Fowl Taste

Day 16

I wish life was just ducky right now. It's not.

I'm writing Friday's post two days late, in the hopes that I would locate my Canon PowerShot that I've had by my side throughout this culinary adventure. (The camera is actually a gift my husband received from my parents, and we've used it on endless vacations and food-related jaunts.) Hopefully, I'll return to school Monday and the point-and-shoot will be waiting for me in the lost-and-found. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm not so confident that is going to happen. In the meantime, my phone will serve as my replacement.

There is some good news, though: I've downloaded pretty much every photo on the camera. However, I am missing game bird day.

I'm on a duck hunt.

Speaking of ducks, my class prepared the Long Island variety (a descendent of the white Pekin, just for some random knowledge) with a classic orange sauce; we sauteed the breasts and braised the legs. Yum. The chef's demo dish was a roasted duck with the same sauce. Double

yum.

The final recipe was pan-roasted quail with rice and sausage stuffing. I have three words for that: good yet impractical. The tiny birds look cute on a plate but have virtually no meat. "You would need three of these for a meal," the chef commented. Apparently, he doesn't think big of the little ones either.

Next class will feature my protein of choice: beef. Just to get a head start, I ordered steak tartar for Sunday brunch at L'Ecole, the school's restaurant where I will spend the final two months of my program. It was totally worth the extra cholesterol. Ryan went for it, too, with a ratatouille burger.

Beef. It's what's for dinner—and sometimes for brunch.