In Which a Duck Meets Its Doom

Roast duck is something to be savored, and unfortunately most ducks bought in your average grocery store are not worth eating.  The last one I bought was years ago, and I was shoved somewhat unceremoniously aside when I was not going to follow the directions on the bird’s wrapper.  Some little pop-up thingy was supposed to erupt miraculously when the bird was done.  Needless to say – so why am I saying it? – the result was a gastronomic catastrophe.

Most people fail to understand the chemistry involved with cooking meat, or any protein for that matter.  Simply put, a high heat will change the molecular structure of protein, and not always for the best.  Eggs are a very good example of this:  scrambled over high heat, they become tough.  Poor cuts of meat benefit from slow cooking, using a low temperature, which is why pulled pork takes all day long on a smoker, and is worth the patience of waiting for it.  I think duck is the same way if you plan on roasting it.

Since that last disaster, I think I have had duck twice, both times served in a restaurant, and only the breast.  One had cherries, and was quite good – the big problem was not enough of it!  When I was a kid, duck was a staple in the family, so for me, it is like an old friend, but a special one.

As I have not roasted a duck unsupervised for awhile, I feel like a prisoner set free!  I perused my usual recipe haunts, and decided to do a slow roast at 275 F, and to make an orange glaze, which sounded pretty good.  The links I used are this one for the glaze, and this one for the general directions, complete with pictures.

I bought the duck this morning at Whole Foods, and while I did not keep it in the refrigerator in a pan, naked and exposed to the air (why would I want to do this?  According to my research, this helps make for the crispy skin!) for 24 hours as is recommended, I did rinse it off and stuff it with a bunch of orange peel and a sliced Spanish onion.  There were a few pin feathers to pull out, but this duck was remarkably clean.  The giblets were set aside for stock, which will be made when the duck is done and eaten; the fat will also be saved for later use, being poured off before the glaze begins.

The Glaze Most Delicious

Put together in a small sauce pan the following ingredients, bring to a simmer, remove from heat and set aside for later.

  • 1/4 c. fresh orange juice
  • 3 T. honey
  • 3 T. blackstrap molasses
  • 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
  • 4 minced, grated garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp. each ground pepper and freshly ground coriander seed

Do this after you put the duck in the oven.  Go sit down someplace where you can hear the timer ding one hour so you can flip the bird.  Me, I went and listened to Mr. Reacher’s adventure in Mississippi and made some phone calls and knit on the Cloisonne mittens.  I also enjoyed the wafting fragrance of the duck as it roasted its way to nirvana.

The Duck So Nutritious

One five-pound duck.  If you want, after you wash and pat it dry, let it sit for 24 hours in your refrigerator, unstuffed and uncovered, to make the skin especially crispy.  If you don’t want to, then don’t.

Once you are ready to cook your duck, score the duck skin and fat, and prick the duck in several places.  This will allow the fat to escape and drip into the pan.  Take your giblets, and any other parts, and set aside for stock.  Squeeze a juice orange, and save the juice for the glaze.  Slice up the orange rind, along with a Spanish or some other onion, and stuff it into your duck.  The more the merrier – the onions are great to eat after the duck is cooked, and the peel adds to the final flavor of the meat.

Heat the oven to 275-300 F.  Put the duck in a pan, on a rack, and make sure your pan is deep.  Not being sure how much fat I would get, I used my largest pan.  I could have gone smaller, but better safe than sorry!  I could probably have used this pan and rack for two ducks, if I had been greedy, extravagant, or having company.

Place the duck breast side up, tying the legs together with twine after you have filled it full of oranges and onions.  Cook it for 1 hour, remove from the oven.  Prick the duck, and flip it over.  Cook another hour.  Repeat so that at hour three the duck is now breast-side down.  The recipe calls for cooking about 4 hours; I pulled the duck out after 3 3/4 hours, and then began the final phase.  I set my timer for 60 minutes, just to remind me.

Push the temperature up to 400 F.  Once that is reached, pop the duck back into the oven, breast side up.  While you are waiting for the oven to heat up, you can pull the rack out of the pan and drain off the fat – I did this to use for other purposes.  I also scraped the cracklings out of the pan and set them aside for flavoring biscuits and for gravy, and to pop a few into my mouth.

Once you have the oven at 400 F, return the duck to the oven, breast-side up.  Set the timer for about 10 minutes – this way you can watch the skin.  The linked recipe said do it for 30 minutes, but reviewers said not to do this.  I didn’t do it for 30 minutes – ten were fine.  Then, remove from the oven.  Let it stand, and as you let it stand, mop it with the glaze, letting it soak in between moppings.

Carve Thy Bird!

Anyone can do it better than me!  I have not had to carve anything for so long, I’ve forgotten where what is and how it is connected.  Still, food is food, and as long as it is not on the floor, who cares?  Unless you are trying to win a prize for prettiness, don’t sweat it.

Results

Damned fantastic!  You gotta have that skin – crispy, orangey, sweet with a bit of tang.  The meat was tender, not dry, and not greasy, either.  I served it on a bed of mixed salad greens and arugula, using an orange champagne vinegar as dressing.  I was really pleased with the results.  Yes, a lot of time, but really not a lot of work.

A Word of Caution

Finally, for those of you who have never tried to roast a duck, I would like to give you some advice.  First, make sure you have a duck.  A real duck.  Get one that is free-range, organic, whatever.  Make sure there are no pop-up thingies.  Try Whole Foods or a butcher you know.  Don’t steal one from the neighborhood pond.  And, if you cannot identify a duck, here is a clue from the esteemed Mr. Nash:

Behold the duck:  It does not cluck.
A cluck it lacks. It quacks.

Unimportant Until Needed

In the last few weeks at work, there has been a flurry to update things, like the “first aid” kits.  Awhile back I refilled my own at work at my own expense – I’d ordered what I thought was a “first aid” kit, only to find out it was an empty box with the word “first aid” written on it.  Cost $4.00 or so.  Now that there is a mandate to make sure it is not filled with expired stuff, I rummaged through the “official” one, and these are some of what I found:

  • eyewash from 2004
  • finger splints so brittle they split when flexed
  • leaking iodine and alcohol preps
  • “sterile” pads without expiration dates, but with yellowed wrappings
  • yellowing adhesive tape that looked totally gross
  • something else which expired in 2005

Needless to say, this stuff got tossed.  My own kit is minimal – bandaids and antibiotic ointment – but at least it is not 6 or 7 years old!

I’ve worked in healthcare for years.  I’ve worked as a temp in offices and found outdated medications.  I’ve worked in large medical facilities where people are careless and lazy, moving crash carts to the wrong area and failing to restock them as necessary.

Most of us don’t think about our first aid kits, nor the need for earthquake kits, or being prepared for hurricanes or other natural disasters, or being stranded in a blizzard without a backup set-up in the trunk of the car.  This first aid kit was a travesty – the result of true negligence until compliance and potential inspection came onboard.  Most of us think of our computers as outdated when more than a year old (I do!), but don’t give too much thought to more vital elements which are unimportant until needed.

A Mitten

Stephanie Pearl McPhee’s Cloisonee mitten caught my attention the other day – oodles of bright colors on the cuff – and even though I am in the middle of a few knitting projects, I had to try them out.  The cuff is what makes the mitten, and the fact you can do it in any colors you want, and as long as you want, make it a fun project.  Being a magpie, I flew to it!

I did change the pattern, though.  I did not have any worsted weight hanging around, but a lot of double knitting weight.  I had some Heilo, some Cowboy Colors, and pushed them together until I found a pleasing arrangement.  My gauge is 6 sts / inch on size 3 needles with this yarn, so I did the largest pattern.  I also want to note that with an increase of 4 sts. after the cuff is done, and picking up only 1 st where the thumb stitches are, the knitter is still left with 44 sts. on the needle (unless I missed something).  As a result, the final decreases, done every 5th st. will not work out.  I picked up another stitch to make the final hand a multiple of 5 stitches – 45.

To Swatch or Not to Swatch

Knitting gauge is individual. Persnicketiness is too.

Admittedly, I am a sloppy knitter because I do not get myself in a tizzy over my knitting. Dropped a stitch? Oh, well. I’ll either latch it up or not with a crochet hook. Missing a stitch? I’ll look for the offender and tie it off if it is way too far down, and add another if necessary. I don’t swatch because I know how I knit. However, for the sweater for Josh, I did swatch, but not for gauge, but for the patterns. How do they look in Brava and how do they look in this color?

A sweater is a big project, and a bit of understanding of a pattern’s texture is more important to me than my gauge. The gauge takes care of itself. What do I mean by that? I mean I have been knitting long enough to know that I knit 4.5 sts / inch with worsted weight yarn on US size 7 needles. I know that massive cables will bring in a big project about 15-20%. I figure about 5% for a lot of stranded knitting. And, because I do not follow patterns except for ideas, I also know that I can change things as I go along – or rip the whole danged thing!

In writing up patterns, I always assume a gauge to be an approximation. For some patterns, it is really important, as in fancy cable work on sweaters and jackets.  If you design your own, then you are the one in control.  If you follow a pattern, you are also the one in control.  Take the time out to see if something might work for you – or not.  Everyone who knits has their own style, their own tensions, and hence, their own gauges. Comments about how hats have turned out “too large” make me wonder if the knitter is willing to analyze their own knitting style, or is caught up with following directions and assuming all will be well.  I have seen knitters who do beautiful work, but fail to consider (or take responsibility for) if their knitting is going to work with a given pattern, and then blame the pattern, not themselves.

Designing anything does require a bit of forethought, as well as a bit of risk. I mentioned in one post about photography that I’d gone to a workshop where the photographer said that no work of art was unplanned. I think that is true – sure, some things are spontaneous and successful, but not all are. Experience, experimentation, frustration, imagination, intention, repetition are all the things which lead to success in any field. Even with all the best intentions, failures can occur; however, I always think that my failure may be a success in someone else’s eye.

Knitting is an activity like any other – running, kayaking, sewing, cooking, painting, writing. It requires some focus, and can give way to that pleasurable automation of the well-trained hand. A quality of “oneness” occurs that is soothing and calming – very zen! The art of knitting is very different from the act of knitting. When it becomes an art, all your knowledge comes into play, at whatever level you are doing it. Granted, the art may be highly pragmatic in results, but it is no less an art, whatever the utilitarian need being met.

So, to swatch or not to swatch? That is up to the individual. For me, I’ll leave it alone unless I need it. I’ll dive in and adapt a bit if I need to because it suits my personality far better. However, to create a pattern with texture – that is akin to painting. How do the colors respond to this or that? How shall I use this new brush? Then I swatch, because until I see the result, I will never know. Small scraps of paper, small textured swatches. Life goes on.