4. Add garlic and sauté for another minute or two. Tear the remaining 3 corn tortillas into bite size pieces and add to the pot.
   


5. Add the cilantro, stir, and cook for a minute more. Add the canned tomatoes with their juice and the chicken stock, cumin, chili powder, and bay leaves and bring to a boil.
   


6. Reduce heat to a simmer, add the corn, whole chicken breasts, and cayenne. Simmer the chicken breasts for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked throughout.
   


7. Remove the chicken breasts and put aside to cool. Turn off the soup at this point. Once the chicken breasts are cool, shred them with your hands and return to the pot.
   


8. Add your lime juice and taste for spiciness. If you like it hotter, add more of the spices. Reheat, and serve with the fried tortilla strips.
   

My sister usually serves this chicken tortilla soup with the fried tortillas, freshly diced avocado, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream. The sour cream really helped mellow out some of the spices and gave the soup a wonderful creamy appearance. This soup is a meal.