Braised Duck Food

CRISPY BRAISED DUCK LEGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put duck legs skin side down in a skillet large enough to accommodate all ingredients comfortably. Turn heat to medium, and cook, rotating so skin browns thoroughly and evenly but do not turn over completely. Meanwhile, peel onion and carrots, trim celery and roughly chop them all.
• When skins are nicely browned, turn and sear the meat side just 1 to 2 minutes, and season with salt and pepper. Remove to a plate; remove all fat from pan except enough to moisten vegetables. Add vegetables and salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat, until they begin to brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Return duck legs skin side up to pan, and add stock; it should come about halfway up the legs but not cover them. Turn heat to high, bring to boil and transfer to oven.
• Cook 30 minutes, and turn heat to 350 degrees. Cook undisturbed until duck is tender and liquid reduced, at least 30 minutes or a bit longer. Serve immediately, or let rest in a 200-degree oven for up to an hour.

BRAISED DUCK WITH ONION

Steps:

• Rub duck with salt, soy sauce, brandy and garlic and marinate for 30 minutes.
• Heat oil and fry sliced onions until soft but not brown, remove. Add duck and brown all over.
• Put back onion, add water, cover and simmer for 1 hour, add marinade and simmer for 20 minutes more or until duck is tender.
• Dissolve cornstarch with a little water and add to gravy.
• Boil until gravy thickens and serve duck whole with gravy in sauce boat.

BRAISED DUCK

Steps:

• Salt and pepper duck generously on both sides. Place halves, skin side down, in large saute pan (preferably seasoned cast-iron or nonstick) or 2 medium saute pans. Wedge thyme and garlic under skin. Cover pan with lid or foil; place over low heat. Braise for 1 hour (duck should crackle and sizzle gently; skin should be golden and crisp; most fat should be rendered). Turn duck; cover pan. Braise for 1 more hour, until duck bottom is well browned and meat very tender.
• Remove duck to cutting board; cut halves in half. Reserve fat from pan. In clean saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons fat (if there is not enough, use canola oil) over medium-high heat. Place duck pieces skin side down, and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, just until skin is crisp and dark. Transfer to dish, and serve.

BRAISED DUCK

Steps:

• Salt and pepper the duck liberally on both sides.
• Place each half, skin side down, in a large, heavy-bottomed (preferably cast-iron) pan.
• Wedge the thyme and garlic under the skin.
• Cover the pan with its lid or with foil, and place it over low heat.
• Braise for one hour (duck should crackle and sizzle gently; skin should be golden and crisp; most fat should be rendered).
• Turn duck.
• Cover pan.
• Braise for another hour, until duck bottom is well browned and meat is quite tender.
• Remove duck to a cutting board; with a poultry shear, halve the halves.
• Place two tablespoons of the reserved fat from the pan into a clean saute pan, and heat the pan to medium high.
• Place duck pieces skin side down, and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, just until skin turns crisp and dark.
• Transfer to a dish.

BRAISED DUCK WITH SPICED LENTILS AND LIME ONIONS

Steps:

• Cut the duck in quarters and remove the drumstick tips. Season with 1 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper, rub all over with the garlic and place a piece of cinnamon stick on each quarter. Let sit at room temperature 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Transfer the duck to an ovenproof frying pan along with the chicken or other fat. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover with foil and transfer to the oven. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• When cool enough to handle, lift the duck from the fat and remove and discard the skin. Cover with a wet towel until serving time. To reserve, store the duck in the cooking fat and refrigerate up to a week.
• To reheat the duck, remove from the fat if necessary, and place on a rack in a tightly covered pan. Warm in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, to make the lime onions, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Saute the onions, stirring frequently, until just wilted (but not browned). Toss with the lime juice and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and l/2 teaspoon pepper. Keep warm. The onions can be made a day in advance and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.
• To serve, spread a bed of lentils on each serving plate. Top with a piece of duck and smother with the warm onions. Serve immediately.

BRAISED DUCK WITH RED CURRY

Steps:

• Bone ducks and remove the skin. (You can ask a butcher to do this, reserving the carcass for stock making and skin for rendering.) Cut breasts in half, then into about 3 pieces across the width. Chop legs and thighs into about 4 pieces each. (Remember: You want to start with generous pieces of meat, since they will shrink when cooked. Don't worry about cleaning the tendons, since they will soften with long cooking.) Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.
• Heat rendered fat in a large, heavy bottomed Dutch oven over high heat. Brown duck on all sides, then transfer meat to a platter. Reduce heat to medium low and cook shallots until well browned, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, increase heat to medium high and cook about a minute, then add curry paste. Cook, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Return duck meat to pot along with brown duck stock and cook at a slow simmer, uncovered, until meat is tender, about 40 minutes.
• With a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a platter and reserve in a warm place. Puree sauce in a blender and strain back into pot. Cook over high heat until liquid is reduced by one third. Stir in fish sauce, coconut milk, sugar, and lime juice, and remove from heat. Stir duck back into warm sauce. Ladle stew over Jasmine Rice. Garnish with remaining ingredients and serve immediately.

ASIAN BRAISED DUCK LEGS

Steps:

• Season legs with salt& pepper.
• Heat a kettle large enough to hold legs in 1 layer, add legs fat side down, cook 15-20 minutes until browned.
• Turn over and cook 2 minutes more, remove to a plate.
• In fat add black beans, garlic, and ginger.
• saute 2 minutes.
• Add onion, carrots, celery, shiitakes, cook 3 minutes more.
• Add shaoxing and deglaze the pan.
• Add tamari, sugar, thyme and duck legs back to pan, fat side up.
• Add water to cover.
• Simmer 1 1/2 hrs until duck is tender.
• Remove legs to a platter.
• Reduce cooking liquid by one half until thickened.
• You may add 1 tbs cornstarch mixed with water if sauce isn't thick enough.
• Pour over legs.

SINGAPOREAN BRAISED DUCK

Steps:

• Trim the duck of any visible excess fat, especially from the tail area. Mix together the salt and five-spice powder, and season the duck all over, including inside the cavity, and marinate, refrigerated, for 2 hours or overnight. Rinse the duck with fresh water inside and out.
• Place a large wok or Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the sugar. After it liquefies, watch it carefully as it caramelizes to a medium brown, swirling the pot occasionally to help it color evenly. Add the star anise, garlic and ginger, and stir to coat in the caramel, and to keep the caramel cooking until it's a dark brown, but not burned. Stir in 1 cup of water to dissolve the caramel, then add the kecap manis.
• Add duck, breast side up, then add water to come up halfway, submerging the legs. Raise the heat to bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat down to a very gentle simmer, just barely bubbling.
• Cook for 15 minutes, then carefully flip the duck so the breast side is down. Cook 15 minutes, then flip again. Taste the liquid, and add salt or more kecap manis to taste. Cook 15 minutes, then flip so the breast side is down again. Cook another 5 to 15 minutes, until the breast is cooked to your liking. Traditionally it should be cooked through, but Tan's spin is to remove the duck when the breast meat is 135 to 140 degrees, or medium. To use a traditional test, poke a chopstick in the thickest parts of the duck thigh and breast; if it goes through without too much resistance, it's done.
• Remove the duck to a platter or cutting board, and tent with foil. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and eggs to the sauce, and simmer them gently for 10 minutes, until stained and hot. Skim the sauce of any floating fat if necessary, and serve it all with rice and chile sauce.

BRAISED MUSCOVY DUCK

Steps:

• Cranberries can be used instead of cherries. Place all ingredients in a crockpot set on low, a covered roaster in a 200* oven, or a large heavy-bottomed pot on a very low burner, for approximately 12 hours, until the meat falls off the bone. To speed things up, start the crockpot on high or the other pots on a medium burner until the liquid begins to simmer, then cook as directed. If your pot doesn't have room for all the ingredients, the cabbage can be cooked separately, preferably in the pot liquor. Goes best with potatoes or noodles, and would probably be wonderful with spaetzle.

ROASTED AND BRAISED DUCK WITH SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prick the duck all over with a fork, then sprinkle it with salt and pepper and put it in a large, deep ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven that can later be covered. Roast the duck, checking occasionally to make sure it is browning steadily, for about 1 1/2 hours. (If the duck is barely browning, increase the heat by 50 degrees; if it seems to be browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly.) At that point it will be nicely browned and will have rendered a great deal of fat; pour off all but a few tablespoons of the fat and transfer the pan to the top of the stove. Don't worry if the duck does not appear to be fully cooked.
• Scatter the sauerkraut around the duck, then sprinkle it with paprika, moisten it with the wine, and tuck the bay leaves in there. Turn the heat to low and cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then stir and put some of the sauerkraut on top of the duck.
• Cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the duck is quite tender. Carve and serve.
• Variations
• As everyone knows from sad experience, a single duck provides skimpy servings for four people. You can make up for this with side dishes, but there are other solutions as well:
• Braise a piece of slab bacon and/or smoked or fresh pork along with the duck, after adding the sauerkraut; you'll have to increase the cooking time a bit.
• Peel and cut up some potatoes (or carrots, parsnips, or turnips) and cook them along with the duck and sauerkraut.
• Finally, you can simply cook more duck-start with 2 ducks or use a couple of duck legs or, best of all, sear a duck breast and serve the slices separately.

RED-WINE-BRAISED DUCK LEGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. and season duck legs with salt and pepper.
• In a heavy kettle just large enough to hold legs in one layer, cook legs, skin sides down, over moderately high heat 10 to 15 minutes, or until skin in scrip and mahogany colored, removing fat from kettle as it is rendered with a metal bulb baster (or very carefully tilting the kettle and spooning off). Turn legs over and cook until browned on the other side, about 2 minutes, transferring to a plate.
• Pour off fat from kettle and deglaze with wine, scraping up brown bits. Boil wine until reduced to a syrup and add garlic, thyme and 1/2 cup dried fruit. Return duck legs, skin sides up, to kettle and add broth. Bring mixture to a simmer and braise, uncovered, in oven 2 hours, or until legs are very tender. Transfer legs to a platter and keep warm.
• Pour braising mixture into a 1-quart measuring cup and let stand until fat rises to the top. Skim off fat and pour liquid through a sieve into a saucepan, pressing hard on solids. Boil liquid until reduced by about one third and slightly thickened and add remaining 1/2 cup dried fruit. Simmer sauce until fruit is softened, about 5 minutes, and season with salt and pepper.
• Serve duck legs with sauce and noodles or roasted and mashed potatoes.

BRAISED DUCK WITH TURNIPS

Steps:

• Cut away duck backbones and discard. Cut off first 2 joints of each wing and reserve. Cut ducks into quarters. Remove any fat. Pat duck pieces dry with paper towels. Pierce skin all over with fork. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat vegetable oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add duck quarters, skin side down, and cook until golden, about 8 minutes. Turn and cook 3 minutes longer. Transfer to large bowl. Add wings and giblets to Dutch oven and cook until golden, turning frequently, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to another bowl.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons duck fat from Dutch oven. Add onions, carrots, parsley stems, thyme and bay leaf to Dutch oven. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add 3 1/2 cups broth, wine, giblets and wings. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.
• Strain liquids and return to pot. Add duck quarters; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until cooked through, turning occasionally, about 40 minutes. Transfer duck to plate.
• Cook turnips in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 25 minutes. Drain; cut into quarters. Combine 1/4 cup chicken broth and cornstarch in small bowl and whisk to blend.
• Skim fat from duck cooking liquid. Boil liquid until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture and whisk until sauce thickens slightly. Add duck and turnips. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until duck and turnips are heated through, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Rewarm over medium heat.) Transfer to large bowl. Top with minced parsley.