The Peking Duck....

Hello!

I one day around Christmas time was driving home from work. As I normally do during my 30-45 minute commute I was thinking of things to cook. I had a duck in my freezer that was taking up a bit of room but as it happened my sister was going to be making Christmas dinner so I could not use it for that. Suddenly I realized that New Years Eve would be the perfect occasion to serve duck, but not just a regular roasted duck, oh no! I would make Peking Duck. After all how hard could it be, right??

I told my wonderful man my idea and he seemed hesitant at the idea. Did I know after all how long it takes to prepare? After all you do have to order it days in advance at restaurants. I assured him I would be doing thorough research and it would be fine (while crossing my fingers and praying it would be...)

So I began the google search.
Turns out it really isn't that hard. The key to the perfect Peking duck is to make sure there is little to no moisture left in it before you roast it. Well that seems easy enough. Sure I will have to hold it up to baste it a few times but it is a small duck and I have strong arms...

So the day came when I had to begin. It was Dec 30,2009. All my notes at the ready I began to prepare the duck. I won't get to heavy into the process but the time came where I had to hang the duck to dry....
Did I mention that I have a puppy? At the time she was only 8 months old, and I it turned out had not really thought through where or how I was going to hang the duck to ensure my beautiful weimeraner pup did not eat it.

I am a slightly creative person so I thought well I could hang a string from cupboard to cupboard over the sink. Raw duck is heavy. It fell within seconds.
I thought to myself I must not be the only person in the world who has tried this outside of an industrial kitchen with a walk in fridge. To the Internet I went. Turns out I could hang it anywhere as long as I had a fan on it. Another problem there. I do not own a fan. Crazy I know but I don't. I had to call around and finally borrowed one from a friend. Now the basement seemed like a good idea. I went down and looked up. I could hang it from a pipe maybe. But what if on the off chance the duck sways and the dripping is not caught in the pan I set beneath it, or god forbid the dog manages to get down there (did I mention I tend to worry?)
SUDDENLY a light bulb moment!
I could hang it from the shower rod, put the fan in there, close the door and Bob's your uncle I have a handy McGyvered walk in fridge!!
So I put the dog outside, tied a sting around the legs and brought it up to the bathroom.
I then let my puppy in. She be lined straight up the stairs to the bathroom. With nose firmly planted at the crack under the door she layed there for 2 straight hours whimpering. I do actually have this on video but haven't figured out how to get it on here yet...

So there the duck hung overnight. I then had to baste it and rehang it on the 31st before roasting it. As I have mentioned my arms are strong but I forgot how short i am. I had to hold the duck OVER the basting liquid. This meant I had to hold it above my height and baste for 20 min. I ended up on a chair.

I had a fear that the fact that the duck hung with an fan in the bathroom might be a slight food hazard but took the chance and roasted and served it anyway. Daring I know.
To say the least it turned out perfectly!
I was insanely proud of myself and can safely say that I will never do it again.

I named this whole quest Learning how to cook with Gordon Ramsay books. You will not find a recipe in his books for Peking Duck. One of the things I learned through reading his cookbooks and bio is that to learn how to cook one must take chances and experiment. So the Duck was that for me.
Thank you Gordon for the courage to do so.

J