Duck

I finally defrosted that duck I bought months ago. One of my resolutions for the new year was to expand my cooking repertoire with things I've  never made before and duck was one of them.
I've since seen fresh ones at Whole Foods so next time I'll buy a fresh one.
I followed a very simple recipe from Gourmet Today for Crisp Roast Duck.
It was amazingly easy and oh so crispy and we like crispy skin. Years ago when we lived out west we went to family gatherings in Arizona for Thanksgiving. We watched in horror as they removed all of the skin from the turkey before carving it. They were being health minded but I was thinking it's thanksgiving if you can't eat crisp salty poultry skin then when can you! We almost tried to sneak some from the trash.
With crispy poultry skin in mind, this roast duck was right up our alley!

First prick the skin all over and  pour 2 cups boiling water over the duck to seal the skin.

 Then pat dry. Season with 1 T. kosher salt and lots of fresh ground pepper inside and out.

Roast breast side up @425º for 45 min. Turn over, roast another 45 min. Turn back to breast side up for 45 min. Viola, crispy duck!
I served it with some sauteed fresh spring asparagus.

And popovers, which are so much fun to make and watch pop up in the oven. So delicious hot right out of the oven. They actually went really well with the duck.

So I'll check duck off my 'never cooked' list and think of what to tackle next. I was considering shad roe but, I think I've already talked myself out of that one until next year.