Roast Duck with Guava-Chipotle Glaze & Jerk Duck Wraps

Recently we've been inspired by the cookbook Miami Spice (1993) by Steven Raichlen. He has a recipe for tamarind-glazed duck that we decided to vary using guava paste. In addition to the glaze, the recipe called for puree of ginger and orange juice to be worked under the duck's skin.

Stevezie's directions were: "Loosen the skins on the duck. To do so, start at the neck . . . and tunnel your fingers under the skin." This is precisely the sort of direct instruction that we love about Miami Spice; however, in this instance 'tunnel' is a euphemism for 'do what you can to get this #$^&* in there.' If you have ever 'tunneled' under duck skin before, you know what we mean. We're glad no one was watching.

Once again defying instruction, we baked the bird until it reached 165 degrees in the deepest part of the breast. In this case, that translated into 45 minutes at 300 degrees followed by 45 minutes at 350 degrees--and then finally a brief turn up at the end to crisp the skin. Gorgeous!

We served the duck with sesame broccoli and brown rice.

Jerk Duck

After our meal, we decided to transform the remainder of the bird into Jerk Duck Wraps for our lunches. We marinated the left-over pieces of meat in jerk seasoning and pan-fried it. Then we used it as the base for some disgustingly good wraps. Spicy and oh-so-tender, jerk duck makes an elegant change from pork, chicken, or beef.