Anyone else have some thoughts on this?

Fascinating thread on the beans–thanks for sending that to me. We are in the process of moving from Atlanta to Raleigh-Durham, so we may try this in Atlanta, which will definitely have the Chinese grocery. I’ll let you know how it turns out, though it’s going to be next month before we have time!

Thanks again.

Jami

For #1, I can’t say for sure as I have never worked with goose fat, but it sounds like a reasonable substitution. Definitely not a horrible cheat!

I don’t know if you have access to a decent Chinese grocery but if you do, some Cantonese-style roast duck might be interesting to experiment with, although it would definitely alter the flavor profile.

For #2, here’s a thread on Chowhound that goes into the whole boil-vs-soak issue pretty thoroughly.

I found your blog through lurking on Ruhlman’s blog and linking through Skawt. This dish looks fabulous. Would you mind answering a couple of questions?

1) This will reveal what a horrible cheater of a cook I am, but do you think I could I use goose fat instead of duck, and maybe just buy a little duck to add to the dish rather than ordering confit online? (I have some goose fat on hand, but not duck confit.)

2) I’ve always skipped soaking beans overnight–instead, I bring them to a boil for two minutes, then let them sit covered for an hour before cooking. Do you happen to know if this has any effect on the taste, or if it would work or not in this recipe?

Enjoyed your comments on Bourdain’s visit to SF, by the way.

Thanks!

Jami Moss Wise