Mock Duck Has Come to Us
My favorite meal is meatloaf because whenever my mother made
meatloaf my father would pull out of a drawer a cardboard cut
out of a duck's head and a pair of wings. To the delight of the
hungry children - we were 4 - he would announce, "Children, your
mother has made us mock duck. Mock duck has come to us" and grin
at my mother. I thought that mock was a special type of duck
that only my family knew about and that may be my mother caught
in the ravine behind the house. It was sort of like Santa Claus,
you just wanted to believe.
PS I never actually had real duck until I grew up. I'm not sure
that this isn't better
Mock Duck
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork sausage
1/2 lb mild ground chirozo sausage
2 eggs
1/2 clove of pressed garlic
1 small minced onion
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
1 cup of rolled oats, shredded medium fine in the food processor
1/4 cup coarsely ground hazel nuts or pecans
1 cup of milk or enough to hold the mixture together
4 strips of bacon (optional)
Mix everything together and form two loaves. Lay the strips of
bacon on the loaves length ways. Bake at 350 for an hour and 15
minutes. Remove from oven and serve one loaf hot (don't forget
the pretend head and wings made of cardboard). Save the other
loaf for wonderful sandwiches.
Each loaf serves 4-6.