I have these salted duck breasts (that I keep talking about) curing in my office and the savory scent keeps making me so hungry. I would never have thought curing meat would smell this amazing. I did have to rewrap a section of one because I wrapped it wrong. When I peaked inside I saw a scary sight of white “rot” speckles on the meat. However, it still smells great. I will definitely be calling upon my inner most moxy to slice this baby and eat it. According to “Grocery Guy” the rot dots are normal…and he survived to tell the tale. Lauren and I used the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook for their recipe. The steps are:

Cut breasts off duck. Remove excess skin. Rinse and pat dry. Salt well (we used Kosher salt) and rub with thyme.

Place in a dish covered in fridge for two days. Remove and pat dry. Fold in cheesecloth and tie with butcher string (after the fact, I realized one should tie it the way a butcher ties a roast). Hang for 10 days. Then flip over and hang for another 10. Should be ready to eat. Chez Panisse book says keeps for two weeks in fridge at this point but Lauren said they last much longer than two weeks.

I flip it tomorrow and have only ten more days to wait! For now, I wait and get back to the grind. My week of “vacation” is over, though before it ended, I managed to squeeze in the quick but delightful read “My Life in France” the Julia Child autobiography. Man, that women is all about marketing herself. Her story is inspiring for her motivation, determination and courage. It is a fun read and timely as the new movie based on the Julie and Julia Project (well, based on the book based on the project) is out.