these are ducks.

These are ducks.

Not duck breasts, duck sausages, duck liver pate; but ducks. These birds lived in the wild and were hunted for food in the Mid-West in January. Shortly after the end of their lives, they were de-feathered (mostly), cleaned, tagged, and transported to California by said hunter. After some time chilling out in a freezer, they landed in my loft in Los Angeles to be roasted and presented to small gathering of friends.

Let's see you tell that story about a hot dog.

DUCK MEAT, or, best email ever:

thank you mr. meat man, the duck was great.

Followed his recipe to a T and served with roasted carrots with honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg and homemade cranberry sauce.

And the rest of the wine.

Merry Christmas to all!

duck shopping.

"You came here for duck breast?" The butcher's eyes twinkled from behind the counter at Puritan Poultry.

"Yep!" I said confidently. This is the response I always hope for when standing at the meat counter. Up until this point, I had only received it when inquiring about different types of intestines or insisting on grinding my own meats. "Got any tips for me?"

Grinning, he ushered me and my wrapped pair of duck breasts to the end of the market stall and told me precisely how to prepare my Christmas eve feast.

I'll be following his animated step-by-step instructions.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place a heavy-bottomed non-stick pan on stovetop over high heat.

While oven and pan are warming, score the skin of the breasts in a cross-hatched pattern, taking care to not cut score the fat. (He illustrates the pattern on the back of a ticket.)

Season with salt, pepper, and a bit of oil.

When the pan is good and hot, place breasts on bottom, skin side down. (Him: "Tsssss!" with explosive hand movement.)

Sear for 3-4 minutes or until the skin starts to curl up around the edges.

Turn and immediately slide pan into oven.

Cook for 10 minutes for medium rare and remove from pan to rest.

While breasts are in the oven, thinly slice onions or shallots, garlic, and rosemary.

As duck is resting, cook above in pan until soft.

Then, add 1/2 cup of red wine to pan (Him: "You have red wine, right?" Me: "Obviously.")

Reduce wine, then at the last second, add a tablespoon of butter (Him: "Shhh...")

And you're ready to go. (He smacks his lips. "Voila!")

Serve with your choice of sides. (Him: "Ratatouille, perhaps? You know that just means roasted vegetables.")

And, the rest of the wine.

Obviously.

That's my plan for tonight. Wish me luck. And a Merry Christmas to all!

sustainability: the carnivore vs. the veggie

regarding the fois gras controversy:
(perhaps this is old news, but i don't know much about it, so maybe you don't either!)

"Food morality is not as black and white as we like to believe: it's possible to raise animals sustainably and it's possible to raise vegetables unsustainably. Neither side has a monopoly."

"Working to ban something that 99% of people never eat is not an act requiring great moral or physical courage...it's a confidence game in which participating meat-eaters, by agreeing to condemn something that they don't care about, receive the equivalent of a get-out-of-jail card, i.e., the right to feel slightly less guilty as they bite into that factory-farmed McNugget. Guilt and moral superiority are tradable currencies; the anti-foie gras camp exploits this to the hilt."

"If someone really wants to make a difference in the world...start with the fact that more than 12 million children here in the United States live in households where there is risk of hunger or malnutrition every day."

i think that the above-referenced essay makes some very valid points, but i tend to steer away from the moral relativism camp (in theory, at least!). just because mcchickens are grown by the millions and by comparison, very, very few ducks are subjected to gavage* doesn't make the process any less questionable. but questionable is what it is. when any animal is raised and slaughtered for food, there is pain involved. it is just the cycle of life. eat or die!


*gavage refers the use of a funnel inserted into the duck's esophagus to force-feed grain to the duck over the final 15-21 days of its life. those who oppose gavage assert that the ducks choke, vomit, and suffer greatly because of this process.


and here's some sad duck clip art, just to add some, er, red eye to your day.

"stop that, i'm allergic to grain!!"