Global Warming?

Saturday was a very disconcerting shop. You see, when it's 71 degrees, but the vendors are only carrying root vegetables and a couple of apples, it's really very odd.

The Shop

eggs Quattros
kale Hawthorne Farms
bosc pears, empire apples Terhune Orchards
3.5 oz sheep camembert 3-Corner Sheep Farm
apple danish the place that mills their own flour
onions, yukon gold potatoes

The shop was all well good and fine with but one comment: the kale must have been made of freakin' gold! It was ridiculous! $6 for 3 tiny heads. It was simple shock that kept me from saying...uh, thanks, but no.

The post-shop breakfast was sublime however: apple danish, the camembert (incredibly smooth and sweet) and bosc pear slices. It was a beautifully balanced beginning to the day.

I know you've been waiting and wondering...

What the heck did she do with a whole duck? Well, my friends, the answer is as follows:

Canard au Miel
1 whole 6 lb duck (Quattros Game Farm)
1/2 cup fall flower honey (Friday apiary)
2 t dried lavender
2 T fresh thyme (roof deck)
1 t cracked peppercorns
1 t salt
1/2 cup dry red wine

Wash, drain and dry the duck. (In this case, the prep also involved a lot of pinfeather removal.) Score the skin in a crosshatch pattern, cutting through to the fat without scoring the meat. Crush salt and peppercorns with 1/2 of lavender and all of thyme with a mortar and pestle. Rub herbs all over the duck, inside and out. Roast on a rack in a roasting pan, uncovered at 350 for 2 hours. (Less if this is a wild/free range bird without a lot of fat.)

Remove from oven, remove duck and rack, and drain drippings from the roaster. Let drippings settle. Drain off fat (reserving a 5 tablespoons) and pour remaining juice back into roasting pan with two tablespoons of fat and 1/2 cup of wine. Return bird to pan and rub skin with honey. Roast an additional 20 minutes at 400 until skin is golden brown and thermometer in thigh reads 180. Remove duck and place on platter to rest. Put roaster on stove top, add remaining lavender to juices and simmer until reduced to a sauce that coats the back of a spoon.

Carve duck and serve with sauce as well as roasted baby root veggies. (recipe follows)

Roasted Baby Root Vegetables
1 bunch baby carrots
1 bunch baby turnips
6-10 fingerling potatoes

Toss the washed and trimmed veggies with 3 T of duck fat, salt and pepper. Roast in oven in a seperate pan for at least 1 hour. (This may involve sneaking some of the rendered fat out of the roaster before the duck has cooked a full 2 hours if you want everything to finish at the same time.)

This made for a crazy-impressive Christmas dinner, even if it was only for the two of us.