Duck Breast and Piri Piri Sauce Salad Sub Sandwich

Duck breast slices and peashoots sub with piri piri sauce

This duck breast salad sandwich came about simply because I could only buy a packet with two duck breasts in it when I only needed one. I used the one I required for dinner on the first night and refrigerated the second to eat for lunch the following day. It's amazing how often my lunch is determined by supermarkets selling products only in quantities greater than are required to serve only one person. If you're in this position, you may want to think along similar lines as a way of getting round what can often be a really irritating problem.

Duck breast fillet is scored and seasoned for cooking

Ingredients

1 duck breast fillet (skin on)
Salt and pepper
1 sub roll
Handful of peashoots
1 tbsp piri piri sauce



Directions

If at all possible, remove the duck breast from the fridge about an hour before you intend cooking it and leave it (covered) to come up to room temperature. Put your oven on to preheat to 375F/190C.  Lay the fillet flesh side down and score the skin with a sharp knife. Season with salt and black pepper.

Starting to fry duck breast fillet

Lay the duck breast skin side down in a cold, dry, ovenproof frying pan. Season the flesh side. Put the pan on to a very low heat until you can see the fat starting to melt and spread around the pan. Increase the heat for a couple of minutes until the duck skin is starting to crisp and turn golden. Turn the fillet over and quickly colour and seal the flesh side. Put the frying pan in to the oven for about twelve minutes.

Sub roll is halved

When the duck is cooked, remember to use oven gloves and lift the frying pan from the oven. Transfer the duck breast to a chopping board and leave to rest for five minutes.

Cut the sub in half and arrange the peashoots (or salad leaves of choice) on the bottom half.

Peashoots are spread on bottom of sub roll

Normally, I would slice a duck breast across the way - against the grain - but in this instance, I sliced it lengthwise, purely for presentation purposes. Slice it as you choose to a thickness of about a quarter inch.

Slicing rested duck breast

Lay the duck breast slices on the peashoots, drizzle with the piri piri sauce and place the top of the sub on last of all. Press down lightly, slice and serve.

Duck breast slices are arranged on top of the peashoots

Refried Chicken Breast with Oyster Sauce and Chinese Noodles

Refried chicken breast and onion in oyster sauce on a bed of Chinese noodles

One night recently I had a family member visiting and I made and portioned a whole roast chicken. It was a fairly large chicken, so the next day, there were substantial leftovers, including this chicken breast fillet. This recipe was devised quickly, using only other ingredients I had available in the house, and proved really delicious. It was also really quick to prepare.

Principal ingredients for chicken and onion in oyster sauce on noodles

Ingredients

1 leftover chicken breast, sliced in to 4 or 5 pieces (skin on or off as per preference)
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
1 nest of dried Chinese egg noodles
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Black pepper
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 or 3 basil leaves, rolled together and finely sliced

Dried noodles are added to boiling water

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the noodles and cook on a simmer for five minutes, or for the time period prescribed on the packet if different.

Chicken and onion are chopped for frying

Put the oil in to a frying pan (or wok, if you prefer) and bring it up to a high heat. Add the onion quarters and stir fry for about a minute before adding the chicken. Season with black pepper and stir fry until the chicken is starting to crisp and turn golden. This should take two to three minutes.

Chicken and onion are fried in sunflower oil

Spoon the oyster sauce in to the frying pan and stir fry just long enough to evenly coat the chicken and onion.

Oyster sauce is added to chicken and onion

Drain the noodles through a colander and twist them around a fork. Carefully slide them off the fork in to the centre of a serving plate.

Noodles are laid as a bed on the plate

A slotted spoon is ideal for transferring the chicken and onion on to the bed of noodles before the shredded basil leaves are added as a final garnish.

Fried chicken and onion is spooned on to bed of noodles