Duck Stew Compote De Canard Food

CANARD ROTI AVEC GOLD LEAF (ROASTED DUCKLING)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Clean the whole duck and marinate with fresh lemon juice, salt and sugar mixture for 20 minutes, refrigerated. Place duck in a roasting pan with breast up. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and drain fat from the duck. Brush the duck with a half portion of red wine and roast the duck for 30 minutes. Drain the fat again and brush the rest of the red wine on the duck. Continue roasting the duck for another 30 minutes until the skin of the duck turns brown and crispy. Remove the duck from the oven, and remove the bones from the duck. Slice the duck into pieces and set it aside.

CRISP DUCK WITH WHIPPED TARO ROOT AND TARO CHIPS

Steps:

• Separate legs from the breast by cutting where the breast and carcass end and legs begin, or have your butcher cut it for you. Using a sharp boning knife, follow right along the breast bone on either side and remove both breasts. Trim fat along outside of the breast allowing approximately one third of an inch of fat overlap. Score fat on breast by making a diagonal cut, making sure not to cut the breast meat. About four strokes is sufficient.
• In a food processor, dice unpeeled ginger and garlic until coarsely chopped. Place in a stainless steel bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Place the two whole duck legs and the four duck breasts in the marinade. Remove the duck breasts after one hour. The legs should continue to marinate for an additional half an hour, and then be removed.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Using the carcasses of the duck, place the duck legs on the duck carcass. Place legs and carcasses in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours. Check periodically to make sure the ducks are not getting too dark. They are ready when the leg wiggles freely to your touch, and they are a nice deep amber color. The skin should look crisp and rendered of fat. Cool. Once cooled, take your boning knife and cut through the skin right in the middle of the legs. Using your hands, separate duck legs. (Use your thumb to get under the oyster and gently pull leg from the bones.) Gently use your fingers to pull out the thigh bone. Trim legs a little to keep a nice triangular shape.
• For the breasts:
• Heat a large, 12 inch sautepan to medium high. (You can cook two duck breasts in one pan or cook one at a time in a smaller, 10 inch pan.) Add two breasts, skin side down to start rendering the fat. Cook over medium high heat for a couple of minutes. (You will need to remove the rendered fat as you go. Hold duck breast still with a pair of tongs and pour fat into a stainless bowl or other container. Return to heat). After the first couple of minutes on medium high heat, turn burner down to medium, so not to burn the duck. The duck should be a rich amber color. Continue cooking until the fat is almost completely rendered. You can check this by looking at the incisions of the fat. When there is only a thin, crisp skin, the duck is ready to be flipped. Turn duck over. Shut heat off and leave the breast to sit in the pan for about three to four minutes. Remove from pan and allow to rest for five minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the duck legs in a medium to medium small saute pan, skin side down and pan covered to heat and finish any additional rendering of fat, approximately five minutes.
• Slice duck breast into fairly thing slices, keeping the nice shape of the breast. With a spatula, pick up breast and fan it out onto the plate. Place duck legs on an angle near the top of the slices. Serve with Whipped Taro Root, Taro Chips, lots of julienned scallions and a little Duck Jus.
• Peel taro root. First, for the chips, take your peeler and peel approximately one cup of long taro shreds. Reserve for frying.
• Take the remaining taro and cut it up into rough 2 inch chunks. Place in a sauce pan, covering with cold water. Boil root until tender. Strain into a colander, reserving cup of the liquid. In a food processor, pulse taro, adding little dabs of butter as you go, along with some of the cooking liquid to make a smooth consistency. Remove and season with salt and pepper.
• For the chips:
• Heat a couple of cups of peanut or grapeseed oil to 350 degrees. Drops shreds into oil in small batches. Remove when crisp (the chips should still be light in color) and salt.
• In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat oil. Add chopped duck body, leek, celery and carrot pieces and cook until vegetables are golden. Add white wine and chicken stock and reduce by half. Add soy marinade, cooking an additional few minutes. Skim off any fat and strain.

PASTEL DE MAIZ

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 5 cup souffle or baking dish. In a food processor pulse 4 cups of the corn kernels (reserving 1 cup) for 5 to 10 seconds, scraping down the bowl to get the mixture to move freely. Continue processing until the corn is pureed. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the pureed corn and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened to coating consistency.
• Transfer the pureed corn to a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool. Fill a large deep
• saucepan about 1/3 full with chicken stock and add the celery, carrot, peppercorns, and salt
• (there should be just enough stock to cover the chicken breasts). Bring the stock to a boil
• over high heat. Season the chicken well, add it to the pan and reduce the heat. Partially cover the pan and simmer for about 12 minutes, then remove from the heat, add the pitted prunes to the pan to soak, and let the chicken cool until it is just warmer than room temperature. Remove the chicken and the prunes. Cut the chicken meat into 1inch cubes, discarding the skin and bone. Coarsely chop the prunes and set them both aside. In a large deep skillet, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Add the onions and saute for one minute, stirring. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, cover the pan and let the onions cook for 4 or 5 minutes, until softened. Uncover the pan and increase the heat to medium. Continue cooking until the excess liquid has evaporated, without browning the onions. Drain the chopped tomatoes, then add them to the pan. Continue cooking until the excess moisture has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken, prunes, and the reserved cup of corn kernels to the pan and remove it from the heat. In the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they are pale and thickened. Add the pureed corn mixture and mix to combine. Spread half of the yolk corn mixture over the base of the pan, then carefully spoon the chicken mixture over the corn in an even layer. Cover with the remaining yolk corn mixture in an even layer and brush the top lightly with the beaten egg yolk. Bake in the center of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

CONFIT DE CANARD

Steps:

• Quarter the ducks and remove the backbones. Cut and trim off as much fat as possible. Grind any excess skin and all the fat in a food processor, place in a deep saucepan with 1 cup water and render the fat (simmer it over low heat for about 45 minutes, uncovered), strain, and reserve.
• Cut each breast into halves with the wings attached. Roll each piece of duck in the salt and place it in a large stainless glass or earthen bowl. Sprinkle each piece of duck with a mixture of the shallots, herbs, and spices and scatter any remaining salt over the top. Cover loosely and refrigerate 24 hours. NOTE: This may be cut down to a few hours if it is to be eaten within a week or two.
• Rinse quickly, then wipe the pieces of duck to remove all the salt, herbs, spices, and liquid.
• Heat the strained fat in a deep, wide kettle. Add the duck, 1/2 cup of water, the halved garlic head, and enough rendered poultry or pork fat to cover. Bring the mixture to a boil. Lower heat and cook at a simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until the duck flesh can be easily pierced with a straw. Do not let the mixture boil.
• Remove the duck, drain and discard any loose bones. Strain the warmed fat. Put about 1 cup of warmed fat into each of the bowls or mason jars intended for storage of the confit and cool in order to congeal the fat.
• Arrange the duck pieces in the containers without compacting them. Strain the remaining fat, tepid but not hot, over the duck to cover. The pieces of duck must be completely submerged in the fat. Cover and chill until solid. Cover with a layer of melted lard. Cover tightly with a glass top or with plastic wrap and store in a cool place such as a cold cellar or the refrigerator. Leave to ripen at least 1 month. It keeps well for 6 months.
• To use the confit, set the jars or bowl in a warm oven. When the fat softens, remove pieces desired. Return jar or bowl to the refrigerator. Be sure all of the remaining pieces are covered with fat. The duck can be served at room temperature or warmed in an oven, then Sauteed to crisp the skin.

CONFIT DE CANARD

Steps:

• Rub the duck legs all over with the split garlic cloves and put them in a glass bowl with the salt, pepper, bay leaves, and thyme. Cover with a tea towel and refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours, turning once.
• Heat the oven to 200 degrees F. Rinse the duck and pat dry with a towel. Set the legs in a baking dish and tuck in the garlic cloves. Pour over enough fat to cover them, place over heat and when you see the first bubble, set it on a rimmed baking sheet in the oven and bake uncovered until the meat is very tender and shrinks away from the bone, about 4 hours. Cool slightly in the fat, then carefully lift them out.
• While the confit cooks, soak 2 wooden skewers in a saucepan and boil 5 minutes to sterilize. Lay in the bottom of two sterilized glass loaf pans (breaking the sticks if needed). Lay on the duck legs and ladle over the fat, leaving any juices behind. Make sure they are well covered. Cover with foil or plastic wrap, and refrigerate a week to mellow.
• To cook, remove the pans from the fridge and set in simmering water about 20 minutes, so you can pull the legs out without breaking. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and lay the legs skin-side down with a little fat around them in a cast iron pan. Bake until hot, about 15 minutes. Remove and turn oven to broil. Turn legs skin-side up and broil to crispen skin, about 3 minutes.

DUCK A L'ORANGE

Steps:

• Roast duck:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 475°F.
• Stir together salt, coriander, cumin, and pepper. Pat duck dry and sprinkle inside and out with spice mixture. Cut 1 half of orange into quarters and put in duck cavity with thyme, marjoram, parsley, and 4 onion wedges.
• Squeeze juice from remaining half of orange and stir together with wine and stock. Set aside.
• Spread remaining 4 onion wedges in roasting pan with carrot and celery, then place duck on top of vegetables and roast 30 minutes.
• Pour wine mixture into roasting pan and reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Continue to roast duck until thermometer inserted into a thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, 1 to 1 1/4 hours more. Turn on broiler and broil duck 3 to 4 inches from heat until top is golden brown, about 3 minutes.
• Tilt duck to drain juices from cavity into pan and transfer duck to a cutting board, reserving juices in pan. Let duck stand 15 minutes.
• Make sauce:
• While duck roasts, cook sugar in a dry 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar melts into a deep golden caramel. Add orange juice, vinegar, and salt (use caution; mixture will bubble and steam vigorously) and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel is dissolved. Remove syrup from heat.
• Discard vegetables from roasting pan and pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a 1-quart glass measure or bowl, then skim off and discard fat. Add enough stock to pan juices to total 1 cup liquid.
• Stir together butter and flour to form a beurre manié. Bring pan juices to a simmer in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, then add beurre manié, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Add orange syrup and zest and simmer, whisking occasionally, until sauce is thickened slightly and zest is tender, about 5 minutes. Serve with duck.
• Available at D'Artagnan (800-327-8246).