Duck Dinner: several ways, and appetizers, sides, salads

[Richard Kilgore]

Today a friend invited me to join him in cooking a duck dinner some time in the next month. He has four or five wild ducks he shot in Illinois this season and we are interested in doing them in three or more different ways.

We're interested in suggestions for various ways to do the ducks, as well as suggestions for appetizers, sides and salads that would go well with each duck dish. Plans are not final, but I think the dinner will be for six to eight people.

I am looking forward to what you all come up with.

Thanks,

Richard

[Peter the eater]

Richard, a friend with ducks is a friend indeed. What species and how big?

[Richard Kilgore]

Richard, a friend with ducks is a friend indeed. What species and how big?

←

Just checked with him. Three Mallards, one Canvassback - all probably not more than two pounds, and one small Widgeon.

[Heartsurgeon]

take the duck legs/thighs off all the birds.

coat the flesh side with kosher salt/thyme mixture for 8-12 hours.

rinse off the salt/thyme.

use a vacumn sealer to bag all the legs with a couple sticks of butter.

no vacumn sealer? use a baggie (stick all the stuff in the baggie, lower the baggie under water to push out all the air around the duck, and then seal the baggie shut.

get a crockpot full of water at 180-190 degrees (use the lowest setting to keep the temp fairly stable at 180 degrees).

put the baggie in the crock pot (keep it underwater with a small plate) for 8 hours....

after 8 hours, take the legs out carefully (they may fall apart)..if they stay intact, you can crisp the skin up by briefly searing the skin in a hot skillet.

be prepared for the best duck you've ever tasted (sous vide duck confit!)

if your duck legs are fatty enough, you can leave out the sticks of butter.

i have done with turkey legs as well (12 hours on those), and the result is fantastic.

it's so good, you'll lose interest in the breast meat!!

[jackal10]

As it happened I did this last weekend.

Amuse: Chopped duck liver on sourdough toast; smoked duck breast

Soup: Duck consomme with truffled duck ravioli

Meat: Duck three ways: Roast breast, legs and thighs brasied with prunes, duck Foie Gras; duck fat roast potatoes, jerusalem artichoke puree, buttered cabbage (could be wine braised red cabbage)

Cold Sweet: Tangerine givree

Hot Sweet: Nectarine Tarte Tatin

Cheese

Coffee

The Foie could be a seperate course or not at all.

CHinese style (for example duck mini spring rolls) could be another amuse

Let me know if you want rcipes or anything.

As Heartsurgeon says sosu-vide is the way to go

[nickrey]

You could try it cooked Asian style.

First make a master stock (see this link for a discussion of this topic and how it can be kept as a master stock in perpetuity)

The ingredients are:

500 ml soy sauce (I use a mix of dark and light)

500 ml chinese cooking wine (shao xing)

125g rock sugar (I substitute palm sugar)

10 - 12 scallions (cut into three inch lengths)

1 large knob of ginger, peeled and sliced

10 cloves of garlic, crushed

5 star anise

2 cinnamon sticks

3 pieces dried tangerine peel (substitute orange peel if this is not available)

(some of these ingredients may not be readily available to you, try this link for an Americanized version of this recipe)

Place ingredients in large pan with 4 litres of water. Bring to boil and then simmer for 30-40 minutes to create the basic stock.

In the meantime prepare the duck by removing as much fat and loose fatty skin as you can (I render the fat down and use it for other cooking). Rinse the duck under cold water and pat dry.

Place duck breast side down in the master stock and bring to the boil; turn down to a very gentle simmer and cook for twenty minutes. Turn the duck over and simmer for another twenty minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and let the duck sit in the stock until it is cold (this continues cooking the bird very gently).

Once fully cooled, remove the duck, allowing stock inside the bird to drain back into the pot.

Cut the duck into serving pieces. You could serve the duck with some reduced master stock or refrigerate it for later use and a second cooking through deep frying (my recommendation).

Deep Frying (heat oil in deep fryer or wok to around 350 degrees F (180 C).

Carefully dry the duck pieces, dredge in flour and then deep fry until the skin is crispy.

Serving suggestions:

1. Crispy skinned duck with plum sauce, stir-fried bok choy and rice

2. With a small container of Chinese salt and pepper mix, sliced lime or lemon and a small side salad.

3. Slice the crispy skinned duck, make small crepes and serve (as for Peking Duck) as rolled pancakes each containing sliced duck, a scallion, and hoisin sauce.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks everyone. These are ambitious, delicious sounding ideas and we would be more than pleased to see more.

[tsquare]

Shredded duck with waffles is a fun dish.

I'm drawing a blank on creativity - duck salad with watercress and pom?

[heidih]

I am not familiar with wild ducks but I can share a menu I used to do with domestic ones.

1. Duck broth made from the carcass served with hand cut fine egg noodles and tiny quenelles using some meat scraps from the carcass and the liver. Snipped fresh herbs over before serving

2. B'stilla using the breasts. Accompanied by quick pickled cucumbers and carrot shavings. I go minimal on the sugar since duck has a natural sweetness.

3. Legs and thighs prepared in the style of a classic French coq au vin

4. Salad of butter or red leaf lettuce and light mustard vinegrette

I prefer the salad course between 2 and 3

[santo_grace]

Cracklin! Make cracklin out of the skin (from the flap near the neck) and put it over the red leaf lettuce w/the light mustard dressing.

[LindaK]

Perhaps because it is 0 degrees F here, I am dreaming of warmer climates. Lately I've been reading Paula Wolfert and Ana Sortun for ideas for Moroccan and Turkish cuisine. So while I don't have a recipe to share, I do think duck would lend itself well to those flavors. heidih mentioned b'stilla.

I recently purchased some pomegranate molasses, and think that it could be the basis of a delicious spicy-sweet glaze for a roast duck. And though my thoughts of accompaniments are likely too casual for what you have in mind, I'd consider a potato gratin sans cheese or a puree of cauliflower of some sort.

Please report back on what you eventually decide to make.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks for the additional ideas. Keep them coming. We are not committed at this point to complex, casual, sous vide, hunting camp or any other style or level of cooking. There are lots of great suggestions here that we can draw from...and perhaps they will be of interest to others with a few ducks, wild or domestic.

[Anna N]

Much more humble than many of the other suggestions but trust me this recipe is an amazing way to cook duck legs:

open braised duck legs

[jackal10]

Did it again last night...for 10 people

Photos do not do it justice

Amuse:

Duck saucisson

Gougere

Quail tea eggs in pea shoot nest

Duck chopped liver, made with duck eggs on sourdough spelt toasts

Smoked salmon pate in rye savoury macarons

Wine: Vouvray Petillant Brut Huet, 1986 en magnum. Wonderful.

Duck consomme with truffled duck mousseline ravioli

Wines: Madiera 1897 and 1948.

Still amazing. Madiera lasts forever. I thought the 1948 more complex

Filet of dover sole Judic (with braised lettuce)

Wine: Rolly Gassman Riesling Pflanzerreben de Rorschwihr1990

Duck three ways:

Roast breast (SV 8 hours at 55C, then browned)

Legs and thighs braised iwith prunes (SV 12 hours at 82C)

Pan fried duck Foie Gras

Duck fat roast potatoes

Steamed jerusalem artichoke

Brussel sprouts, chestnuts, carrots with honey

Wines: Lafite 1954 (Fading) Mouton-Rothschild 1973 (not fading; the year they became a first growth) both en magnum

Fruit tarts: apricot, apple, and nectarine Tatin

Wine: Quarts de Chaume Domaine Des Baumard 1978 en magnum

Cheese: Vacherin Mont d'Or, Montgomery Cheddar 2003, Colston Basset Stilton, and a smoked Polish artisan ewes milk cheese

Coffee and financiers

I'm moving a little slowly this morning...

Edited January 18, 2009 by jackal10 (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

That's wonderful! I'm impressed that you're moving at all.

[LindaK]

holy cow, jackal10, that is one impressive menu and carte de vin. thanks for the photos.

[nickrey]

Thanks for the pictures Jackal10, it really brought your menu alive. And those wines! Any one would merit a tasting all of its own.

[meicjos41]

Duck Prosciutto

Take the beasts off with the skin, and cover with salt in an airtight container in the fridge for 24 hours. Rinse off all of the salt and dry the breasts with towels add some pepper and wrap them up in cheesecloth then hang them in your basement for a week.

[dawgdoc]

Here is what I have done with duck breast recently:

I really like using duck skewered on kabobs. It really helps tame some of the taste to both marinate and skewer the duck with other items.

The first preparation is hawaiian style marinade with brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, fresh ginger, red pepper flakes and garlic (this is the hawaiian marinate in Saveur (Feb. 2009 issue if I remember correctly). I skewered the duck with green onion and pineapple chunks.

The second preparation is using za'atar and greek yogurt. I dusted the duck with za'atar, salt and pepper. I then added 1 to 2 tablespoons of za'atar to 1 pint of greek yogurt. The duck was marinated overight in this mixture. The duck was then skewered with cherry tomatoes and chunks of sweet onion. This preparation smell great even before cooking, as the za'atar is so fragrant.

Both sets of skewers were then grilled.

[sadistick]

Wow...that dinner looks great....but....

Those wines....fantastic! Best I have had is a '82 Mouton Rothschild, but those....just wow.

[Richard Kilgore]

Turned out that the timing worked such that I did not cook the wild ducks with my friend last year. But...we're going to do ones from this year's hunting for Christmas dinner. While we are not aiming for anything like Jackal's fantastic duck dinner, the rest of the dinner will be delicious and bounteous, cooked by his family and other friends, so we will have lots of unpredictable flavors going on. The only things I know for sure we'll have is wild rice as one of the sides and pumpkin spice cheesecake with gingersnap crust. Other sides and other appetizers and desserts unknown.

Someone recently said to marinate the duck in milk, since it is wild duck. Opinions?

I am inclined to think the only safe thing to do is a simple roasted or braised duck dish.

Suggestions for either of those more than welcome. Or if you think we can do something else without creating a flavor profile disaster, please jump in.

[codheadred]

Fast Roast Breasts and confit legs depending on the size of em is my suggestion (Chefs treats of liver and heart on toast mmmmmnn)