Thursday, January 28, 2010

Success!


Guess what we had for dinner last night?

If we're friends on facebook, you already know, because I had to tell everyone I knew about the part where Carly was asking for "dead cow parts" instead of "dead duck." But because she's probably one of the easiest kids to parent in the universe, I told her that: a) Daddy was going to eat it too and he thought it was the coolest and b) In our house we try new stuff because we don't want to miss out on anything. So she ended up loving it and asked for another leg after she'd had two...we had a brief anatomy lesson at that point...and Paul gave it two big thumbs up too.

I'm going to give all the credit to a friend of mine who gave me the recipe. Her husband is a hunter and is the kind of hunter who eats what he shoots, so I figured she would know how to make a delicious duck and not like the duck pictured above. I was also thankful for my butcher who told me to use a drip pan, because I filled up an entire 15-oz can with the grease from the duck itself and from the big thick applewood smoked bacon slices (dead pig tummy stripes, if you want to get specific) that were wrapped across the top.

We did have a small moment of drama when I realized that there were ORGANS still inside, but remembering the chicken parts fiasco of 2006 (there was a HEAD, beak and all, in the cavity), I just used a fork to pull it all out and Carly and I grossed out for a minute...and then she asked if she could hold the neck. That girl.

So, okay, here's the recipe. It was awesome, and courtesy of Megan B:

1 duck, guts removed
1 tsp red pepper
1/2 tsp each white and black pepper
1/4 tsp each oregano, basil, thyme
Salt to taste (cavemen don't eat salt, so we skipped it, but with the bacon it wasn't missed)
1 apple, cored and quartered
1 onion, quartered
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chicken broth
8 slices of bacon, give or take. Enough to cover the top of the duck.

1) Rub duck with salt, peppers and herbs
2) Sprinkle cinnamon over apples and onions, toss to coat, and then place inside cavity.
3) Cover duck with bacon strips
4) Cook in a preheated 500 degree oven for 20 minutes.
5) Turn off the fire alarm that will go off when you open the oven.
6) Pour chicken broth over duck, cover with foil and cook at 350 for 45-60 min depending on size of duck
7) Uncover and cook another 25-30 minutes

Total cooking time: about 1 1/2 hours

Things I learned: this particular duck had a whole lot more fat than I was expecting and a lot more connective tissue than chicken. It tastes GREAT but the price ($17.50 for the whole thing) was prohibitive for us to make it a normal weeknight meal considering it fed Paul and Carly and I had about three ounces with maybe 1/2 cup of hard-won leftover meat. It was absolutely worth that, of course, and I'd recommend the above recipe for its ease and overall awesomeness.

3 comments:

Steph said...

hahaha - i'm cracking up! when i read your FB status my first thought was, "not a rubber ducky!"...hahaha - then i come read your blog and your picture is of a RUBBER DUCKY!!! I'm dying...SO FUNNY!!! :)

Kalyn said...

you ate a RUBBER DUCK??? Oh my.....


:)

Our Family of Four said...

Wow I'm glad it came out well, and that Carly is so willing to try everything but I'm thinking it's not for me. I'm gonna look up the nutrition content though just cause I'm curious. And are you making the kids eat like cavemen too? Good on you sister... the no salt would be a deal breaker for me!