The inaugural run of the SF Food Wars event was great fun, both to cook for and indulge in.  My entry, Bourbon Duck Cheddar Mac ‘n Cheese  was extremely well received, and we had a few people come back to taste “just to make sure it really was their favorite.”  Here it is, in all of its artery clogging glory:

Our Mac n Cheese contained three whole ducks – I butchered them myself (turned out to be great fun,) then slowly confit the legs in their own fat.  I reserved the breast for dinner another night, and all of the other odds and ends ends into the stock pot – which was eventually reduced into a demi-glaze for enriching the sauce. It was swimming in duck fat – duck fat croutons, duck fat roux, and my favorite, duck skin cracklings, fried in duck fat.  Add in 4 lbs of macaroni, 2.5 lbs sharp cheddar, 2 lbs gouda and we’re really talking about a great dish.   Add in a beautiful sunny day and a little friendly competition, and you’ve got a good time.

A few more picture from the competition:

The sign from the vegan winners of the day, who were awarded, appropriately enough, cheese.

The double winners of the day, taking first place and people’s choice, who made mac n cheese mini pies with a killer crust:

and a local judge, who I’m happy to say, I broke of his veganism, if only for a few duck fat laden bites:

Tags: mac n cheese, sf food wars

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Flickr, Taste Test. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.