Ducked out

Raspberry and nutella crepe cake. I still had some crepe batter from last night's ducky crepe episode. A few pinches of sugar, a splash of vanilla, and a generous blorble of amaretto changes it into a dessert crepe batter. No duck in here. I saw a crepe cake on television a couple of months ago and it dawned on me to use the extra batter to make one. This was pretty good. Next time, I'll try using a lower protein flour for more tender crepes. And the filling needs to be lighter and fluffier. Perhaps flavored whipped cream. And I'd sugar and brulée the top. Next time will be much better. Something potentially trancedent here.

Day 8. I am putting a stop to Adventures With Duck 2006 (tm.) Enough is enough. I love duck, but it's time to move on. So I will use up every last remaining morsel of duck tonight.


The beginnings of duck gumbo. With authentic cajun filé powder. Made from ground up sassafras leaves. I like saying "sassssafrassss." Say that with me. "Sassafrasss!" The okra magically formed the shape of a star when I added it to the pot. A divine sign that I was going to be a superstar. So excited at the prospect of fame and fortune. Then I realized the okra was just following the pattern of the stove grates because the areas over the grates are lower in temperature and hence, have less bubble turbulance. Once again, science explains away supernatural phenomena. Sigh. It's probably a good thing I didn't use the back burners. Those have the an inverted star pattern. Had I used the back burners, the okra would have taken the shape of a pentagram, and then I'd have freaked out at receiving a message from Satan.


Duck and shrimp gumbo. Duck fat and flour made the most incredible dark mahogany roux. The duck meat stayed tender and moist. Shrimp was extraordinary in texture because I did a quick brine before I added them to the pot. Shrimpy crunch and snap, the way shrimp is supposed to be. A lot of yumminess for what is essentially leftover duck stew.


Stovetop popped corn. Popped with duck fat, sprinkled with hand mixed creole seasoning. I couldn't resist trying a duck dessert.

This ends Adventures With Duck 2006 (tm.) Like I set out to do, I've used every last bit of the duck including the quack quack. Mission accomplished. I learned a lot and it was fun using the old noggin to come up with different ways to use duck. That fat poached garlic was just amazing. And now I will let my fat and cholestrol levels even out. I survived 8 days of duck. It hasn't killed me yet.