Duck: The Topic

[jsolomon]

There was an oxidation with the iron in the myoglobin. It's nothing to worry about.

You can notice the same thing with blood if it runs in tap water over stainless steel.

[rooftop1000]

There was an oxidation with the iron in the myoglobin.  It's nothing to worry about.

You can notice the same thing with blood if it runs in tap water over stainless steel.

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My daughter was freaked out that the deli roast beef at school had a metallic green tint to the slices......just the blood oxidizing....can look all shimmery like aged copper

tracey

[nacho]

My daughter was freaked out that the deli roast beef at school had a metallic green tint to the slices......just the blood oxidizing....can look all shimmery like aged copper

tracey

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Good to know! I've thrown out deli roast beef in my fridge for the same reason. I thought for sure that green meat would make me sick.

[avocado]

I read an article recently about a bacteria naturally occurring in pork that causes the meat to glow in the dark when it's about to spoil. Imagine how that could take the romance out of your candlelight dinner!

[Shalmanese]

I read an article recently about a bacteria naturally occurring in pork that causes the meat to glow in the dark when it's about to spoil. Imagine how that could take the romance out of your candlelight dinner!

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Those were Genetically Engineered pigs and they flouresce under a black light they're not going to appear on your dinner plate.

[jsolomon]

No, it's true. One of the final tests for presence of Pseudomonas (a nasty bacterium) is fluorescence under a UV light. This is usually shown to microbiology lab students using rotting chicken, but you can use rotting pork just the same.

Although, the green fluorescence protein-engineered pigs are pretty spectacular. I wanna know what their bacon looks like.

[ATram]

Hi guys, i have two whole ducks in the freezer since 2 months ago and dont know what to do with them, mainly because I never done a whole duck before.. just a few margets.

Anyone can recommend different ways and recipes for it?

Thanks

[Gifted Gourmet]

Recipe Gullet has 11 ways of preparing duck

more and more recipes for your ducks here

and maybe just a few more ...

[Artichoke]

I personally have not tried this recipe myself, but I have been meaning to for a while.

The Amazing Five-Hour Duck

Save your duck fat and render it out for the fat and cracklings Rendered Duck Fat

I recently bought myself James Peterson's The Duck Cookbook , if you love duck as much as I do, it is a very worthy purchasse. Peterson gives instructions on how to handle all manner of duck preperations, butchering as well as fantastic recipes.

[The Old Foodie]

The most important thing - whatever you do with the basic duck - is to make duck stock with the bones. Cook it down, concentrate it and freeze it in small containers. Makes the best risotto (esp with porcini mushrooms), Asian-style noodle soups etc.

[Qwerty]

I always found duck stock to be really greasy, and a pain to make. Just my opinion. I love duck, don't get me wrong, but even the bones seem to carry a large amount of fat and grease on them.

You could always fabricate the ducks, and braise the thighs and sear the breasts, then have duck 2 ways.

[ATram]

Cool, thanks for the quick replies.

That 5 hours recipe seems too much... i was thinking something more like an hour recipe.

I think i'll grill it, like this. Maybe stuffed with something and a sweet or herbs dressing. Not really sure of nothing, have seen those recipes but dont know what to choose.

[Ann_T]

I slow roasted one last week. . Skin was wonderfully crisp and the meat was melt in the mouth tender. Served it with an orange sauce. I cut the wings off prior to roasting and they were browned and used to make stock. I have a jar of duck fat in the fridge that I have been using to roast potatoes.

[ATram]

Nice pic Ann, i'll try to do something like that, a slow grill, droping some orange juice while doing it and serve it with some glazed carrot and onion in orange juice. Or something like that..

[whisks]

i'm loving this thread coz i love duck. my method of cooking duck was strumbled upon because duck shrinks. half an hour to an hour before cooking, i rub about 1/4 a cup of salt all over the duck and its insides. the last time, i also sprinkled five spice powder in with the salt. leave the duck for 1/2 an hour in a pot in which the duck fits snugly. pour in enough water into the pot to cover the duck once the time has elapsed, and bring to the boil and simmer 15 minutes. leave the duck in the liquid until ready to crisp. remove the duck from the liquid and allow to drain off the liquid. preheat the oven to 200C/400F. place the duck on a rack, pierce the duck skin liberally so the the fat can drain and roast until golden turning halfway through.

i've found this minimalises shrinkage, allows the fat to drain and is nice and crisp.

must remember to look for duck next time i'm out....

[The Old Foodie]

I always found duck stock to be really greasy, and a pain to make.

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Easy solution to that one - let it chill, lift off the slab of beautiful duck fat (use for other purposes such as roasting potatoes ...).

It is worth it, honest!

[MobyP]

This wasn't simple, but it was delicious.

Duck galantine

[The Old Foodie]

This wasn't simple, but it was delicious.

Duck galantine

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Would you part with the recipe?

[Anna N]

No pictures but the last duck I did was close to the best ever. I did it "beer can chicken style" on the outdoor grill. I used indirect heat and by turning the duck such that the each leg got a good turn nearest the hot burner and the breast mostly turned away from it, I was able to achieve well-done legs and yet still kept the breast juicy.

[BryanZ]

This wasn't simple, but it was delicious.

Duck galantine

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Awesome.

[MobyP]

This wasn't simple, but it was delicious.

Duck galantine

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Would you part with the recipe?

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That would be a little tricky to do, as it's quite long and involved. It originally comes from a tremendous book I found in a second hand shop called Pates and Terrines. This has everything from simplest country pates, to liver mousses to an entire stuffed Boar's Head coverd in aspic (the picture of that is stunning)! Although the instructions for that particular recipe begin with the classic line (I paraphrase) that if you need to ask how to make this particular dish, you probably shouldn't be attempting it!

Anyway, it's a galantine of wild duck recipe covered in pistachios which I adapted to a nice small duckling that my butcher had. The farce is foie gras, duck breast, pork and back fat (very high quality gloucester old spot/tamworth mix) mixed in with pistachios, smoked tongue and ham. You should use some preserved truffles, but my wife is allergic to all mushrooms, so alas.

So, debone the duck. Cut out all the cartilage. Even up the meat. Make the farce. Stuff duck and carefully roll in roasting film or cheese cloth. Poach in a duck stock made with the bones from the duck (they say) for 45-50 minutes. I did it at a lower poaching temperature of approximately 60 C /140F for about 2 hours, until the internal temp was about 138, then let it cool in the poaching liquid for an hour or so, and placed it in the fridge.

The next day, unwrap, scrape off rendered fat, reduce and clarify the poaching stock to a glace. Cool that quickly over ice. Roll the duck in this almost gelling stock, and then roll in a tray of ground pistachios.

The galantine cuts differently at every location. Further up than the picture, the farce was in the center and surrounded by breast meat on all sides. The picture above shows where the breast meat goes into the thigh.

Edited June 7, 2006 by MobyP (log)

[Reefpimp]

2 things immediately spring to mind: One, if you are accustomed to working with domestic duck or goose, and use the same techniques for WILD duck or goose, you will end up with something technically known as "garbage." Wild poultry is much, much, much lower in fat than domestic. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Has anyone ever tried making a galantine or a ballontine en sous vide? Might that work? What might happen?

[foodie3]

has anyone tried cooking whole duck on a (weber) rotisserie?

Edited June 10, 2006 by foodie3 (log)

[honeykate]

My favourite and the simplest of whole duck recipes requires 24 hours notice but is worth the wait.

Leave the whole duck uncovered under the fan in your refridgerator for a day (or even two). This dries out the skin and results in a golden, crispy parchment-like casing for the duck after roasting as normal. Also, I like to chop off the duck necks and keep the neck skins for use as sausage casings - absolutely divine.

[TongoRad]

has anyone tried cooking whole duck on a (weber) rotisserie?

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You would have to use the type with the heat source on the side, rather than underneath because you definitely will need a drip pan. Plus there is the possibility that the rendered fat would form 'rings' around the duck as it is rotating and cooking, which wouldn't look good.

I'm good for a couple of ducklings a year, and I do them on my propane grill with great results. Essentially I just think of it as an outdoor oven that I could use for adding smoke into the mix. Lately I have been doing as honeykate suggests- air drying it in the fridge a day ahead, plus I prick the back (only) and separate the breast skin from the meat. I find that pricking the breast makes for an unsightly appearance in the final product- again, the fat and maybe some proteins drip through the holes and streak downward creating something that looks like cave formations .

When it is time to cook I place it in a V-shaped rack in a roasting pan and cook it indirectly for a couple of hours at a relatively low temperature (300-325F) adding foil packets of mesquite chips as needed. To really crisp up the skin I simply transfer the whole shebang into my kitchen oven at 400F for a few minutes when the bulk of the cooking is complete.

The last one I did had a tamarind/date glaze, served with a mango/tamarind salsa.

Edited June 12, 2006 by TongoRad (log)