Galantine de Canard aux Pistaches: Phase 2

In an earlier post I described the first phase in the making of one of the dishes I am creating for my annual Christmas party, and today I began the second phase in the construction of my Galantine de Canard aux Pistaches. In Phase 1, I skinned and removed most of the bones from the duck and removed the breast and lecg meat.

Today, I cut and cured the breast meat and some pork fat lardons. Both will eventually be decoratively laid inside the galantine along with shelled pistachios to break up the homogeneous appearance of the farce or forcemeat. I also cured the duck skin with salt and a bit of  nitrite to perk up the color once the galantine is poached and I seasoned the farce.

I'll let it all sit overnight before I start Phase 3 wherein I

• grind and emulsify the farce, 
• toast the pistachios, 
• stuff and stitch up the skin
• wrap it in cheesecloth and poach it in duck stock

Once the galantine is cooked Phase 4 commences. Here I

• Re-wrap it in cheese cloth
• Weight it and let it compress and cool

I will try to photograph the  final phase  (decorating) if I don't run out of time.