roast duck

while i have the utmost respect for vegetarians and their strong beliefs and convictions.. dishes like roast duck to me, affirms that some animals were destined for the dining table… especially when they're stuffed with more meat.

tonight, roast duck with sausage and apple stuffing was dinner from ms child's bible of deliciousness. (sorry hongi and tania)

i have wanted to try to prepare duck for a while, along with venison, rabbit and frog, it was one of the meats i haven't yet tried to cook. so this afternoon i went to the local asian grocer procure myself a fresh whole duckling. when i was there, i spotted a bagged whole duck, but as i picked it up and turned it around, i almost screamed in fear as i saw its mangled head and beak still attached..!! i mean, i have seen whole roasted duck before in chinese restaurants, but raw featherless whole duck with eyes open and head attached caught me by a terrifying surprise. so after a minute spent on the other side of the supermarket taking long, deep breaths, i went to the butcher's counter and asked for the head and webbed feet of the duck to be removed.

oh, i know… it's bad. i should not have been scared. i've read kathleen flinn's memoir of her study at le cordon bleu, and not only are we going to be expected to decapitate an array of animals, we also have to learn to bone, and later stuff them with other decapitated and boned animals. and next time i will also have another reason not to be scared, because the butcher cut half the thighs off of the duck when i only asked for the webbed feet to be removed. what a waste of duck.

anyway..  trussing the stuffing in was fun! it was like sewing close a ripped sock.

after two hours in the oven.. voila!

worth the wait..

i still haven't figured out how to carve birds nicely for appetizing photos. seriously. i destroyed the duck after i took this picture.

anyway.. martin's birthday party tomorrow! yay! i'm going to be making him a mortal kombat cake. and some delicious party nibbles.. ooh and also lychee cocktails...! (and what's a party without macarons!)

a bientot!

x talita

ps. new lens! canon 35mm f2. I'M SO HAPPY. I can finally take some decent pictures indoors.