Duck Duck Goose! (Minus the Goose)



Matt felt like eating something a bit different last night, and we are big duck lovers and hadn't cooked it at home before, so he picked up a whole duck and I set to work on it.

As you can see below- You can use every part of the duck. I won't go through the process of deboning, you can YouTube that if you like. But I will let you know what you can use all the parts for...

Frankenquacker!
1. The Neck; The skin is awesome for making duck neck sausage- use the skin as a casing, fill it with mince (pork and veal is good, meat from the duck is good too), aromatics, apple, nuts and breadcrumbs, then sew up the ends and bake it or confit it. The delicious flavours of the duck will infuse the meat-yumm! The actual neck is good for adding flavour to soups and stocks... As well as giving to your dog to eat (which is what I'll be doing!) just make sure its not cooked if you do that!
2. The Wings; Not too much meat on those bad boys, but you can still cook them as you would cook chicken wings, marinate and bake them.
3. The breast.. I'll be posting a recipe either today or tomorrow for duck breast salad. Best way to eat breast is by marinating it, then cooking it skin-side down for 20 minutes on medium-low heat to gradually render out the thick layer of fat over the meat. The skin should crisp up making the entire thing edible. Seal the other side for 5-10 minutes or so, then leave to rest for a further 10 minutes. The flesh should be pink and juicy and the skin crispy. Yummy!
4. The Bones (frame); Obviously perfect for duck stock; roast the bones first for a brown stock and then reduce it down to make a thick, rich duck sauce. Or make a soup- your choice!
5. The Legs; We all know that the traditional way to eat the tough leg meat is to confit them... Follow my recipe!
6. The Fat; Trim the bits of skin and fat away from the carcass and then put them in a pot on a low heat for 45 minutes or so to render it down; you should then have some tissue left floating in a golden liquid fat-this is what you'll be confitting your legs in, as well as cooking the best ever roast potatoes!!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vegetable Mornay

Image
This is a classic dish that can dress up the most boring vegetables. I personally think cheese or bacon (or sometimes both) can make any meal better! You will need... 1/2 a large head of cauliflower 1 head of broccoli 1 large carrot 2 washed potatoes (I used red delight) 1 cup of peas (fresh or frozen) For the sauce 75gr buttter 1/3 cup plain flour 3 cups whole milk salt & pepper & freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 cup cheddar cheese For the topping 1 cup cheddar cheese 1/4 cup breadcrumbs 2 tbs roughly chopped flat leaf parsley Method... 1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius, grease a large 3-4Lt capacity ceramic baking dish. 2. Peel the carrot and potato and dice into 1 inch pieces then transfer to a microwave safe bowl with a little water, cover with glad wrap and microwave for 1 minute on high to begin the cooking process. Drain and set aside. Wash the cauliflower and broccoli and trim into neat florets.  3. Melt the butte...
Read more

George Calombaris' Pasticcio (AKA Greek Lasagna)

Image
Ohhh pasticcio... This recipe gives me so many warm and fuzzies. My mum always used to make it for me when I was younger for special occasions like my birthday and Easter so I associate it with fun times and getting presents and all that good stuff. The one my mum made came from the old faithful Margaret Fulton Cookbook circa late sixties/early seventies... I'm not sure what my Italian mum was doing making Greek recipes written by an Australian cookbook guru but anyway... it must have been en-vogue when the book was written and I'm not complaining because it's delicious. Mum's pasticcio was put together 'lasagna-style' with layers of curly-edge lasagna sheets that would get all crispy and brown on the edges. She would layer the pasta sheets with the tomato and beef sauce and béchamel and then bake it, and it would usually take her a while to prepare. My New Favourite Cookbook! I like this recipe by George Calombaris because it still has all that wo...
Read more

Anna-Maria's Zucchini Slice

Image
This is Anna-Maria’s Zucchini Slice from Stephanie Alexander’s Cooks Companion …   I’ve tweaked it a little as I’m sure most people do, it’s one of those no-rules recipes where you can customise it as much or as little as you like. I love zucchini because it is such a versatile vegetable (although technically it’s an immature fruit- wiki will tell you it’s a swollen ovary of a zucchini flower… sounds appetising), you can put them in almost anything because they don’t have a very strong flavour, which is great when it comes to hiding veggies from your kids! I’ve even eaten a chocolate cake that had grated zucchini in it and it was one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had- so moist (haha MOIST!) You will need… ¼ cup of olive oil (the recipe says half a cup but you really don’t need that much) 500g zucchini, grated 1 small carrot, grated 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed 200gr smoked bacon, finely chopped 100g freshly grat...
Read more