I have a duck and nobody cares

I was going to make a Chinese-style hoisin-glazed duck for New Year's Eve, but those plans went awry. Days later I found that I couldn't have done it after all because the duck hadn't made any progress defrosting in my garage refrigerator. Possibly I had the temperature turned down too low. Possible it's because the garage is ice cold. Anyway, now it is finally thawed and the skin is dry, but the party moment has passed. So I want to make the best use of this duck, and I'm thinking:

- make confit from the legs for cassoulet
- save the fat for fries and such
- use the breast meat for some neat little appetizers such as empanadas or pot stickers

Any other suggestions?

All good ideas. Although I haven't made confit before - it's always on the to-do list - I figured that this is something that it is better to make in bulk, rather than just two legs, because you can buy a large tub of duck fat. I guess it depends on how much, or little, duck fat you have at the ready.

Another good idea for the legs is to braise them.

I like the ideas for the duck breast. I usually just sear them, but your ideas are a bit more interesting.

I've never made duck confit before, but I figured now was as good a time as any to learn how. I've always wanted to try to make cassoulet. Sounds like I'm going to need more duck.

Hi,

In one of Julia Child and Company books, she makes the perfect duck by deconstructing it. Skin is made in cracklings. Deskinned legs are brushed in mustard, rolled in crumbs and baked. The breast was cooked on its own.

If you find yourself the solo diner of this duck, each of these preps could be a meal for you.

Regards,

Putting the whole duck in the oven, then eating it works really well too. Probably my favorite duck prep, in fact.

I'm with Kenny. That will bronze the fat up a bit, too, which makes for tastier fries. Roast duck is gooood eats!

Geo

What's wrong with your original plan? That hoisin glazed duck sounds pretty good to me! You could cook it in a Weber Kettle or WSM to get some charcoal taste, if you have the means to do so. I'd gladly help eat it. I docare, where duck is concerned.

I've had excellent luck confiting duck leg joints without additional fat - after the usual salting/spicing prep - by using a Food Saver vacuum and a water bath.

Out NW Side here I've been doing some shopping at Produce Center in Gladstone Park, 5820 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60646.

I ran across frozen duck for $2.49/LB. Picked one up, about 11 bucks, and defrosted it for last night's dinner. I too was wondering what to do with it because duck has never been on our meat rotation at this house because the wife used to have pet ducks as a kid. We can eat chickens all day long but don't even think about duck. Anyhoo, I decided to go as basic as I could but cooking outside. Treated it essentially like a chicken. I cut off lots of excess fat and sliced some slits under the thighs and wings and took a toothpick and poked the crap out of the skin all over. Kosher salt and pepper only. I setup the 22.5 Weber kettle with lump charcoal on two sides going indirect heat. I placed the duck on a grate and the grate on a roasting pan in the middle of the weber. Treated it essentially like a chicken. During the cook I turned the bird four times. I cooked it until thigh hit 170 degrees F. Pulled it and tented with foil. Skin was nice and toasty/crisp. Meat was moist. Only problem was it had the flavor of hot charcoal. For some reason with chicken that is great. It was underwhelming with the duck. I thinking the next one I do I'll try gas as fuel instead. I also have access to a tabletop chicken rotisserie , and that might be even better. I''m also wondering if I should have placed water in the roasting pan so the liquid fat doesn't smoke. Maybe the fat smoke tainted the flavor?

I am glad that this thread, which I'd forgotten I'd started, resurfaced, because duck is on my mind again, as it always seems to be around Christmas and New Year's.

I am curious to see what answers you get to your question, kenji, about water in the drip pan to prevent a smoky flavor. I only have a gas grill, and so could do a duck on a grate in a pan with a little water in it, but I wonder if skin crispiness would suffer as a result. When I roast a chicken or turkey in the oven, I put just enough liquid in the pan to prevent the drippings from burning (and setting off the smoke alarm); I wonder if the same approach is suitable for roasting a duck on a covered gas grill. In winter.

I have another question: is there a "season" during which fresh or fairly recently frozen duck is most likely to be found in grocery stores in the US? A relative who lived for several years in China and other Asian countries said something once that gave me this idea, but I don't remember the details. In essence, he said something like, if you buy a frozen duck during months X through Y, it's probably been frozen much longer than you would like to think. I usually see frozen duck in stores near me for $2.99/lb, but I can't help wondering how long it's been frozen, and if it's been something like a year, if it will affect its flavor.

Now I'm thinking about roasting/grill roasting a duck a month or so for a few months and trying some things and gain experience with it. Really like the whole roast hoisin-glazed duck and duck empanadas and pot stickers ideas right now. Just hope my friend nicknamed "Duck" never sees this thread.

Katie wrote: Just hope my friend nicknamed "Duck" never sees this thread.

Ducksond?

Kenji,

This old thread might give you a few ideas of ways to cook the duck outside. I'm partial to the 5 spice version I posted about toward the top of the thread and have done my ducks this way several times. I've since switched from cooking them in the WSM in favor of using the rotisserie on my 22" Weber kettle. I still prep the duck in the same way, I just cook it on a different cooker. I find the rotisserie really helps drain the fat and crisp up the skin in a way that the WSM just can't.

P.S. I still care when it comes to duck.

With such a good price for duck, perhaps you'll want to create multiple duck dishes. Here's a duck recipe that is quite different from those suggested above. It's from Peru, and it's yummy. (It's my version of a dish taught to me by a friend who lived in Peru, so not ignoring any copyright laws here. This is mine to share.)

Arroz con Pato
Duck with Cilantro Rice

5- to 5-1/2-pound duck, cut into 6 to 8 serving pieces
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
3 12-ounce bottles of beer
2 cups long grain white rice
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup cooked fresh green peas or thoroughly defrosted frozen peas.

Trim as much fat as possible off the duck. Mix the lemon juice, cumin, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper, then use your fingers to brush each piece of duck with the mixture. Place the duck in a plate large enough to accommodate pieces in a single layer. Pour over any of the lemon juice that is left. Cover the plate with foil, and let it rest at room temperature for 3 hours or refrigerated for 6 hours, turning pieces once or twice during this time.

Remove the duck pieces from the marinade. Prick the duck’s skin in a few places with a fork or knife tip. (This will permit fat beneath the skin to escape during browning.) Discard any remaining marinade.

In a large saucepan or casserole, heat the oil over high heat until a light haze forms above it. Add the duck and brown it well on all sides, turning frequently. Drain off and discard (or save for another application) all but 2 Tbs. of oil/fat from the pan. Pour the beer over the duck, and bring to a boil over high heat, scraping any bits of brown from the bottom or sides of the pan into the liquid. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and let the duck simmer for 45 minutes, or until a leg shows no resistance when pierced with the tip of a knife. Transfer the duck to a heated plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Pour off the liquid from the saucepan, strain, and measure. You should have about 4 cups of liquid.* Return the liquid to the pan. Bring the broth to a boil, stir in the rice, and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer undisturbed for 20 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the cooking liquid. Stir in the cilantro, peas, and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Arrange duck pieces on top of the rice, cover the pan, and return pan to low heat for a few minutes to heat duck through. Serves 4.

Note: The beer you use should be a pale, golden or ale-type beer, not a dark beer, which will overpower the flavor of the duck.

*If the amount of liquid/broth differs from this by more than 1/2 a cup, adjust the quantity of rice according to the directions on the package of whatever rice you’re using. If you have well over 4 cups, you may also want to check to see if there is a lot of fat, and adjust the amount by skimming some of the fat off the broth.

Cynthia wrote:With such a good price for duck, perhaps you'll want to create multiple duck dishes..

Thanks Cynthia! I'm going back to get another one and will try your recipe.

I saved the trimmed fat and rendered some for my first try ever this morning. Wow, tasty!

Here's an Imgur photo album of my process if anyone is interested:

http://imgur.com/a/Up2mX#0

kenji wrote:I saved the trimmed fat and rendered some for my first try ever this morning. Wow, tasty!

Here's an Imgur photo album of my process if anyone is interested:

http://imgur.com/a/Up2mX#0

Wow -- do those cracklings look good. And you can never go wrong cooking with duck fat. Thanks for sharing that. Makes me want to run out and see what duck is going for at my local market. Don't even need to make a recipe -- I just want the cracklings now.

Another technique you might try is to cook the duck in two steps: first steam it to partially cook it and render a lot of the fat. Then cook on a grill (or in the oven or a try pan) to finish cooking and crisp the skin. A nice feature of this method is that you can do the first step well ahead of time and then finish the pieces when you are closer to meal time.

kenji wrote:I saved the trimmed fat and rendered some for my first try ever this morning. Wow, tasty!

Here's an Imgur photo album of my process if anyone is interested:

http://imgur.com/a/Up2mX#0

i'll have a double order of those cracklings please