Roast Duck

That's Just Ducky



Although I love duck I find it easiest to buy a duck breast at Fresh Market and then pan roast it. Nevertheless, I roasted a whole duck a few weeks ago. Something I hadn't done in several years. It was wonderful. The technique I used is essentially the way duck is prepared for Peking duck (which is a dish and not the same thing as the Pekin duck breed).

Duck is notoriously fatty and while the fat is wonderful stuff you need to draw most of it out if you want an edible bird. When I pan roast breasts I can trim off excess fat and then score the skin and I can do the same thing when cooking legs as in this recipe for Canard au Vin. But it's more problematic for a whole duck.

Duck is notoriously fatty and while the fat is wonderful stuff you need to draw most of it out if you want an edible bird.

The best way I know to do it is to simmer the whole duck after poking holes in the skin to allow the fat to escape as it melts. You'll need a large stockpot and it's a two-part process, but the two parts result in that most luscious of lipids (duck fat) and a wonderful broth you can use for cooking beans or making soup.

Roast Duck
Makes 4 to 6 servings.

1 5-6 pound duck
1 large yellow onion — peeled, trimmed and quartered
2 large carrots — cut into 1-inch lengths
2 medium stalks of celery — cut into 1-inch lengths
Large handful of flat-leaf parsley with stems
12 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 large cloves garlic
2 tablespoons dried orange zest (you can find dried zest in the spice department)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried, ground rosemary
1 orange, washed and cut into 8ths
1 small onion — peeled, trimmed and quartered
2 cloves garlic

Defatting:
Remove giblets from duck cavity and cut off wing tips.

Using a small paring knife, poke holes all over the duck's breast, legs and back. Insert the knife at an angle to avoid penetrating the meat — figure you have 1/4 inch of fat beneath the skin on the breasts and thighs and about 1/8 inch on the legs and back — but insert as deeply as possible without making a cut more than about 1/2 inch long.

Place the duck in a large stockpot, add onion, carrots, celery, neck and wing tips. Add enough water to completely cover duck. Remove duck from pot, add parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and place pot over high heat. Bring to a boil skimming off any scum that forms.

Carefully return duck to pot and bring back to a boil then immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Place a plate with a heavy can on top of the duck to keep it submerged and simmer for 45 minutes, removing any additional scum as it forms but allowing fat to accumulate.

Remove duck and pat dry, being careful to avoid tearing skin. Cool to room temperature. At this point you can move on to roasting, or you can refrigerate the duck on a dish, uncovered, which forces some additional fat out as the skin contracts and produces a crispier skin.

Refrigerate the stock you've made overnight. The fat will rise to the top and you can skim that off and save it frozen for up to a year. The stock can be reduced (concentrated) and used for making gravy (with some of the duck fat) or reserved for other uses (there's no salt in it and it's simply flavored to keep it flexible for other dishes).

Roasting:
If you refrigerated the bird, remove from fridge and warm on the counter for 3 hours. Heat oven to 500 degrees, place an oven rack one level up from the bottom and heat a roasting pan that can hold a roasting rack. Don't heat the rack.

Mix together orange zest, salt, pepper and rosemary. Sprinkle half the mixture inside duck and sprinkle remaining on the outside, patting to make it stick. Stuff cavity with orange, onion and garlic and roast for 30 minutes (rotate front to back after 15 minutes). Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before carving.

Note: Save the duck bones and the back, add them to the reserved duck stock and simmer it for another couple of hours to make a richer stock. Certainly save the fat for other cooking projects.

Try roast duck with...
Potatoes Savoyard
Beets Dijonaise
Blueberry Crisp

Read more...

SG Archives:Apple-Brined Duck Breast

Precedent



It is my firm belief that the most important meal of the year is what one eats on New Year's Day. I'm not referring to the multitude of traditional foods served in various parts of the world such as Hoppin' John in the South, Vietnamese banh chung, 12 grapes in Cuba, or stewed mushrooms in Russia. My belief is it doesn't matter what one eats so long as one eats well. You are, after all, setting a precedent for the remainder of the year.

This year, because I didn't get to do much cooking for Christmas dinner, I paid special attention to what I wanted to fix on New Year's Day. I considered a beef roast because the one my sister fixed was so good and I hadn't quite satisfied my hankering. But another superstition, which I just made up, is that New Years dinner shouldn't include or produce leftovers. That just strikes me as a bad precedent to set. So what to fix?

Duck, that most succulent poultry. Queen of avian edibles. Voluptuous volaille. Amazing anatra.

I wanted something fairly traditional. Something that would look back to past meals while anticipating future dinners. And then I remembered I had half a duck breast in the freezer. Duck, that most succulent poultry. Queen of avian edibles. Voluptuous volaille. Amazing anatra.

I decided to brine the duck. I wanted to infuse it with apple cider and I thought brining would do so more effectively than marinating. Then I figured sauteed apples in a sweet red wine pan sauce would carry the apple tune just a bit further. To accompany it I made a potato gratin and steamed Brussels sprouts simply dressed in butter and lemon juice.

Judging from last night, I should be eating very well in the year to come. I flavored the cider brine with juniper berries and garlic. The result was wonderfully sweet with a distinctly salty edge to it that I liked. The pan sauce of apples sauteed in duck fat with marsala and crushed juniper berries reinforced the milder flavors in the meat.

For the gratin I layered thin slices of under-cooked potatoes and Appenzeller and sprinkled each layer with salt, black pepper, and minced rosemary. The rosemary in the potatoes nicely complimented the juniper in the duck.

The Brussels sprouts did their job, which in this case was mainly to not interfere with the duck or potatoes.

Cider-brined Duck Breast
Serves 2.

1 duck breast (about 3/4 lb) — cut in half, crosswise
Brine:
1 c apple cider
1 tbsp juniper berries — crushed
3 tbsp Kosher salt
1 clove garlic — smashed
Pan Sauce:
1/2 Braeburn apple (or other cooking apple) — peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 scallion — peeled and minced
1/2 tsp juniper berries — crushed
3/4 c marsala
2 tbsp butter

Bring cider, juniper berries, and 1 cup water to a boil in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and add salt and garlic. Stir to dissolve salt and cool to room temperature. Place duck in a zip-lock bag and add brine. Refrigerate at least eight hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350F. Pat breast halves dry with a paper towel. Using a sharp knife, score duck skin in a diamond pattern and season liberally with black pepper. Place, skin-side down in a 10" oven-proof skillet over medium heat and brown — about 5 minutes. Turn breast over and cook another three minutes, then place pan on middle rack in oven. Cook for about 15 minutes or until center of breast registers 140 on an instant-read thermometer. Remove to cutting board and tent with foil.

Drain all but 2 tablespoons of fat from skillet. Place over medium heat and add apples, shallot, and juniper. Saute, stirring frequently for 5 minutes until apples are browned and softened. Add marsala and reduce by half, scraping up browned bits. Remove from heat.

Slice duck across grain and arrange on plate. Swirl butter into sauce and spoon apples and sauce over duck.

Try this duck with...
Potatoes Savoyard
Roasted Rutabaga
Baked Baby Artichokes

Originally published 01/02/2006.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | duck | main dish

Read more...

Duck Soup

Pulchritude and Poultry



I pulled the pot of stock from the fridge and it shimmied. It didn't wobble. It didn't shudder. It didn't ripple. It didn't sashay. Nor did it undulate, shake like a bowl full of jelly, or shiver. No. It shimmied like a skinny 15-year-old girl doing a hula dance on a Polynesian island for her boyfriend.

A few weeks back I wrote an article for NPR's Kitchen Window on cooking duck. As with most of my NPR pieces, the hardest part was deciding which recipes to cover. I was tempted to do duck confit because of the holiday season and because duck rillettes made from the confit are so special as a holiday appetizer. But I figured no one was going to take on making confit during the holidays. I considered the classic Peking Duck, but then I'd have to also provide a recipe for crepes - which would have been off-topic. One recipe that I didn't include but really wanted to was duck soup.

I strained the liquid, discarded the solids, and reduced it to about a gallon. Now I had the essence of duck in a pot.

It seemed incumbent on me to provide a recipe for roasting duck, because for best results it's a two or three step process in order to extract the excess fat: simmer the duck for 40 minutes in a stock pot, dry it overnight, then roast it at high heat for 30 minutes. This process would utterly destroy a chicken or turkey but for duck it's, well, water off it's back.

At then end of the roasting process you have the duck stock that had just sashayed out of my refrigerator. After roasting and mostly eating the duck I dumped the carcass back in the stock and simmered it another couple of hours to extract more flavor plus the gelatin in the bones. At this point I had about two gallons of liquid. I strained the liquid, discarded the solids, and reduced it to about a gallon. Now I had the essence of duck in a pot. I also happened to have a pair of roasted legs I hadn't eaten - but this was purely an accidental bonus of living alone.

After some internal discussion, I decided to make lentil soup. Whoooeee, we are talking some awesome soup here.

Duck and Bean Soup
Serves 6.

5 - 7 qt duck stock (see NPR article)
duck carcass
1 preserved lemon (or 1 stalk lemon grass, or the juice of two lemons)
1 lb lentils (I used the French du Puy lentils)*
1 carrots - peeled and grated
1 onion - peeled and finely diced
4 tbsp olive oil - separated
3 cloves garlic peeled and finely minced
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup assorted, pitted olives
Salt and pepper to taste.

Place the stock on the stove and add the duck bones and preserved lemon. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for two hours. Strain out solids and discard. Return to heat and reduce to about 4 quarts. Taste stock and if necessary add more salt.

In the meantime, brown the diced onion in 2 tablespoons of oil.

Add all remaining ingredients except last 2 tablespoons of oil to pot, return to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1 - 2 hours until you like the texture - adding water if needed.

Taste again and adjust seasonings and serve with lemon wedges. I found that garlic bread was a perfect accompaniment to this soup.

*Note: I chose lentils (and any lentils will work), but I nearly went with cannellini beans, which would have also been great but would have taken 3 - 4 hours to cook.

Because I had a duck leg/thigh I stripped it off the bone, shredded it, and added it to the soup at the last moment.

Try this soup with...
Quick Cheddar Cheese Bread
Parmesan/Bacon Burger
Roasted Garlic Bread

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | duck | beans | soup | main dish

Read more...

Kitchen Windows: Duck Famously Fatty, Simply Delicious

I don't recall when I first ate duck. I know it was a roasted duck, but I don't remember any of the details of its preparation. I was probably 13 or 14 and far too distracted with adolescence to pay attention to what my mother was experimenting with this time. However, I clearly remember loving its rich flavor and wonderful fattiness. I also recall the potatoes roasted in the duck fat in the roasting pan.

Read more here...

Technorati: Food | recipe collection | kevin d weeks | kitchen window | duck

Read more...

Canard au Vin

The Issue is Ducking



Some time back I mentioned the deal I made with my mother. If she paid for a dozen duck leg quarters I'd make duck confit and pass half the quarters on to her. If I'm remembering correctly, she and Dad ended up getting four legs confit and four raw quarters. I got the remaining legs and the two free breasts. I knew I'd volunteered to make the four legs confit for her. I also knew I'd volunteered so go out to their house and smoke two of the raw legs. Somehow I also volunteered to cook the other two raw legs for them. I'm not sure how that happened.

But however, I ended up making yet another trip to Maryville to cook. Note, I'm not complaining, I'm just a bit baffled by how frequently mentioning a recipe I just made results in a trip to Maryville to duplicate it. Ah well, something to keep in my stock for those occasions when I'm accused of not communicating enough. At any rate, on this occasion, I'd mentioned to Mom how I cooked my raw duck leg and the next thing I knew I'd promised to come out the following Sunday and replicate the dish.

Somehow I also volunteered to cook the other two raw legs for them. I'm not sure how that happened.

In fact, I didn't do much so I really have nothing to complain about. I'd been disappointed with the smoked legs I'd fixed for them — they were simply too tough. So, remembering Coq au Vin, I decided to try braising. It was a brilliant choice.

I marinated the legs in red wine with aromatics (carrot, celery, onion, bay, and rosemary) for 24 hours. Then braised the leg quarters for two hours. As I said, I didn't have to do much, the legs were already at their house so Dad had to chop the veggies and dump them in a plastic bag with the herbs, wine, and legs. All I had to do was skin them and put them on the stove — although I made something else as well (but don't recall what).

Canard au Vin
Serves 4.

4 duck leg quarters
2 carrots — peeled and finely chopped
2 sm stalks celery — finely chopped
1 md onion — finely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 sprig rosemary — bruised*
2 lg cloves garlic — smashed
3 c red wine (I recommend pinot noir or zinfandel)
1 c chicken stock/broth (may not be needed)

Put duck legs in a gallon plastic bag and add remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for 18 - 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Heat oven to 275F.

Remove legs from bag (keeping marinade) and remove skin (keeping it as whole as you can). Place skinless legs in a large Dutch oven then add marinade. The liquid should come half-way up the sides of the meat, if not, add some chicken stock/broth. Place over medium high heat and bring just to a boil. Cover and move pot to the center of the oven. Cook for 2 1/2 hours, turning legs half way through.

In the meantime, lightly season the leg skin with salt and pepper. Using a very sharp knife, score leg skin into 1/2" strips, being careful not to cut completely through skin. Place skin-side up in a skillet and cook over medium-low heat until most of the fat is rendered. Turn skin over and finish browning. Drain, separate strips, and cut in half. (Note: the skin should be quite crisp.)

When duck is done, remove legs from pot and set aside. Remove bay leaves and rosemary sprig and discard. Using either a stand-alone blender, a food processor, or a hand blender puree sauce. Serve breasts over rice, polenta, or pasta drizzled with sauce, and garnished with skin and sauteed mushrooms.

*To bruise herbs, roll the sprigs between your palms.

Try Canard au Vin with...
Beets Dijonaise
Spiced Apples
Key Lime Mousse

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | duck

Read more...

Duck Crepes

Just Ducky



As I mentioned earlier (Duck with Peach Gastrique) I received a couple of free duck breasts a month or so ago. In a couple of years Hudson Valley Foie Gras will be the last remaining domestic producer of foie gras because the other producer was in California and that state has outlawed gavage — the practice of over-feeding ducks and geese to produce enlarged livers.

A couple of years back I did a fair bit of research into the practice. Typically a tube, attached to a funnel, is inserted down the birds' throats and then filled with grain. This gets much more food into their stomachs than they can (or would) eat on their own. As with any practice, it can be done badly and if so make the birds miserable. But first, poultry doesn't chew food so by-passing the mouth isn't a problem the way cramming a whole steak into your stomach would be. Second, ducks don't have a gag reflex so again, and unlike you, the tube isn't a problem. Third, yes, over-feeding isn't good for their health, but then neither is killing them so we can have a duck dinner good for their health. Lastly, when gavage is done properly and gently the birds will gather round the feeder to wait their turn — not the typical reaction of an abused animal.

In a couple of years Hudson Valley Foie Gras will be the last remaining domestic producer of foie gras because the other producer was in California and that state has outlawed gavage.

The wackos at PETA are using gavage as a red herring to stir up opinion. And I call it a red herring because if they were really concerned they'd be focused on the real abuse of poultry by Big Ag in the persona of Tyson Foods and Cargill that raise chickens in truly horrible circumstances. As a friend of mine who raises lambs commented about his animals: "They have a perfect life — until that last day." By most reports, so do the Hudson Valley ducks.

Duck Crepes
Serves 4.

2 12-oz or 4 6-oz duck breasts
Salt and pepper
8 oz assorted mushrooms — sliced
1 shallot — sliced thinly
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp tomato paste
1/3 c Vermouth
1/3 c duck broth or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 crepes

Pan-roast duck breasts as in this recipe. Cool and peel off the skin. Cut breast into strips.

Return the skin, fat-side (inside) down, to the skillet and weight down to prevent curling. Place over low heat and cook until crispy — about 5 minutes. Drain and dice.

Pour out all but a tablespoon of the fat in the skillet (but save the fat for other uses like fried potatoes). Add mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and sauté over medium-high heat until browned. Add shallots, lemon juice, thyme, and tomato paste and cook 1 minute longer, stirring three or four times.

Add Vermouth and reduce by half. Add broth and reduce liquid by half. Add cream and duck and heat thoroughly.

Place two crepes on each plate, then spoon duck mixture down the center. Roll crêpe and turn overlap-side down. Spoon more of the mixture over the crepes and garnish with diced skin.

Try these duck crepes with...
Slow-roasted Tomatoes
Mediterranean Beet Salad
French Pear Tart

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | duck | crepes

Read more...

Canard au Gastrique

Fair and Fowl



A couple of months ago I ordered a dozen duck legs from Hudson Valley Foie Gras. I needed to make duck confit and my mother offered to pay for it if she could have half the legs (these are whole legs — drumstick and thigh).

Confit is both a cooking method and the result of the method. The method is to cook anything from duck legs to pork shoulder to tomatoes in fat (or oil) over very low heat for four to ten hours. For duck or pork you generally use the rendered fat of the animal being confited — duck fat or lard. For something like tomatoes, olive oil is a popular choice. At any rate, I ordered the legs and as usual the company included a couple of duck breasts at no charge.

Hudson Valley Foie Gras has totally bought my loyalty — it helps that they also have the best price on duck legs and duck fat in the US.

It's hard to imagine an economic model where duck breasts, which cost me about $10 each at the supermarket being given away, but in fact it does work. HVFG is mainly interested in the ducks' livers which bring a premium price (about $50/pound). Everything else they get from the duck is gravy: the legs, breasts, rendered fat, and so on. So if sending me a couple of breasts along with my leg order buys my loyalty it's worthwhile. And it works. HVFG has totally bought my loyalty - it helps that they also have the best price on duck legs and duck fat in the US.

So I made the confit and froze the breasts while I though about what to do with them. Then I was asked to write an article on peaches for NPRs Kitchen Window and I immediately thought of making a peach gastrique (a French version of sweet and sour sauce, typically made with fruit). I knew the gastrique would be wonderful on pork (something I've done before), but it also would be great on duck, which, like pork, goes supremely well with fruit flavors. So I thawed out a breast and pan-roasted it.

Pan-Roasted Duck with Peach Gastrique
Serves 4.

2 8 - 12 oz duck breasts
Salt and pepper
Gastrique:
2 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and diced (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot, peeled and minced
2 - 3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons white wine
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
Generous pinch of salt

Duck:
Heat oven to 275 F.

Using a very sharp knife, cut cross-hatches in the skin covering the breast being careful not to cut into the meat. Season both sides of breast generously with salt and pepper.

Brown, flesh-side-down, over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet. Turn, cover, and finish cooking in oven. About 25 minutes. Remove from oven, vent cover, and allow to rest 10 minutes.

Gastrique:
Heat a small sauce pan over medium heat. Once hot, add butter and swirl to avoid burning. Add minced shallot and ginger. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant - 2 to 3 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and all remaining ingredients to the pan, increase heat to high and bring just to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Puree until smooth (I like using my hand blender, but a standing blender also works well, a food processor produces a somewhat coarser puree).

Slice breasts across the grain and fan 1/2 breast over each plate. Spoon gastrique over breasts.

Note: Gastriques will easily keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks and freeze beautifully for later use.

And if you want a different approach, Biggles at Meathenge smoked a duck and served it with Peach Gastrique.

Try this duck with...
Tomatoes Parmigiano
Leeks with Anchovy Butter
Key Lime Mousse

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | duck | peaches

Read more...

Maine Fries with Duck Confit

Over the Top



Do you ever get the urge to go over the top in the kitchen? To make a dish that will give you goose bumps; make your jaws ache; curl your toes? I get this urge all the time. In fact, I have to keep the inclination bottled because it's like a drug — the more I do it the more I have to do it. Sometimes you need to buy a pizza, or make scrambled eggs, or grill a minute steak. Sometimes you need to back off.

Backing off and eating a Quarter Pounder or even homemade Buffalo Wings brings the bar back in focus. It enables you to remember that simple is often best. That if we can engage all five tastes and add some flavors to them we can eat like kings. And such is the case in this meal.

This is a meal too fundamental, too unencumbered with frivolity to ever succeed in a restaurant.

This wasn't a quick and easy meal — I had to make the duck confit first. That's a multiple-day process as the duck legs first cure and then simmer ever-so-gently in duck fat, something I'd done a few weeks ago with six legs (if you're going to that much trouble, make it worthwhile). Nor are Maine Fries quick, it takes an hour to cook them, again over very low heat.

So what I did was add a couple of tablespoons of duck fat to a cast iron skillet over low heat. Then I added a couple of potatoes (Yukon Golds) cut into bite-sized chunks, covered the skillet, and left it alone for 20 minutes. At that point I turned the potatoes to a new side to brown and gave them another 10 minutes. I turned the potatoes one last time and pulled the meat off the drumstick in shreds (reserving the thigh for a future use) and added it to the pan along with the skin from the leg (and thigh), some salt, and some cracked black pepper and gave it another 10 minutes. At this point I had the salty and savory (and some sweet from the just-harvested potatoes) tastes in hand.

Meanwhile, I made a vinaigrette using balsamic vinegar (sweet and sour), olive oil, and Dijon mustard (hot and sour).

When the potatoes were done I dressed the salad of frissee and arugula (bitter) and sat down to eat a simple meal of fried potatoes and salad. I doubt you can find a more-satisfying meal in any restaurant in your town. This is a meal too fundamental, too unencumbered with frivolity to ever succeed in a restaurant. And yet it brings together all five tastes, a multitude of complex flavors, and textures ranging from silky smooth to crisp to chewy. It was completely over the top.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | duck | potatoes

Read more...

Smoked Duck Breast

Bottom of the Barrel



Several months back I ordered some duck legs to make confit from Hudson Valley Foie Gras and they tossed in a whole breast, gratis. Woo hoo! But I was focused on the confit so I tossed them in the freezer and promptly forgot about them. Then the economic downturn hit some of my clients (and me), food prices continued to rise, and tax time hit. I've been scraping the bottom of my larder and what should I find? Duck breast.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love what I do for a (cough) living? I never have any money and I work all the time. But I wrote off the duck legs as an expense because they were part of two articles and when duck breasts are scraping the bottom of your larder you must be doing something right. So what to do with them?

When duck breasts are scraping the bottom of your larder you must be doing something right.

I happened to be working on a review of the Cameron Stove Top Smoker and smoking them seemed like a great idea. I'd previously smoked a duck breast, but in that case I was working from a recipe for preserving them. They were really good, but too potent for a main course, much more suited to an antipasto or flavoring in some other dish. This time I planned to eat them straight up.

As I had the previous time, I made a brine but kept it simple and didn't include the sodium nitrate. After 24 hours in the brine I smoked the breast halves to 160F using oak sawdust. Served with a steamed artichoke it was delightful.

Smoked Duck Breast
Serves 4.

2 whole duck breasts (12 - 16 oz each)
Brine:
2 c apple cider + 1 c water
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic — smashed
6 pepper corns
8 juniper berries — crushed
1/4 c kosher salt

Place all brine ingredients except salt in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in salt until dissolved. Cool brine to room temp. Place breasts in a ziplock bag, add brine, and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Prepare smoker and place over heat. Score the skin of the duck breasts, cutting almost all the way through to the flesh, in a crosshatch pattern.

Insert a digital probe thermometer in one of the breasts and cook to 160F. Set on a platter, cover with foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | duck | smoked duck | main dish

Read more...

Paisano: Duck Rillettes

For years I thought the Paisano was essentially a bum. A charming, well-groomed, erudite bum who could cook like a top chef, but a bum nevertheless. He spent most of his life wandering from place to place, he certainly didn't work for a living, and he seemed to survive largely on the generosity of others (including me). So it was a tremendous surprise when, shortly after moving to California, he invited me to spend Thanksgiving with him in Tahoe. Frankly, knowing he sometimes house-sat for friends, I assumed that was the case here. I had no other plans for T'day and hadn't been to Tahoe before, so I readily agreed.

I drove up on Thanksgiving, a glorious sunny day, forsaking the Interstate and instead taking a blue highway that wound slowly into the mountains. There'd been a couple of snows already, but the roads were clear and it was a delightful drive. I'd bought one of Charles Kuralt's books on tape and his warm baritone, telling of his travels across the country, was the perfect company. After a couple of wrong turns I finally found the place: a medium-sized, 1 1/2-story log cabin some distance out of town on the lake.

The rillettes were a revelation, how could something so simple taste so good?

The cabin had huge great room/dining area/kitchen dominated by a stone fireplace in which a fire was crackling noisily. The mantle featured a huge copper tray that I recognized as Arabic. Beside the chimney were five or six of shelves featuring a huge collection of ceramic and terracotta platters and bowls. The other walls sported a few impressionistic watercolors, which I subsequently learned were originals, not prints. A stairway led up to a loft and the second of two bedrooms.

As you might expect, the kitchen drew my attention. It sported a commercial (genuinely commercial) range, a large work island, a fridge, and a huge soapstone sink. The cabinets were stained green (as was all the trim in the house) and a similarly green door led into what I found was a walk-in pantry — thus sealing my complete envy. It almost goes without saying that the house smelled wonderful.

Paisano was making duck confit, or I should say, he'd just finished making duck confit. There were half a dozen legs cooling on a pan. Also on the counter was a pork loin — our Thanksgiving dinner. We sat and had a couple of glasses of wine and caught up, and that's when I learned the cabin belonged to him.

He told me it stood vacant much of the year, except for a housekeeper who kept an eye on it and dusted and vacuumed as needed. As we chatted I learned he kept the cabin because he needed a place to keep the few things he valued — the paintings (it turned he'd done several of them), his collection of platters and bowls, and a few other things. And also, despite his wanderlust, he found that he needed a home base where he could paint, and cook, and catch his breath. I also learned that my invitation to the cabin was an exceptional honor. It was his private space and he seldom shared it with others.

We started making dinner at about 4:00, the pork loin was browned in a cocotte (as Paisano calls it, a Dutch oven in my terms) and then he added milk and garlic. I steamed some beans to be sautéed with garlic, pancetta, and anchovies. Then I prepped Potatoes Anna while Paisano made Tiramisu for dessert. The last step was duck rillettes for an appetizer. I knew about rillettes but had never made or eaten them.

Rillettes are some kind of meat (rabbit, pork, goose, or in this case, duck) slowly cooked in fat and then pounded into a paste. Rillettes are an old method of preserving meat, very much a peasant dish in origin. It's served spread on bread or crackers.

Duck Rillettes
Serves 6 as an hors d'oeuvres.
Recipe adapted from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.

8 oz duck confit at room temperature, about 2 legs
2 tbsp duck fat
1/4 c duck gelatin (from duck confit, a friend calls it "duck goo", it's the liquid that settles to the bottom when making confit)
plenty of ground black pepper
some salt, maybe

Place all ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle blade. Process at high speed until meat is completely shredded, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve on slices of baguette.

The entire meal was delicious, but the rillettes were a revelation. How could something so simple taste so good? Even when you factor in making the confit it's simple and easy. The champagne Paisano opened was perfect for cutting through the fat.

Note: Paisano is a fictious character and events presented may or may not be true.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | paisano | duck | duck rillettes | French | charcuterie

Read more...

Duck Confit

Confit to be Tried



Sometimes it takes me forever to get around to things — years even. It's because there are so many things I want to do, so many things I have to do, and because sometimes when I have time to do some of the things I want to do there are things I need to do instead that I also haven’t gotten around to. Nevertheless, "God willin' and the crick don’t rise," I do eventually get around to most things.

The particular thing I've finally gotten around to in this case is making duck confit.

Duck confit has long been on my list, I initially planned on making it a few weeks after I made pork confit, somehow I didn't get around to it. Oh sure, I got busy, but the real sticking point was the duck fat. The idea of buying rendered fat from a company such as Hudson Valley Foie Gras (HVFG) offended me. I can get both pork and beef fat free at the grocery. If I need duck fat I should just cook enough ducks to have the fat I need. Paying for fat just seems wrong.

However, I never managed to cook enough ducks in a short enough period of time to accumulate enough fat to immerse even one leg in. The problem is duck fat is so good that it simply doesn't last long in my freezer. (Try making a grilled cheese sandwich using duck fat instead of butter or adding a dollop to grits or polenta.) So when NPR's Kitchen Window accepted my proposal for an article about beans I broke down and placed an order for 2 pounds of duck fat (1.75, actually) and six legs.

Beans persuaded me to make duck confit?Yes. Specifically cassoulet, that marvelous, multi-step bean dish from France. This is to be the primary recipe of the article and although you can skip the goose or duck confit it's just not the same. So I looked up HVFG on the Web and placed an order. Two days later I received a large box containing six vacuum-packed fresh legs, a quart of duck fat, and 2 duck breasts. I didn't order the breasts but I learned that HVFG often tosses a freebie into an order — you've gotta love a company that gives away duck breasts. I'll be smoking those babies.

With duck on the way, I needed a recipe. I began with the recipe from Charcuterie then moved on to the 'Net. I also queried Derrick Schneider at An Obsession with Food who had written a blog post on duck confit that had stuck in my mind. Derrick was a tremendous help and sent me three e-mails with suggestions and advice. I owe Derrick something tasty.

So I combined everything I'd learned and did the following:

Duck Confit

3 duck legs (with thighs)
1 qt duck fat (minimum)
Seasoning:
20 g kosher salt
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp Herbes de Provence
3 small bay leaves
2 cloves garlic — sliced

I trimmed all visible fat from the legs and trimmed the skin so it just barely covered the breast (harvesting more fat). The fat went into a small pot with a cup of water over low heat where I rendered the fat until the solid parts were mahogany brown. This garnered about another cup of fat. I drained the solid chunks on a paper towel, sprinkled them with sea salt, and enjoyed a snack.

Meanwhile, I mixed together the salt, pepper, and Herbes de Provence in a pinch bowl. I rubbed this mixture into the legs, then placed them cut-side up in a deep baking dish, rubbed in the garlic on the cut side, and pressed a small bay leaf into the meat. I covered the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerated it for about 36 hours.

At the end of that time I rinsed the seasoning mixture off the legs, dried them, and arranged them in a dutch oven. Then I added the duck fat I'd purchased along with the fat I'd rendered after trimming. As you can see in this photo, a quart plus 1 cup of fat barely covers three legs.

At this point there are three options: cook the confit on the stove-top, cook it in the oven, or do both. I elected to do both.

I brought the fat to a simmer (190F) on the stove-top then placed the pot in a 225F oven. I pulled out one leg at the two-hour mark, the next at three hours and the third at four hours.

Notes:
Ruhlman recommended starting on the stove and then continuing in a 180F oven for as long as 10 hours. Derrick recommended cooking on the stove top (again at 180 - 190F) for around 2 hours, and Madeleine Kamman suggests a 275F oven for 2 - 2 1/2 hours. The real key here is that you're not frying the duck, you're poaching it in fat. It's a gentle process.

I have a bias toward oven cooking — I like the indirect heat coming from all sides for this type of dish. But I didn't want to wait 10 hours. Nevertheless, Kamman's 275F oven seemed harsh, so I chose 225F.

As for the seasoning mix, the recipes were all over the map. I decided on the Herbes de Provence because I like the mixture and thought it would be perfect for the cassoulet. I did mean to add some allspice but forgot. Spices we associate with sweet (as opposed to savory) flavors figure prominantly in a lot of the recipes I found. I've quit making such presumptions about the fitness of one flavor for one kind of dish and the fitness of another flavor for another kind of dish. But I understand my culinary roots and so where I need to begin learning. I plan to try "sweet" spices on the next three legs.

Many of the recipes I perused recommended 3 - 4 cups of fat for as many as six legs. Wrong. As you can see in the photo 5 cups of fat just barely covered three (moulard) legs. I found the same apparent disconnect when I made pork confit — not nearly enough fat called for. Perhaps it's simply that my pots are the wrong size and so require more fat. Or perhaps it's because the writers are afraid to mention how much fat you really need. But whatever the case, it's better to have too much fat than too little. And trust me, you'll find a use for it.

Results:
Each leg was good, but the 4-hour leg clearly shone for tenderness and savor. Next time I'm planning on four hours in the oven at 225F. The seasoning mix was surprisingly mild despite the 36-hour cure. Part of the explanation is that the skin side absorbs relatively little flavoring, but I still plan to increase the herbs used and choose just a few. (note that I expect the spices such as allspice and nutmeg to have more impact). Nevertheless, even the salt had less impact than I expected.

There's still a lot of fat (even after 4 hours) under the skin over the thigh. Depending on your plans for the confit this may or not be good. In the cassoulet I suspect I want that fat to render during cooking, but for rillets perhaps I don't. I'm going to score the skin on one leg next time.

The duck fat can be filtered through cheese cloth and reused. Because I have another three legs to work on, I decided that instead of literally storing the legs in fat that I would filter it, let it cool, then dip each leg in the fat before wrapping in plastic and storing in the freezer. I ended up with six cups of duck fat (meaning another cup rendered out while making the confit), clearly you need to have duck fat to make duck fat.

And in case it's not clear, confit is more than worth the trouble. The poorest leg I made was like a bite of heaven.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | charcuterie | preservation| duck

| confit

Read more...

Smoked Duck with Cranberry Coulis

A Small Affair



This past Thanksgiving day dawned gray and chilly. There's still a bit of color on the trees, but most of the leaves have fallen. To some degree this harks back to childhood Thanksgivings when it was often cold and rainy, although it was usually colder than this and almost all of the trees would be bare except the oaks, which keep their brown leaves throughout the winter.

I spent most of the day on the phone working the Chefsline hotline. It was a busy day, as you might expect, but not as interesting as last year, no really weird questions or tough problems. The most common question this year was about cooking two turkey breasts at once. It's a good question but the answer is simple — treat as separate birds (not one big bird) but allow some extra time for cooking. And between calls I managed to do my prep for dinner.

Thanksgiving was a small affair this year

Thanksgiving was a small affair this year, my sister wasn't able to join us and as usual my brothers' families and their distance from here prevented them from coming. So it was just my parents and myself. I made some Cece Fritos to munch on before dinner, and brined a couple of duck breasts in a cider brine. I smoked the breasts and made a cranberry/orange coulis to go on them.

My mother and I both had an urge for dressing, so she made some and I made a smoked-turkey gravy thinking the smoky flavor in the gravy would complement the smoky flavor of the duck — it did. We also had braised red cabbage, sautéed green beans, and store-bought plum pudding with assorted cheeses for dessert.

Smoked Duck Breasts w/Cranberry Coulis
Serves 4.

Duck Breasts & Brine:
3 1/2-lb duck breasts
2 c apple cider
1/4 c kosher salt
2 tbsp sugar
4 cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Place all ingredients except breasts in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Cool to room temperature, place in the refrigerator and chill. Score the skin of the breasts in a cross-hatch pattern, being careful not to cut through to the skin. Put breasts in a zip-lock bag and add brine. Seal and refrigerate for 8 hours.

Lightly season the skin side of breasts with salt and pepper. Smoke breasts in a stove-top smoker for 30 - 35 minutes. Pour the rendered fat into a skillet, place over medium-high heat, and briefly cook the breasts, skin-side down, to crisp the skin. Slice, plate, and spoon warm cranberry coulis over the slices.

Cranberry Coulis

6 oz cranberries — picked over
1 lg orange — zested and juiced
1/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 c orange liqueur (Triple Sec, Cointreau, Grand Marnier)

You should have about a cup of fresh orange juice, if not, add water (or more orange juice to bring to 1 cup). Put all ingredients in a small sauce pan including orange zest but excluding liqueur and simmer until berries burst — 15 - 18 minutes. Add liqueur and process in a blender or food processor until pureed. (Note, this is a case where I love my immersion blender because it minimizes cleanup.) Warm before serving.

This coulis is also excellent on roasted pork, lamb, turkey, and chicken.

A simple meal but good and festive, and we were happy to share it with each other. After all, that's what Thanksgiving's about.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | smoked duck | cranberry coulis | thanksgiving | holiday

Read more...