Happy Mother’s Day! As I was looking through the ol’ recipe backlog this morning looking for the perfect one to post to honor moms out there, nothing really jumped out at me. Then, I thought to myself, “What if we posted a recipe that showed great kindness for moms instead of a recipe they’d love,” and this jumped to the top of the list. The story on this one is that my sous chef and I have been ogling our bag of accumulated duck giblets (from all the times we’ve Broken Down Ducks to make Duck Recipes)…but there’s no way my wife would ever touch them. So, we waited for a day that she had to work late, and we cooked this so she didn’t have to experience it at all. That is kindness, right? Also, I’d be remiss to not mention that Duck Breast was my mom’s all-time favourite food, so I naturally associate duck with Mother’s Day…but there’s also no way she would have gone anywhere near this sandwich.
Anyway, on to the food itself! The Po’ Boy is a Cajun classic sandwich with a perfect dichotomy invidious dimensions (hot vs. cold, sweet vs. spicy, crunchy vs. soft). These contrasts make it such a fascinating and unique bit of fare. It’s normally made with fried shrimp, oysters, crab, what have you…but what have “we” was Duck Giblets! So, we coated them in corn meal (to add a little sweetness) and fried them before adding them to your sandwiches. The result was quite good (somewhat to my surprise, as I reckoned this could have gone either way).
We served our sandwiches with Crispy Fried Okra.
Time: 25 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Duck Giblets. We saved ours up from Ducks We’ve Broken Down.
- 1/4 Cup Corn Meal
- 2.5 Tablespoons Water
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- French Bread
- Shredded Lettuce
- Tomato
- Onion
- For your Sauce:
- Mayonnaise
- Whole Grain Dijon Mustard
- Hot Sauce
- Smoked Paprika
Method:
- Cut any gristle/silverskin/fat off your giblets, and then slice into bite sized morsels.
- Combine your cornmeal, water, and baking powder in a bowl, and stir to form a paste.
- Arrange your giblets in the paste, and use your hands to coat as well as you can.
- Heat some oil in a large heavy bottomed pan (cast iron is great…cast iron dutch oven is better).
- When the oil is hot, add your coated giblets in, and fry for a few minutes. Then when they’re golden brown and crispy on the first side, flip, and fry for a few more again to fully cook (165 degrees F internal cook temperature).
- As your giblets fry, prep the rest of your sandwich:
- Mix your sauce ingredients in a bowl. Taste, and add more of any ingredient as you see fit.
- Slice your onion and tomato thinly.
- Apply your sauce to your baguette, and then top it with your onion, tomato, and lettuce.
- When your giblets are done, add them to your sandwich.
- Devour, and enjoy!
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