Obsessive Rep Point Checkers Club (Volume IV)

Did 3 privateer missions. Got a doctor for the growing homestead, since the farmer's wife is preggers. Got a tailor and helped the miner a bit in his quest to woo yon huntress. Became the bare knuckle fighting champion of the Colonies in the meantime. Hunted down The Bobcat who was attacking travelers, as well as the huge elk who was rushing wagons.

Didn't do a lick of the main plot, but had fun nonetheless. AC3 is a remarkable game.

Now that Housemate is home (doctor reports are GOOD, med changes should help with many of the problems she's having--we hope), I'll try to finish this blasted scene that's been taunting me.

And Housemate is roasting duck tonight. MUCH better than turkey, lemme tell you.

I don't like Turkey. I usually have meatloaf, but am going again this year for getting containers of all kinds of interesting foods from different deli's in the area

Should be fun.

Congrats Del, glad you had a blast!!!

Mr Neuro's family has been trying to browbeat me into attending their thanksgiving thing, but I don't feel like the drive, or being squished into their little house with their big family in order to eat a bird I don't much care for the taste of. I guess we'll see what happens. They're very persistent, but I'm very stubborn.

The sickly baby is out of the ICU now, which I'm going to go ahead and assume is a good sign. It's kind of hard to be sure what's going on with her, though, because all news is filtered through my BIL (her dad) and he seems to have some aversion to asking questions.

Hope Housemate's new meds do the trick, Del. It can be hard, sometimes, to get stuff like that right. Hell, it took years to get the right mix for my stomach issues. Best of luck to her with that.

Yeah, it's been bad the last couple weeks. Her BP keeps bottoming out (I'm talking 83/39 crashing) and she suddenly collapses. She doesn't pass out. Her bones just become jello and she can't stand anymore.

I don't like turkey either, except when it's dragoned. I have a couple of turkey thighs that I'll dragon for myself, since Housemate is going to her family's and I'm working most of the day. Looking forward to it.

Dragon?

*googles*

You won't find it by googling--unless it's a post I've made. LOL!

It's a meat marinade. Very simple. Extremely simple. Works great on all meat except pork (too strong a meat) and fish (too flimsy). Doesn't matter how you cook it, it just tastes really good.

Got called "dragon" 'cause the first time I ate it, I was playing AD&D (the original) with Girlchild's godparents and other friends. We successfully killed a dragon (red, IIRC) just before dinner was served. Dinner was marinated venison with rice on the side. Still in character, we proclaimed that we were eating the dragon. When I got the recipe and introduced it to my kids, I told them the story and marinaded beef became known as "dragon scales". Over the decades, the marinade has simply become known as "dragon", so you can dragon chicken, beef, steak, venison, turkey, etc.

It's the #1 requested Mama-made birthday dinner among my kids.

Unfortunately, Boychild's wifey is not a fan. *sigh*

That would explain why the results I got were a little odd, and not edible-looking.

Tried to warn you, but I got sidetracked by a yummy roast duck dinner.

Not to worry. It was far from the most disturbing set of google results I've ever come across.

Let me just say 'ew' before you start to add any detail.

Kids these days. No sense of adventure.

Neurotic said:

Kids these days. No sense of adventure.

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Fixed that for ya.

I want duck.

Never had duck

It's good. I think this weekend I'll make duck.

parumpdragon said:

Never had duck

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Well, the BEST way to have duck is to go to a good Chinese restaurant and order it.

However, if you ever want to roast it at home, it's really super simple. You just do everything differently than roasting a chicken or a turkey--except you still use a roaster.

Line the bottom of the roaster with braising veggies (carrots, onions, celery, whatever). Add a touch of liquid (she used chicken stock, but water will work--Housemate also added a dash of apple cider). Put the duck into (she rubbed some ginger and pepper into the skin and dashed a little parsley on top) a 375 oven.

First point of difference in roasting duck: DO NOT STUFF THE DUCK. Stick an onion or an apple or something like that in there. The reason is detailed next.

Second point of difference: DO NOT PUT THE COVER ON THE ROASTER
Duck is very fatty. If you cover it, then all the fat doesn't get hot enough to keep the meat juicy and just lays there and is gross and greasy. You don't stuff the bird for the same reason--all the fat just gets soaked up into the bread stuffing and is gross and greasy.

After about an hour, pull the bird out and drain as much of the juices out as you can (without dumping the solids). This keeps the duck from stewing in its own melted fat. Add a little more fresh liquid and stick it back in the oven.

If you want to do a glaze (Housemate did a honey-ginger glaze), put that on about 15 minutes before it's finished. Our 6 lb duck was in for about 2 1/2 hours.

(Don't eat the braising veggies or whatever you stuffed the duck with )

I love duck because it's all dark meat. It's expensive, but boy is it a treat when we have it. Housemate loves turkey, so we have that about 4-5 times a year, so duck is the real treat in this house.

i would like to amend my earlier statement.

I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, want duck!

C'mon, Vince. Tell us how you really feel.

BTW, what do you mean by braising vegetables? You mean like celery sticks underneath the bird in question so that it's not directly on the pan?

Vince524 said:

BTW, what do you mean by braising vegetables? You mean like celery sticks underneath the bird in question so that it's not directly on the pan?

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Right. We generally use carrots ('cause they're sweeter) and onions ('cause we love onions). Celery is a rarity in this house. But anything that's not going to turn to mush with the heat and the weight works great.

With regards to the duck, if you make a shallow incision in the skin of the breast - that does not slice all the way through to the meat - it will actually render out most of the fat, eliminating the somewhat greasy aspect duck can have *AND* best of all, crisp-frying the skin in the process.

Which is how the Chinese do it, btw.

DeleyanLee said:

Well, the BEST way to have duck is to go to a good Chinese restaurant and order it.

However, if you ever want to roast it at home, ...

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Vince524 said:

i would like to amend my earlier statement.

I really, really,... want duck!

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DeleyanLee said:

C'mon, Vince. Tell us how you really feel.

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slcboston said:

With regards to the duck

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In regards to all of the above. I do not cook. I'm safe.

Your loss, PD.

Not my cup of tea. Too much work and waiting. *laughs*

I love to cook and I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving because my wife & I prepare everything together. It's an all day event.