Why a duck? Let me count the ways.

Roasting a whole duck is something I often do - and occasionally I am actually able to get the leg meat done without overcooking the breast. But I have found what for me is a far better way to enjoy duck - deconstructing the duck (decoupage) and optimizing the use of each part. The surprising thing is that it isn't very hard to divvy up a duck. It takes me maybe 5-10 minutes at most.

Here is what I did with a bird I got at Saturday's Farmers' Market:



Breasts (the jacket)
I sauted the boneless beauties up today to make Casserole of Duck Breasts with Potatoes.


What could be better than crispy-skin, succulent duck meat over bed of potatoes that have been cooked in the fat rendered from sauteeing the breast (with some onions and pancetta)?

Bones
I made a rich stock from the bones, wings, organs (not the liver). It will be used on Wednesday for a risotto.

Legs
I'm making a duck confit sous vide:



There are four legs because I actually bought 2 ducks, I'll be using then to make cassoulet from scratch over the weekend (look for my upcoming post "On the way to cassoulet".

Fat
I rendered this down for duck schmaltz and gribenes. I'll also be using some of it for the cassoulet.

Liver (not shown)
The fois certainly isn't gras, but they make a great pate anyway. I'm freezing them until I have enough.

Bill/SFNM

Bill,

When it comes duck, I'm always looking for new ways to enjoy it. I've never cooked sous vide and I was wondering what that small amount of liquid is in the "pouches". Is it something you added or is it rendered fat?

stevez wrote:Bill,

I was wondering what that small amount of liquid is in the "pouches". Is it something you added or is it rendered fat?

You are correct. It is a little rendered fat I put in each pouch just to make sure there was a enough to ensure a silky texture. I'll be getting it back (and more).

Bill/SFNM

q: will you be feasting on duck for Thnxgiving instead of the typical <insert bird here>?

TonyC wrote:q: will you be feasting on duck for Thnxgiving instead of the typical <insert>?

TonyC,

We'll be eating heritage <insert> from the same poultry farm that raises the ducks. Although I prefer duck, I can't imagine T-Day without <insert>.

Bill/SFNM

HI,

The first time I tried this method of deconstructing the duck and cooking each part optimally was via one of Julia Child and Company cookbooks.

The legs had their skin removed, which was made into gribenes/cracklings. The naked legs were then smeared with Dijon mustard, rolled in bread crumbs and baked.

The breast was simply roasted.

I did it a few times and really liked it. My family, specifically my Dad, wasn't too thrilled. Now he is Mr. Anti-Cholesterol, so I guess I can make it again because he won't eat it anyway!

Thanks for reminding me of this technique. FYI - You really have me pining for a wine cooler since your post a few weeks ago. It's terrific how we all influence each other.

Regards,

I've experimented with roasting duck over a bed of thinly sliced Yukon golds or Idahos. I line the bottom of a two level roaster (the kind with drip-through level on top) with heavy foil, lubed with olive oil, and covered evenly with the sliced, salted potatoes, appropriately peppered and herbed. My initial idea was to sacrifice the potatoes to keep the fat splattering the oven, but I found I like the potatoes every bit as much as the duck. What I haven't figured out, like you mention, is how to cook the duck evenly, so I've gone to just the breasts. The problem there is that the breasts cook faster than the potatoes. What a great problem to have.

Choey,

In this dish, I browned the breast (skin scored) and, while it rested, the rendered fat from the breast was used to cook the onions, pancetta, and thinly sliced red potatoes. Everything done at the same time. I used a mandolin to get the potato slices very thing so they would cook quickly.

Bill/SFNM

BTW, do I get bonus points for a subject line that combines the Marx Brothers with Elizabeth Barrett Browning?

Sounds good, I'll give it a try.

Besides the obvious motivation of "mmm, duck," a secondary motivation for my dish is very crisp duck skin with minimum effort (sort of a Lagrangian reduction of the laws of duck). I'm roasting at 500°, so I take the duck breasts out after 25 or so minutes and continue the potatoes (3ish lbs) another 10-15. I tried red potatoes, but they get a bit mushy under the duck fat. I've been using thyme in the potatoes, but I see you've got laurel in yours. I'll try that next time.

You've long had bonus points from me. Now I stand mutely in awe.

Bill, thanks for another inspiring post!*
I've been thinking of sous viding myself and have a couple of questions about your setup. It looks like a slow cooker/roaster filled with water – does the water heat evenly throughout or do you occasionally stir?

(Even more) bonus points if you make helzl.

* Bill's in his kitchen, all's right in the world

sazerac wrote:
I've been thinking of sous viding myself and have a couple of questions about your setup. It looks like a slow cooker/roaster filled with water – does the water heat evenly throughout or do you occasionally stir?

sazerac:

It is a cheapo GE Roastmaster. Water is such a noble cooking medium - the temperature is pretty uniform throughout without stirring. I think this roaster is designed to use air rather than water as the source of heat for the food because the temperature control on the front doesn't correspond at all to that of the water. But once the water and food come up to temp (180F for the duck confit), the temp barely changed - I adjusted it just a few times during the 9 hour cooking time.

The world is indeed right being back in the kitchen with my family at the table schmoozing with me while I cook, the recovering dog at my feet with one eye closed and the other watching for morsels of food that might fall on the floor, bread on the counter rising, stocks simmering, sausages curing.... Much to be grateful for his Thanksgiving.

sazerac wrote:I've been thinking of sous viding myself [/size]

Sounds painful.

Cynthia wrote:

sazerac wrote:I've been thinking of sous viding myself [/size]

Sounds painful.

Cynthia,

I don't think it is that painful. As long there is some kind of air tube so sazerac can breath, a water temp of about 140F could be relaxing and will keep him out of the danger zone for food-borne illness.

Bill/SFNM

Yeah, thanks Bill - with a rubber duckie beside me, all's well.
Bonus points for alluding to a Robert Browning work?

Yes, bonus points for Browning.

My response to Cynthia was reminiscent of Elmer Fudd

Seriously, sazerac, what do you plan to prepare sous vide?

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:It is a cheapo GE Roastmaster. Water is such a noble cooking medium - the temperature is pretty uniform throughout without stirring. I think this roaster is designed to use air rather than water as the source of heat for the food because the temperature control on the front doesn't correspond at all to that of the water. But once the water and food come up to temp (180F for the duck confit), the temp barely changed - I adjusted it just a few times during the 9 hour cooking time.

Interesting the temperature chosen is 180 degrees. When I pasteurize pickles, I have to keep the jars in the temperature range of 180-185 for 30 minutes.

What are you consulting for your sous-vide methodology? I don't pretend to know very much about sous vide. I must admit surprise by the 9 hour cooking time when I compare it to my pasteurizing pickles experience.

Thanks ... I'm glad your fur ball is doing better.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:
What are you consulting for your sous-vide methodology? I don't pretend to know very much about sous vide. I must admit surprise by the 9 hour cooking time when I compare it to my pasteurizing pickles experience.

Thanks ... I'm glad your fur ball is doing better.

Cathy2,

This duck confit method comes from Paula Wolfert's Cooking of Southwest France, an amazing book. The receipe for the duck breast on the potatoes is also from there.

The whole point of confits is a very long cooking at low temps. I tried a similar thing using fresh cepes in butter in Foodsaver bags for 48 hours. Although I still need to get a better handle on cooking time, the silky texture and intense flavor was a revelation.

Bill/SFNM

I have used the deconstruction cooking method several times with a goose, where my primary goal is rendered fat. I find that a breast with the fat crisped, and sauteed or grilled rare is much more to my taste than roasted through. I cook the legs and thighs as I render the fat, and by the time all the fat is rendered, and the cracklins crispy, the meat is done too.

-Will

Bill/SFNM wrote:Seriously, sazerac, what do you plan to prepare sous vide?

Bill, I really meant I was thinking of sous vide in general at this point – I still have to gather the requisite tools for it. I started doing a little reading on the subject since the thread on brisket sous vide which you initiated (did you ever try that brisket?). In a couple of months or so I'll have access to constant temperature water baths (like these). These are usually kept on all the time (37, 55 ºC and such – but temp can be changed if free of course; besides these will be 'mine' in a sense) I thought it would be nice to pop in a pouch when I leave at night – so I can have some lunch ready the next day . I also will get a vacuum food-saver soon –especially as experiments in smoking at the home lab are going well So everything is converging nicely to trying sous vide shortly.
I guess that's the reason I asked about your setup - interesting that a roaster maintains a temperature well (for a 10th or so of the price of the linked baths!). Another question – looking at your vacuum packed duck legs – are those opaque backed food-saver pouches?

To answer your question specifically, I was thinking of cooking fish sous vide. I enjoyed gently poached fish, even starting with frozen pieces (which I don't thaw, following a tip from a René Verdon book - keeps the natural juices in, more flavorful and less prone to drying out if not poaching). Given that I just want to denature the protein, I figured fish would be ideal to start tinkering with sous vide.

Thanks for sharing your expertise!

sazerac,

I did try the brisket sous vide at ~170F for ~36 hours. It was a partial success. I had the great idea to place a reduction sauce in the pouch along with the brisket in the hopes the flavor would infuse into the meat. At the same time, I left most of the fat on the brisket - big mistake since the sauce was completely diluted by the rendered fat. But the texture was outstanding. So at some point I'll try again with most of the fat removed before sealing in the pouch.

I do plan to do a daube sous vide soon with some short ribs. I'll post results if it is any good.

Yes, opaque-backed pouches.

Good luck in your sous vide adventures. Please post results!

Bill/SFNM

Cathy2 wrote:FYI - You really have me pining for a wine cooler since your post a few weeks ago. It's terrific how we all influence each other.

Regards,

Not just you, mine should be arriving via UPS on Monday. I managed to snipe one off of ebay for considerably less than retail. I spent a bit of time looking before finally winning an auction.

One thing to keep in mind - as of late, it'd seem that the trend is towards thermoelectric coolers utilizing peltier arrays to control temperature. This virtually eliminates any vibration but I really don't think these units are capable of getting cold enough for the curing and refrigeration purposes that Bill has mentioned. I made sure to contact the seller and ensure mine's a normal compressor-based fridge.

It's been sort of a toy week for me - finally picked up a WSM, the wine fridge and the Charcuterie cookbook. I'm planning on trying to do steps one and two of the 5 step method this weekend. (I hope my neighbors like chicken. I bought almost 20lbs of it to smoke, tonight.) So, yes - saying we influence each other is putting it lightly.

Pete,

What manufacturer did you settle on? How many bottles does your hold?

Thanks for the techology tip.

Regards,

Cathy,

I ended up getting a Sunbeam Model No. SA12695. The seller didn't really list a bottle count, but instead said it was ~2' x 2'. Accounting for the compressor in the bottom rear, that'll give me enough room for my intended use of this thing.

Here's a picture -

Still working on the original 2 ducks. Here is today's lunch for a cold day: a salad of Le Puy lentils, lightly dressed with a vinaigrette with duck fat instead of oil, with a crispy duck leg confit, drizzled with hot duck confit juice, served with a piece of grilled bread brushed with duck fat. No such thing as too much duck!



I still have a whole duck breast which I think I'll stuff with fruit. I also have a bunch of duck stock for a risotto.

Bill,

It looks stunning.

Can I ask how you prepared the lentil salad? Thanks.

gleam wrote:Bill,

It looks stunning.

Can I ask how you prepared the lentil salad? Thanks.

Thank you, Ed. The lentil recipe was from Patricia Well's "Bistro Cooking" which I recently acquired at the recommendation of PIGMON. Couldn't be easier. Simmer the lentils until cooked with some clove-studded onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Toss with a dressing of red wine vinegar and oil (I used duck fat). Salt and pepper.

Bill/SFNM

Bill,
How does the sous vide duck confit differ from duck confit?

Kit

kit wrote:Bill,
How does the sous vide duck confit differ from duck confit?

Kit

Hiya, Kit!

The main difference is that it was just easier. I didn't need much duck fat for the cooking. In the end, I had convenient single serving pouches rather than a big pot with all of the legs akimbo (wow, I've been waiting almost all my life to use "legs akimbo" in a sentence!). When I did a big pot of 32 legs, it was hard to remove a leg without it falling apart.

I think the texture was superior, but this is based on a single test with some really high-quality duck legs. I'll need to do many more tests. The flavor was rich and intense, but, again, much more tasting will be required.


Bill/SFNM

Hey Bill,

Convenience of handling and using less precious fat that can be used for other purposes are good enough reasons for me. Did you ever confit the breast? I did that once and it came out very dense. I suspect that it needs more time than the fattier leg quarters.

I haven't bagged any ducks this year. Between bow hunting and looking for grouse and pheasants with Hank, the ducks are safe. I did get a very tender corn fed doe that is not going to last long. I think I should get a GE roaster to try venison sous vide.

My latest quest is cheese making. I can get all sorts of good aged cheeses but there is a serious lack of fresh cheeses here in the great white north. So far, I have a decent mozzarella and ricotta under my belt. Another pursuit for science majors.

How is the coffee roasting coming? My roaster broke and we panicked. Hearthware was quick in sending a new one but for a few days we suffered the oily charcoal that passes for 'gourmet' coffee.

Kit