G Cooks Duck!

Last weekend, G was hankering for something new and un-tested in our kitchen. She had spent the Saturday making crabcakes and the like while I floated under a sea of headache pills. But on Sunday, we were ready for some good food.

At the St. Lawrence on Saturday, we bought some duck breast. G found a recipe online for duck breast with a pinto noir sauce... excellent, no fruit in sight. Everyone wins.

The meal was AMAZING.

We had gotten some excellent little fingerling potatoes from the farmers market, and some asparagus. G made those quite simply, and served them alongside the amazing duck with mushroom pinot sauce. Honestly, every bite was amazing.

The duck came from the elk guy. Exactly.

In the north market, there is a man who raises elk and sells it. Over the course of time, he's started bringing in the 'wares' of his buddies who raise duck, ostrich, bison, and the like. He's got this great freezer full of game, and he's really keen to talk about it and to help you sort out how to fix it and how to know what's what. He helped us pick out the right amount of duck for two girls, and he showed us pictures of him tending to his elk flock. You can't not feel good about buying meat from that guy!

But maybe you are thinking, duck? Uh, no thanks. And I would absolutely know where you are coming from! I never liked the idea of duck. I didn't get it. It fell into the same rank as bunny for me. But then one day, at a party, I kept eating this appetizer of what I thought was beef. I went to G and said, 'You've GOT to try this beef, it's amazing!!!' She took some, laughed and said, 'J, it's duck!' And then you could see her waiting for me to have the dawning realization that one of my "why would anyone..." foods was quickly becoming a favourite.

And yet, it took it's time. I would say that I have only had duck maybe three times since then. (That was about three years ago.) But then, G had this urge to try to make it, I had an urge to eat something lovely, and here we are. Duck fans. So give it a try, or come over and G will make her new specialty.