7/7/09 12:33 am - honey-basalmic roasted duck legs
ok, so i like to cook right? but there's cooking, and then there's cooking duck legs. that takes some attentive-loving-care that i don't really have day to day. but kevin gave us some duck legs that were left over from a class and i finally decided to give it a try after looking at the in the freezer for weeks. i searched for a recipe based on whether it only required ingredients i already had (because the grocery closes damn early and it was already 9pm when i started!), and whether it took less than 2 hours. and there are a lot of duck recipes that take many hours/days. this is what i found: honey balsamic roast duck legs.
even then, i had to improvise some cooking materials. while the duck slowly roasts, drippings from the marinade and fat need to fall through a rack into a pan of water. i didn't have a rack but i had a cheap aluminum pie baking pan that i had used enough times to not feel guilty stabbing some holes in.


i'll spare you the details, but i can tell you it's not fun keeping the oven on for 1.5 hours in an unconditioned top-floor apartment with no ventilation system in the middle of summer in new york city. add to that opening the oven every 15 minutes to bast the suckers.
anyway, they turned out alright, not restaurant quality, but pretty decent. the skin wasn't crisp enough and the meat was too chewy. i chalk it up to it being my first time and the fact that the meat was frozen for weeks and hastily defrosted in a kmart microwave (aaaand that it asked to be marinated for 3 hours and i gave it a good 20 minutes before popping it in the oven).
duck isn't for those poor at planning. :D
even then, i had to improvise some cooking materials. while the duck slowly roasts, drippings from the marinade and fat need to fall through a rack into a pan of water. i didn't have a rack but i had a cheap aluminum pie baking pan that i had used enough times to not feel guilty stabbing some holes in.


i'll spare you the details, but i can tell you it's not fun keeping the oven on for 1.5 hours in an unconditioned top-floor apartment with no ventilation system in the middle of summer in new york city. add to that opening the oven every 15 minutes to bast the suckers.
anyway, they turned out alright, not restaurant quality, but pretty decent. the skin wasn't crisp enough and the meat was too chewy. i chalk it up to it being my first time and the fact that the meat was frozen for weeks and hastily defrosted in a kmart microwave (aaaand that it asked to be marinated for 3 hours and i gave it a good 20 minutes before popping it in the oven).
duck isn't for those poor at planning. :D









by jamel shabazz