The problem with Fridays is that I’m always hungry. Here’s the deal, my husband and I do our weekly grocery shopping on Saturday morning. This is no coincidence. German shops tend to have idyllic opening hours (for the shopkeepers anyway) and basically Saturday morning is the only time when my work schedule and their opening hours don’t clash. Our usual routine is to cook a big meal on Sunday night and then survive off leftovers and whatever else we bought for as long as possible. This usually gets us through Wednesday. By Thursday we’re down to bread & cheese or take-out. By Friday the cupboards are bare and we go out to eat.
So why am I always hungry on Fridays? Because I usually come home from work a little earlier and then check up on French Fridays with Dorie while I’m waiting for my husband to get home so that we can go to eat. And here I sit, writing and reading and drooling over all the delicious posts. Remembering how tasty the recipe was, mentally planning what I’m going to order when we finally make it to the restaurant. And re-checking the fridge, because surely some scrap of cheese must have escaped notice the last time I checked.
That should give you an idea of my current state as I type up this week’s recipe, Garbure from the Supermarket. And since we’re on the subject of supermarkets, do any of you shop at a supermarket which stocks duck confit? Because if so, I want to live where you do. The title of this recipe gave me the false impression that it was one of those dishes made with easy to find ingredients. Not so! I had to settle for a duck leg in the end.
Good lord, just listed to all that whining! Okay, I’m done now. The garbure was not an easy recipe to shop for and it took some time to get together once home too. But the end result was darn tasty. It’s a big, meaty pot of rib-sticking goodness. The phrase “French chili” actually came to my mind when I was making it. And, if we hadn’t thrown half of it in the freezer, I would probably still have plenty to keep my hunger at bay tonight.
one expat's life 
I, too, assumed the ingredients would be staples. I’m a sucker. Maybe some day I’ll have a ham hock and any form of duck laying around, and then I’ll manage to catch up on this one. Hope you eat well tonight!
I don’t have those things around my house but m lucky that I live in an area where they are easy to get! I liked this a lot!
My grocery store in NJ does stock duck confit…I was shocked! This was absolutely a winner in my house…I think one of my favorite dishes from AMFT. Yours looks quite yummy…glad you enjoyed it! Happy Weekend, Rose!
Yeah, no duck confit to be found…but it was delicious without! Glad you enjoyed it, too.
No duck confit near me either, but I can usually find duck legs. Howard makes his own duck confit, which I often (not this time) have stashed in my Mary Poppins refrigerator. I hope you had a delicious dinner out tonight. And, it’s nice to know that you have leftover soup in the freezer for the next time you run out of groceries.
That. Is funny 🙂
We actually do have a store that keeps confit duck legs (although, I didn’t spring for them for this recipe). I would love to live in a world where that would be a normal store item, though.
No ducks in the grocer here, let alone duck confit. I had a duck in the freezer but it wasn’t any good when I thawed it. Next time.
You earn the award, Rosa, for making me laugh the loudest this week. And, yes, you are whining. There was no duck confit to be found in my neck of the woods either (Cambria’s Cookie Crockery does not carry it. (When I asked for it, the butcher looked at me like I was some crazy snob from Aspen, Colorado, where they DO carry it in the grocery store.) Betsy’s husband makes Duck Confit (Now how lucky is that for Betsy?) and I have requested she do a post on how Howard does that. Stay tuned. Although I halved the recipe, I enjoyed and enjoyed and enjoyed the garbure until I coudln’t enjoy it anymore. To the freezer it went. I wish I lived nearby so every Friday night I could go out to dinner with you two also.
I am reading Ann Mah’s book “Mastering the art of French eating”. She gives the recipe for Cassoulet
in there and I could not believe the length of time it takes to prepare the recipe. I think I counted
four days. It sounds delicious though. This recipe of Garbure was really delicious and we
enjoyed it a lot.
I love the summary of your eating schedule. Of course in the States grocery stores are open practically 24/7… ah but how civilized a life German’s and many other Europeans live. Holidays off, time to cook a meal when they get home… etc. But I guess you have to plan well, which is not a bad thing. I have friends who drive 20 minutes both ways to the grocery store, daily… what a waste of time and gas. So glad you were able to get the garbure together. We loved it too.
Yes, my local “Wegman’s” supermarket stocks the duck confit and you are welcome to come live with us at any time 🙂 The funniest part was that due to my own work schedule I can enjoy going to the American grocery stores that are open through ridiculous hours or even all night. But what I have learned is that they re-stock at the off hours so I am not fighting other shopping carts but pallets of items being stocked. Or worse, not yet stocked and they are out. Wegman’s had the duck leg and smoked shoulder sitting ready to go but the poor produce dept stock boy had to go into the back on 3 separate occasions as I went through my list. Egad. Luckily it was worth it when I got home to make this comforting stew during weather that requires comfort.
I really enjoyed reading this post. I find it so interesting to hear about how other people shop/plan their weeks. I often read French Friday posts after breakfast, and it makes me so hungry that I find myself hunting for snacks long before lunch time.
We have a twenty-four hour grocery store nearby – it doesn’t stock anything fancy, but I always think it’s a blessing for shift workers. Most of the rest of our stores, big and small, are open until at least seven in the evening to catch the after work crowd. I have even more respect for your excellent commenting skills, now that I know that you’re ravenous when you’re making them.
LOL Rose – here in Cali, theres no such thing as duck confit in a jar unless you want to pay for very little of it at an extremely high price because it’s 100% organic, and made local, gmo & humane which just means they jack up the price for less of it… so we went without as well, and we also couldn’t find a duck leg anywhere so it was all just pork for us and it was still very tasty.
But in England, I saw pint jars of duck confit all the time and it was very inexpensive – at least not more expensive than ready-made broth. 🙂
I’m surprised you didnt find some in germany, but maybe duck confit isnt something that is used much there either.
Hope your Sat run to the supermarket lasts you longer this week!