Half a Duck all the Fat

[Daniel]

I bought a seven pound duck last night.. I used exactly half of the duck meat... I still have left half the duck, all the skin, all the fat, and organs... I would love some suggestion as to what to do with the remaining items.. Please help..

[Jon Tseng]

silly boy...

confit of course

skin can go towards duck cracklings

livers nice gently fried on salad. other innards can be confit too

J

[Luckylies]

mmm

render the fat for everyday* use

cook the skin into cracklins for immediate consumption..use the rest for duck taco's or quesedillas or salas or sanwhiches.

lucky you.

* hope you metabolism is fast

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Saaaaave the liverrrrrr.

As for meat, confit the leg and thigh! Do save all the fat; you can use it for a long, long time for future confits, poaching fish (yes, fish!), and other fun stuff.

Leftover breast can be disguised in a panini or quesadilla-type of thing and served to an unsuspecting spouse and kids who refuse to even try duck.

Skin is great for cracklin's; my Bassett Hound loved them but the current pooch is allergic. I guess technically you could use the skins for some sort of ballotin or roulade?

[Daniel]

So confit seems to be the consensus.. I feel very stupid saying this.. I dont know how to confit a leg. I would love some help on that..

Edited to add:

Never mind.. I saw a recipe on epicurious.. Very excited for tonight.. I am going to confit the whole damn thing.. Might save a little for a pizza or a ravioli.

Edited January 19, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[hwilson41]

So confit seems to be the consensus.. I feel very stupid saying this.. I dont know how to confit a leg.  I would love some help on that.. 

Edited to add:

Never mind.. I saw a recipe on epicurious.. Very excited for tonight.. I am going to confit the whole damn thing..  Might save a little for a pizza or a ravioli.

←

Here's a thread right here on eGullet that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know. Some great stuff within, plus one of the dumbest questions I've ever asked near the end that Paula Wolfert was kind enough to answer .

THW

[Daniel]

Thanks alot.. Ducks are getting confitted up this evening.. HEHE.

[Wolfert]

Absolutely confit the leg. The breast is better grilled and served medium rare.

Simply criss cross the skin, season, and slowly fry it in a skillet, skin side down, to remove most of the fat. If you do this slowly, you can use the fat for the confit. When most of the fat is rendered out of the skin, take the breast off the heat and let it rest about 10 minutes. Just before serving, cook the breast in the same skillet with just a drop of fat until medium rare. Slice crosswise on the diagonal. Serve just like a steak.

[Daniel]

The confitting has commenced.. Started with the parts out on the butcher paper. Please ignore that bottle with the eye ball on it in the background.. Its most likely not absinthe.. The miralax, for a four year old.. As long as the two dont get mixed up, everyone is happy.

We then added salt, thyme, shallot and garlic... Now its going to sleep for a few days in the fridge.. Off to cook the heart and liver and do something with it.

Edited January 20, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[iriee]

confit the gizzardand heart also,,,great sliced up in a salad!

[Daniel]

Ate the heart... The gizzard is in the mix... Thank you.. Next time i am all over it.