the neighbourhood ducks

the neighbourhood ducks were in the garden and george was looking rather wistfully at them. while it did cross my mind to send george out into the wilderness that is our garden to hunt them down for lunch, i thought it might be a tad too cruel sending him out on such a grey and cold sunday morning as this. in addition, i wasn't entirely sure that it was legal to do so, and british waterways would probably have something to say about us reducing the thames duck population.

there was however, leftover chinese roast duck in the fridge begging to be eaten. continuous weeknights of eating supper at slavedrivers inc had meant that it had gone slightly past its optimal stage of being perfect simply unadorned on rice. it called for the all-forgiving cloak of curry to the rescue. taking the meat off the bones, the duck was given a quick stir fry with the diced onions and sliced mushrooms which had been previously sauteed in a splash of olive oil. a good dollop of green curry paste, and a generous splash of coconut milk and vegetable stock was added and left to simmer while a large handful of thai rice noodles were coaxed into submission in hot water, drained and dressed quickly with a light coat of fish sauce, sesame oil and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. all that was left to do was to dish it up and snuggle up on the sofa, and watch george ponder the all very difficult and serious decision as to whether he should start with the whiskas duck pouch or the bits of surplus duck i had placed before him.

i suppose mr and mrs duck were blissfully unaware of their alternative fates that could have been as they wandered past our window again on their jaunts, and there was something rather ironic in our friendly wave to them as me and george ate one of their brethren on the other side of glass.