Cous de canard farcis au risotto de roquette – Stuffed duck necks with

[bleudauvergne]

Cous de canard farcis au risotto de roquette – Stuffed duck necks with rocket risotto

Serves 16 as Amuseor 8 as Appetizeror 4 as Main Dish.

A loose adaption from a recipe in edition no. 150 of French Saveurs Magazine, recipe initially written by Jean-François Mallet, who is a staff writer at Saveurs.

The original recipe consists of about 150 words, enough to fit on one of the small pocket sized recipe cards in the French Saveur. The blanks on technique have been filled in here.

If you have ever had gratons, and like them, you will love this dish. This dish is rather fatty, so go easy on the rest of the meal and do not skip the rocket salad.

Once cool, the stuffed duck necks slice beautifully. The cross cut slices are excellent tossed in the sauteuse for a moment as amuse, or atop a salad to be more raisonnable than an entire duck neck per person. It is easy to devour one full duck neck as a serving, but the fat content is admittedly rather high.

• 4 duck necks, whole, not deboned yet
  
• 2 coarse sea salt
  
• 2 legs duck confit
  
• 1 egg
  
• 200 or about ¾ cup Arborio rice (for risotto)
  
• 2 shallots
  
• 15 or one small glass of white wine, any kind
  
• 150 or about 1 quart loosely packed fresh leaves of rocket (arugula)
  
• 80 or about 1/3 cup of grated parmesean cheese
  
• salt & pepper
  

- De-bone the duck necks, reserving the inner meat and bones of the neck:

1) Don't try and singe any remaining small down from the necks by using a candle. The wax creates black smoke that sticks to the skin and stains it. Pluck the last remaining down with tweezers.

2) Begin at the big end. The inside is attached to the skin with filmy clear connective tissue that snips easily with scissors. Snip off any outer bones along the edge ot the big end. On one side, there will be a cluster of fatty material and glands that are attached to the inside of the skin of the neck and are best snipped carefully - snip between that and the skin.

3) On the other side, the esophagus is attached to the inner muscular shaft and the skin. Clip only the skin side only, leaving the tube attached to the shaft, and fold the skin back all around, little by little, snipping carefully all around, until you have exposed enough of the inner shaft to hold it firmy in one hand.

4) Take the inner part in one hand, the outer part in the other, and pull firmly but not too forcefully, and release the inner part from the skin. It turns inside out and you just pull it off like a sticky sock.

5) Turn it back to the right side out and pull off any down or quills that were missed by the volailler. Voila. These are ready.

note: Do not parboil the duck necks, they will shrink.

Liberally sprinkle the outside of the neck skin with salt and place in the refrigerator (can be done up to 48 hours in advance). Remove and discard the esophagus tubes and any glands, and put the neck meat and bones into a stock pot.

Cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, as you would any poultry stock, and let the stock simmer for 1 to 2 hours. (An idea for this would be to debone the necks and set the stock to cook in the afternoon, if you plan to serve this dish for dinner, and let it simmer very slowly throughout the afternoon.)

- Remove as much duck fat as possible from the confited duck legs, and set the fat aside for later use. Remove and mince the meat from the two legs, and place the meat in a large mixing bowl where you will mix the stuffing. Add the parmesean.

- Prepare the Risotto: Peel and mince the shallots. Melt 1 tablespoon of the fat from the confit and sauté the shallots without browning until they begin to turn translucent. Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat with the duck fat. Once the risotto begins to turn clear, add the white wine and let it absorb fully into the rice.

- Ladle the duck stock directly from the stock pot into the risotto, filling it each time to just cover the rice, and let it cook without stirring it, absorbing the stock. Turn the rice between each stock addition. After fully absorbing and adding stock about 4 times, the risotto should be al dente, and you can season it with salt and pepper and remove it from the heat. Let it cool while you prepare the rocket.

- Wash the rocket and chop all but a couple of handfuls of it finely, and add it to the bowl with the minced confit de canard, and the grated parmesan.

- Add the risotto and mix the stuffing together, and season. This can be done in advance and refrigerated for later use. The stuffing actually fills the necks better when it is chilled and somewhat stiff. If you are in a hurry, you can chill it for 20 minutes, while 10 minutes in the freezer will also do. Just before stuffing the necks, add the egg to the stuffing.

- Stuff the necks rather full with the stuffing.

The question of whether to tie, sew, or otherwise fix the necks closed for cooking comes to mind, and many traditional recipes call for you to fix the pouch closed. My investigations indicate also that if you want the skin to stay taut and thin across the stuffing, you must fix it closed. However, if you simply fold the skin underneath at each end, the neck skin retracts and thickens with cooking, thus squeezing the stuffing out of the end that provides the least resistance. It makes a pretty overflowing cornucopia-like presentation this way, and the neck is juicier in the end. If you prefer to keep the skin thin and crispy, fix it closed, by either sewing it, using a skewer, toothpicks, or string to keep it closed. If you do this, the skin will be thinner. Once the dish cools, be advised that the skin also thins out on it's own. Fixing the ends is your choice. Place the stuffed necks in a large ceramic or cast iron dish, giving each room to breathe, room for the heat to get at them from all sides and make them a nice golden brown.

- Salt the outside, and add the remaining duck fat from the confit to the pan, and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes at 160C/350F. Baste the necks with the liberal amount of fat that is rendered by the neck skin every five minutes during this time. At the end of 30 minutes time, pour off all of the fat, sprinkle with grated parmesan (optional), and turn up the heat to 200C/450F. Let it continue to brown and crispen on the outside to taste.

- Serve on hot plates with a fresh rocket salad, sprinkled with your choice of vinegar and seasoned with sea salt. There's no need to prepare a vinaigrette to go with the greens, they are just right as is with a little vinegar and salt.

While this dish requires initial work and dedication, it is a good dish to serve to guests because it does not need special attention before serving.

Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre, Main Dish, French, Amuse, Intermediate, Appetizer, Duck, Salad, Rice

( RG1845 )