Cooking with Duck Fat: The Topic

[fifi]

When my grandmother was raising ducks and geese, she had them processed by some lovely ladies at a Franciscan monastery in the area. The fat was kept in the freezer forever. Grandma used it in pie dough, cookies, sauted veggies, whatever. It is all good. I attribute that supply of good fat to her long life.

(Off Topic note: She made me some lovely duck and goose down pillows.)

[petite tête de chou]

You could slather a turkey with the cold duck fat. The duck fat combined with the turkey drippings make a very good gravy.

Use it to make your roux for gumbos and such.

Saute wild rice, hazelnuts (or favorite nut), onion and celery in the melted fat for a nice autumnal pilaf.

Combine fresh thyme, s/p and duck fat- brush on stuffed onions or winter squash while roasting.

You certainly have enough of this wonderful stuff to experiment...and with autumn right around the corner! Lucky you.

[Marlene]

I'm sorry, there's nothing you can do with it, so you should just send it to me to dispose of for you.

Use it in braising, for sauteing the veggies etc. Use it definately for frying or roasting potatoes. Melt some in a shallow baking dish, sprinkle a little kosher salt over the potatoes and roast. You'll think you've died and gone to heaven.

Definately for gravies.

[Derek]

Don't forget that you can confit many things, not just duck. Rabbit, pork belly, goose legs, pork or lamb tongue all come to mind.

You could also experiment with making a confit of pork shoulder, turkey legs, lamb or veal kidney, or pork cheeks. Lucky you.

And rillette. Duck fat, bits of whatever meat shreds you have, spices or other seasonings — pretty yum.

Plus try frying eggs in duck fat, serving them on toasted good bread rubbed with garlic, the whole mess sprinkled with some red wine vinegar.

Excuse me, I have to go eat some more.

[Shalmanese]

Whatever you do, don't set up an IV drip of duck fat. It's hard to keep it liquid since the tubing tends to cool it down and it clogs in the pipes.

[Bux]

Honestly, you can use it in place of butter to make something like a bearnaise sauce. It would be called sauce Auchoise because that's what it was called by André Daguin, father of Ariane Daguin (D'Artagnan foie gras and other products) and the first chef to serve duck breast rare as if it were a steak. We finally made it his restaurant in Auch in the Gascony region of France, during his last year before retirement. On the menu was duck breast with sauce Auchoise. I asked what it was and was told. I can't say the thought of a mouthful of duck fat seemed as appealing as one of butter, but since it was the chef himself who was taking our order and describing a house specialty, I felt I couldn't refuse. Duck and goose fats are as tasty as butter or good olive oil and generally considered to have a composition closer to olive oil than butter in terms of saturated fats. It's one of the healthier animal fats. Anyway, the dish was wonderful, but rich. Indeed, it was wonderful in the way rich foods are wonderful.

We've kept duck and goose fat for longer than I'll admit to in the refrigerator and even longer in the freezer. As Marlene said, send it to me and I'll let you know if it goes bad.

[KatieLoeb]

Whatever you do, don't set up an IV drip of duck fat. It's hard to keep it liquid since the tubing tends to cool it down and it clogs in the pipes.

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Now I know I'm on eGullet! Only here would someone suggest an IV drip of duck fat.

[GordonD]

It is a moral imperative that you use it to make an omelette. I recommend smoked gouda for the cheese. It will be one of those "where have you been all my life" moments.

Also, cook potato latkes in it.

Take some artichoke hearts, briefly sautee them in it and then toss them with pasta and a little olive oil.

[JayBassin]

Every few months you should melt all of it and bring it up to a simmer to evaporate all moisture and kill anything that began to grow (you don't want to know). If you do that, you can keep it indefinitely in the fridge. I separate my fat after making duck confit into 1 qt jars and "can" them because I can't use so much at home in one year.

[binkyboots]

I warmed some with sprigs of rosemary and a little garlic then used it to drizzle over a foccacia recipe instead of olive oil.

[curlywurlyfi]

I've got some duck fat in my freezer which has been there since 1998. Admire my self control!!! I splinter a bit off with a sharp knife every now + then. It's particularly good for stir-frying dark leafy greens, with a bit of garlic. Though last night, I used it to fry some finely chopped onion, which I then stirred into...

... these beautiful lentils, brought back from Castellucio by a friend. They cooked in 10 minutes, they were so fresh. So lentils, onion, duck fat, bay leaf, lemon juice, garlic, salt + pepper. Heaven.

[pumkin]

What would be the proper way to cook or fry potatoes with duck fat?

I tried finding a recipe online but haven't had much success. Anyone?

[Carolyn Tillie]

I melt a quarter to a half of a cup of duck fat on the stove top. Then I toss my chunked or diced potatoes with the melted duck fat, a selection of chopped herbs, and fleur de sel. Lay flat on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven. There is no exact time, but it usually takes 30 to 45 minutes and I generally stir them once or twice throughout the cooking until they are golden brown.

[budrichard]

When we have a whole duck that we deconstruct, the fat is always rendered. We then make Pomme Frites. Just slice your potatoes the way you like them, heat up the duck fat until it looks right and fry! Very simple. You can wash and dry your fries first and monitor the duck fat temperature but after a few times doing it, I streamlined the process. -Dick

[pumkin]

Thank you very much for your help you guys! I am looking forward to trying both recipes.

[Dave Hatfield]

A third easy way is to make rosti; frying the potato patties in duck fat. A little herb de provence & minced garlic goes well in the mix.

FYI duck fat freezes very well. We normally make some duck fat "ice cubes" then transfer these into a ziploc bag.

PS: Fresh duck cuisses (the leg & thigh combination) have suddenly appeared again in the supermarkets here in France. having great fun with those. I'd be embarrased to tell you just how cheap they are.

[child of the storm]

Last night I sauteed a duck breast, and then did some potatoes in the fat. There was about half a cup of it in the pan, which I had on high. Diced the potatoes very small like hash browns and threw them in there. After about 4 minutes I drained the fat and stir-fried the potatoes, which cooked beautifully thanks to all the fat they had been previously swimming in. Garlic, s&p, and rosemary...so GOOD. I wish I had made twice as much.

Best part is I didn't have to bother with the oven - one pan cooking, got to love that sometimes.

[Qwerty]

Personally, I take fingerlings, par-cook them in simmering water, let em cool a bit, cut em in half, and place them face down in duck fat, brown em nice, them flip and repeat on the skin side.

Nice brown color, great flavor. Don't forget the kosher salt right out of the pan.

[John DePaula]

One of my favorite things to eat...

POMMES SARLADAISE (potatoes - from Sarlat (south west France)

800 grams new potatoes

200 grams cepes (or button mushrooms)

3 garlic cloves crushed

bunch of parsley, chopped

5 soup spoons duck or goose fat

salt and pepper

1. Peel and slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch slices.

2. Lightly fry the mushrooms in a pan with 1 teas of fat. Remove from pan and set aside. Melt the rest of the fat in a heavy based pan. Once hot add potatoes and cook for 10 minutes turning them often.

3. Add salt, pepper, garlic and parsley. Lower the heat, cover the pan and continue cooking for 20 minutes, continuing to turn the potatoes regularly.

4. Add the mushrooms, cook a further 10 minutes, and continue to turn the potatoes. Once cooked, the potatoes should be golden.

I sometimes leave out the mushrooms.

[Dave Hatfield]

I sometimes leave out the mushrooms.

If you can't get cepes then you are well advised to leave out the mushrooms. Its just not the same with any other type.

Dried cepes, reconstituted work though.

[johnjohn]

How long will duck fat last in the fridge?

[Dave Hatfield]

How long will duck fat last in the fridge?

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At least six months in a tightly sealed jar. Maybe longer, but mine always gets used before it ages too much.

[Marlene]

I was recently gifted with a bunch of duck fat. I think potatoes in duck fat may make an appearance n my table tonight. Is it better to fry potoatoes in duck fat or roast them in duck fat?

[Jake]

Marlene, any way you do potatos with duck fat is good. REALLY good. Guess I know what I'm making for dinner now!

[CRUZMISL]

HI All,

I was in the store today and saw a tub of duck fat. Now I must say I rarely use fat (aside from olive oil or my fish oil capsules) but sometimes to satisfy a craving I may add some fat once in a while (one every week or two). The label reads as follows,

Better than butter! Nutritionally similar to olive oil; low in saturated fat, with a good combination of poly and monosaturated fats.

Is this true? Any opinions? I've tasted duck fat before and it tastes really good which leads me to beleive it's not good for me

Any favorite recipes to use the duck fat with? I bought the tub anyway regardless of it's health implications. Only live once

Thanks,

Joe