In my continuing series of kitchen experiments involving extreme danger, I decided I was going to cook up Alton Brown's "Mighty Duck" recipe for Valentine's Day. The supermarket had exactly one duck left in the freezer, not quite two months past its "sell by" date. Never mind, forge ahead!

Danger item #1 is dismembering the duck. Despite the thing spending a day and a half in the fridge, plus an hour in the sink with running water, it was still icy inside. You're supposed to quarter the thing, cutting out the backbone, with kitchen shears. It required two hands on the shears to get enough force to cut through the ribcage.

Danger item #2 didn't kick in until after we'd finished steaming the duck parts. You're supposed to sear the steamed duck in a cast iron pan, in the oven, at 475 F (246 C). This is enough to cause the duck fat to start boiling and splattering. Once I took that out of the oven, I somehow only got a few splatters burns on my arms. I didn't think there was too much smoke coming off the pan, but my fire alarm apparently disagreed. Luckily, it just makes a lot of noise, rather than calling the fire department. It took about five minute with the windows open for it to calm down and admit defeat.

In the end, it was a fantastic meal. Hours from start to finish, but well worth the bother.


(My next adventure with kitchen danger will involve our shiny new pressure cooker. I'm tempted to try some Cajun boiled crawfish. High pressure steam and cayenne pepper. Mmmm....)