I had gotten it into my head that I was going to surprise everyone at a holiday meal with roasting one of my favorite meals: crispy Peking duck.
The main problem of course is that I had never made it. How hard can it be?
Step 1: Research the dish. Discover that it involves pumping air under the skin for three days, preferably with an air compressor and a walk in cooler. I have neither.
Skip Step 1
Step 2 Discover that I don't like the spices (All spice) and marinades among the confusing variety of Hanhan and other regional differences.
Skip Step 2
Buy ducks. Replace unhealthy mixture with mild curry, turmeric and herbs.
Step3 Defrost ducks in fridge. This will ruin the surprise and according to the internet can take 2 hours to overnight.
Skip Step 3
Wait till people are asleep. Put duck on rack. Use fresh orange juice. Smother in spices. Put frozen duck into oven. Cover with aluminum foil cover once a little browned apply orange juice every half hour or so.
Poke it.
The taste test. Delectable. Not as crispy as I like, but good enough. Serve. SURPRISE. Everyone loves it until a family member noticed:"Why did you leave the giblets in?" Laughter errupts. "The giblets? Why are there giblets? I don't know how to cook anything with giblets."
Life is short. Duck is delicious and there are no leftovers when I invite people to Almost crispy Peking duck au giblee.
If you have any hilarious cooking/baking adventures please share.
Early on in my cooking adventures I was living in Northern Alberta. I was offered a surplus goose from a near by hunting lodge. “Sure!” I said. I pulled out my trusty Harrowsmith cookbook to find out how to cook the thing. I marinated it overnight in red wine and herbs which smelled delicious. But as I started the low and slow cooking method recommended, the house filled with the smell of slough. More red wine needed I thought. Maybe more garlic. More Rosemary? I pulled it out of the oven after hours of cooking. It smelled better didn’t it? The first bite proved no matter how much seasoning is added, you are what you eat. That goose was slough bottom through and through. I should have just drank the wine. :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog. Thanks for putting yourself out there.
Marly
Lol and ugh. Even imbibing wine would not make that taste better from the sound of it. Meat has this funny thing of smelling great as it starts, stinking then improving as it's done. Despite the unconventional method, I can recommend my recipe. Always turns out and all the grease drips off.
ReplyDeleteWish I had learned cooking earlier. Welcome Marly and thank you for your kind words and sharing your experiment.