mama duck on the grill

2015-05-31

Mama Slowcooker was a Muscovy hen. I called her that because she took about 2 weeks longer than normal to brood out her hatchlings. She was my last Muskovy duck and the only Muscovy hen to ever get broody. She used a nest of chicken eggs to sit on because there weren't any Muscovy males. She took really good care of the babies, even though they weren't hers.

In July 2015, a tornado annihilated the coop and most of the animals I had at the time. She was one of three survivors. She was killed two days later by a hawk, possibly while defending her two remaining babies. All I found was her mangled body, no baby chicks in sight anywhere.

This is the last chapter of her story, a sadder one than usual.

INGREDIENTS

salvaged hawk kill
S&P, curry

Pic1: mama slow-cooker with a hatchling

Directions

Pic2: the end of the road
Pic3: perfectly red-roasted Muscovy breast fillet

This is all that was salvageable of mama Slowcooker: one breast steak and 2 legs on the grill.
She was an older bird, so boiling would have been appropriate. Yet, I really dislike that for duck, Instead, I chose to slow-cook (sad pun intended) the meat on the oven grill at 175º F until internal temperature of 145 ºF, followed by a quick searing in a hot pan for some extra color.

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org