Cooking with Duck Fat: The Topic

[Abra]

I've used duck fat in pastry, but as it's very soft at room temperature it makes a really tender crust without a lot of structure. It's better to use part butter, part duck fat, if you want that added ducky flavor.

[binkyboots]

I have a recipe for chocolate and walnut chip cookies using duck fat...

I render my own lard to use in lots of baking (gingersnaps, griddle cakes and scones etc) I should think you could try using it in any of those recipes...

griddle cakes (singin' hinnies, welsh cakes and tattie scones) are gorgeous using lard. also Scottish Aberdeen butteries (a shorter, Scottish take on a croissant) are traditionally made with lard, despite the name as butter would ruin the texture.

[jayt90]

Pan fried sliced potatoes are excellent in duck fat. Thinner is better, and crisps or chips best .

Try pan fried french fries.

Oven roasted vegetables are nicely colored and decadent-tasting in duck fat.

[mtigges]

Last xmas I was lucky enough to collect the fat from three roast geese. I cooked one for friends, and my mom cooked two for xmas dinner. I used it to make confit a couple of times of course, but also just as my everyday cooking fat replacing OO. I loved it. My wife started to dislike everything having a goosey undertone to it though. The best by far was roast veggies. Inch sized cubes of beets, parsnips, yams, potatoes ... whatever, they are way better with goose fat than with veggie oils.

I'm thinking of hosting some friends for a big goose feast, just so that I have the fat again. It was glorious.

[slkinsey]

Various treatments of potatoes are the most common uses of rendered duck fat, and that's always a good choice.

I have also found it to be very felicitous in combination with beef. I have my doubts as to whether "marinating in duck fat" has any particular benefit, especially if the beef is grilled. On the other hand, I have found that using duck fat when preparing beef in a hot pan (either entirely pan-fried or finished in the oven) makes a big difference. Ironically, the steak seems to come out "beefier" this way, rather than with much identifiable duck flavor.

It's also hard to put a foot wrong by using a little duck fat when browing poultry. I like to use a bit of duck fat in the pan when I do pan-fried and oven-roasted spatchcocked chicken or squab.

[Shalmanese]

I've made duck fat biscuits with star anise in the pastry and a cilantro jam on top. It was good...

[Pat Churchill]

Great for roast potatoes. Boil them for a few minutes first to cook the outside a little. Toss them in a colander to rough up the surface. Sprinkle them with a little semolina then roast in duck fat. (The semolina neutralises the calories ;-) and makes the spuds crispy). Maybe I lied about the calories...

[Recoil Rob]

I'm a bird hunter, primarily pheasants. Most of my fellow pheasant hunters just breast the bird and toss the rest, the wings and legs are very tough.

A few years back I tried to confit some of the leg/thigh pieces, I used a couple of the D'Artagnan containers of duck fat mixed in with rendered pork fat. I was pleased with the results. The meat was nutty and falling off the bone.

Two year ago I saved about 20 leg/thigh joints and bought my duck fat from Hudson Valley Fois Gras.

I live within a couple hundred miles so I was able to get a 7.5lb. tub, about 1 gal., of rendered duck fat UPS'd to me overnight for about $35.00. The confit turned out good, perhaps a little bland to my taste. I used the method from Polcyn & Ruhlman's "Charcuterie". Ikept it coverd in the fat for about 5 month in the back of the fridge after drawing off the clear juices from the bottom.

After it was all gone I strained the fat back into the tub and put it in the deep freeze. Last night it was time to confit last years kill, approximately 12 lbs of pheasant legs/ thighs, close to 35 pieces. This time I used a little more spice and used last years fat. I have some pics to post and will do it in a separate thread.

I can't recommend Hudson Valley Fois Gras highly enough, quality products at a reasonable cost, and the fat was much more flavorful than the smaller containers.

[Dave Hatfield]

Try using duck or goose fat instead of lard when making refried beans.

Delicious.

For many other uses try to get a copy of Strang's cook book "Goose Fat & Garlic" Wonderful recipes from the South West of France along with quite a lot of interesting cultural history. For a real treat try the recipe for Alliade de Toulouse and serve it with duck breast (magret)

[Recoil Rob]

I memory serves me one of Tom Colicchio's all time favorite Top Chef recipes was Dales rack of lamb cooked in duck fat from the finale of season 3.

[liuzhou]

I eat a lot of duck. In many guises.

 

And I always render the fat and, where necessary, clarify it. It then sits in my fridge and lasts apparently forever.

 

I often use it for potatoes, obviously. And a bit less often for duck confit. 

 

Any other duck fat usage suggestions?

[Lisa Shock]

biscuits (the savory bread type, not British cookies), pate choux -then make cream puffs and stuff with savory sandwich things, pate choux -then duchess potatoes, roasting vegetables in general, popcorn, mayonnaise, hollandaise, crackers, laminated dough like croissant or danish dough, pie crust -then make a duck pot pie, roux for sauces and some soups,

[Shalmanese]

I let freshly rendered duck fat sit out and it separates into a liquid portion and a solid portion. I pour the liquid portion into a bottle with a pour spout and use it as a replacement for vegetable oil. I put the solid portion in a container in the fridge and use it for deep frying.

[gulfporter]

I use it to fry eggs.  It complements the egg better than bacon fat.  Not just good for breakfast eggs, but especially nice to have a duck fat fried egg atop fresh asparagus.  When I can get quail eggs, I also fry in duck fat and serve over slices of baguettes with a bit of serrano ham.  

[Shel_B]

Host's note: the term 'new discussion' refers to a second topic, which has since been merged with the original.

 

 

And this new discussion brings me to a question: How might duck fat work instead of schmaltz when making a traditional chopped liver dish (using chicken livers)?  Seems like it should be just fine.  Anyone tried it? 

[rotuts]

there are significant taste differenced, which may or may not matter

[ninagluck]

use it in brioche!

[Heartsurgeon]

replace some (or all!) of the butter in your favorite mashed potato recipe with duck fat...sublime!

 

confit your thanksgiving day turkey (thighs/legs) sous vide in duck fat..you'll never go back
 

Edited January 7, 2015 by Heartsurgeon (log)

[CanGumby]

And this new discussion brings me to a question: How might duck fat work instead of schmaltz when making a traditional chopped liver dish (using chicken livers)?  Seems like it should be just fine.  Anyone tried it? 

 

I use chicken fat for making chicken katsu (ala Ivan Ramen) and it's really nice, I would suspect doing the same with duck fat and anything would add a new dimension on, well, anything cooked with it.

 

Unfortunatly, unless I manage to get my hands on actual duck, finding duck fat where I live is a real pain in the butt.

[gulfporter]

I have almost 2 cups of duck fat on hand.  

 

I'd like to use it creatively and wondering if anyone has any ideas for me.

 

I have it my head to use it as a poaching medium for seafood (shrimp or salmon or ??) along the lines of poaching lobster in butter, but I'm not sure if that's a good/great/awful idea.  

 

PS: I have been slathering the duck fat on corn on the cob, then grilling them and it's been a big hit, but I'd like a recipe that is either a substantial appetizer/small plate or even a main course.  Not looking for anything flash-fried, something more subtle and creative.

 

TIA.

Edited July 19, 2015 by gulfporter (log)

[heidih]

My immediate thinking went to a riff on rillettes using chicken or turkey thigh and using them as the fatty protein in a take on the well known Momofuku pork buns and utilizing quick pickles of summer bounty as the acid/bright note

 

This caught my eye but I think the key again is the sweet/acidic counterplay of the relish (duckfat poached swordfish -though salmon seems like a good option - scroll down)  https://www.zagat.com/b/duck-trend-piece#1

Edited July 19, 2015 by heidih (log)

[longroper]

It makes lovely savory biscuits.

 

Interesting in a warm vinaigrette as well.

[gulfporter]

My immediate thinking went to a riff on rillettes using chicken or turkey thigh and using them as the fatty protein in a take on the well known Momofuku pork buns and utilizing quick pickles of summer bounty as the acid/bright note

 

This caught my eye but I think the key again is the sweet/acidic counterplay of the relish (duckfat poached swordfish -though salmon seems like a good option - scroll down)  https://www.zagat.com/b/duck-trend-piece#1

The duck fat poached fish looks great, sounds great.....but no recipe (sigh).  

[Lisa Shock]

It would also work well in pate a choux, you can then make cream puff shapes and use them as buns for small sandwiches. You could also use it as the fat in a cracker recipe. Then, there's the world of sauces, like warm sauces where you could use it as the fat in roux, and cold sauces, mayonnaise in particular.

[longroper]

It would also work well in pate a choux, you can then make cream puff shapes and use them as buns for small sandwiches. You could also use it as the fat in a cracker recipe. Then, there's the world of sauces, like warm sauces where you could use it as the fat in roux, and cold sauces, mayonnaise in particular.

 

Mayonnaise made with duck fat is awesome.  To go along with the OP's fish tendencies, I've used duck fat mayo as a binder in fish cakes.  It gives them a deep savory note that people love but cannot pinpoint.