Text 10316, 55 rader
Skriven 2007-01-10 12:42:08 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Ärende: Peking Duck 3
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OK, last installment.

When I got home from work, I found that the doorknob on the pantry door
had done its work well, and the dog was unable to gain entry to steal
the duck. [g]  

The skin of the duck had dried and become taut, and had darkened a little
during the drying process, hanging there by its armpits from the coat
hanger.  I took it down and placed it in a deep roasting pan.  (Zim took
that opportunity to sneak into the now-open pantry and lick out the
drippings bowl. Eww.)

The recipe instructed me to roast the duck at 350F, half an hour
breast side up, then flip the duck over for another 45 minutes, the
flip it again back to breast side up for a final 30 minutes.  However,
this was not a hot enough temperature to propery crisp the skin, so I
boosted the heat to 400F and reduced the time to 25 - 30 - 25.  
(Remember, instructions that are stupid should not be followed.)

The skin came out crispy on the outside, creamyfatty on the inside,
and the breast and thigh meat was just right, rare enough for me but
not rare enough to gross out Maryanne.  I cut the meat into diagonal
slices, each slice including a generous portion of skin, and served
it with scallions cut into "brushes" by splitting the green tops,
chinese flour pancakes, and hoisin sauce.  (One uses the scallions
to brush a bit of hoisin sauce onto the pancake, then wrapping a
chunk of meat and skin up in the pancake with the scallion.  The
contrasting textures, along with the complimentary flavors, make
for a wonderful meal.)

It came out very good, and was well worth the effort and prep time
involved.  But next time I do it, I'm cooking the duck on my 
electric rotisserie for less hassle with turning and more even
browning.

Interesting side note:  When I was prepping the duck, I removed the
heart and liver etc. from the cavity, and sauteed the liver and 
heart for breakfast that morning.  Very good, as noted, though I 
thought the heart was a little small for a duck.

Later, as I was carving the duck, I found THE DUCK'S ACTUAL HEART,
still attached by various ligaments and veins, to the inside of
the rib cage, along with the lungs!!  Nicely roasted, I might add.
I tasted the lungs, which were nothing special, and so I gave them
to the dog, but saved the juicy heart for myself.

PS:  I pulled the heart from the rib cage while making various
slurpy sound effects, and then held it up and said, "A gift!
A gift to Quetzlcoatl!" which caused Lynn to say, "Ewww.  Organs.
That's disgusting."  Heh heh.  The dog, however, was quite attentive.

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Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, 
minutus carborata descendum pantorum
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 www.docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)