Mahogany Duck Food

MIGHTY DUCK

Steps:

• Combine all brine ingredients in a plastic container with a lid. Place the lid on the container and shake to dissolve the salt.
• Remove the pop-up thermometer, liver, gizzards, and heart. Cut off the wings.
• Using kitchen shears, locate the spine at the base of the neck. Cut up the line of the backbone towards the neck cavity. Turn the duck and cut straight towards the rear cavity. Remove the backbone.
• Turn the duck over and cut straight down the middle of the breast bone, leaving 2 equal duck halves. To separate the legs from the breast, flip your halves over so the flesh side is facing up at you. Using a knife, make a crescent shape cut between the leg and the breast. Lay your knife flat against the skin and make 3 marks in one direction and then in the other, making an X. Make sure that you are cutting through the skin and not the meat.
• Line the inside of a plastic lexan or a pot with a zip-top bag. Place the duck quarters inside the bag, and pour the brine over the duck. Seal the bag, ensuring that all air is removed from the bag. Brine the duck for 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the refrigerator.
• Bring 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches of water to a boil in a large pot. Place a colander into the pot and line the sides of the colander with the duck. Do not stack the duck quarters on each other. Cover and turn the heat to medium low. Steam the duck for 45 minutes. Set oven to 475 degrees F. Place a large cast iron skillet into the oven.
• Remove duck pieces from steamer and place legs, skin side down, into the hot skillet. Place the skillet into the hot oven immediately and cook the leg quarters for 10 minutes. Add the breasts, skin side down, and cook for 7 more minutes or until the duck takes on a deep mahogany color and the skin is very crisp.
• Remove the duck from the skillet and rest under foil. Add the chard and the shallots to the skillet. Toss the chard in the fat until it barely wilts. Season with the sherry or balsamic vinegar.
• Serve the duck with the chard.

PEPPERED DUCK WITH VANILLA MASH, PEA & WILD MUSHROOM RAGOUT

Steps:

• Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Place them in a pan of cold, salted water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 mins until tender, then drain in a colander. While they are draining, place the pan back on a low heat with the cream and vanilla pod and heat to infuse. Remove vanilla pod and take pan off the heat. Push the potatoes through a ricer back into the pan. Add the butter and seasoning, then beat to form a smooth mash. Set aside.
• Season the duck all over with salt and press the pepper into the skin side. Put the duck, skin-side down, in a cold frying pan and place over a low-medium heat. As the pan heats up, the duck will start to cook - you only want a gentle sizzle coming from the pan. If it is cooking too quickly, turn the heat down slightly. Cook for 10 mins, shaking the pan occasionally. When the skin is mahogany and crisp, flip the breasts over and cook on the flesh side for 5 mins more. This will give you duck that is slightly pink in the middle. Transfer the duck to a tray or plate and leave it to rest.
• Pour off all but 1 tsp fat from the duck pan, place pan back on the heat and cook the bacon for 3 mins until crisp. Turn up the heat, add the mushrooms and cook for 2 mins more. Splash in the Port, add the peas and stock, then simmer for 2 mins more. Pour any juices from the rested duck into the pan and season to taste.

MISO ROASTED DUCK WITH CHERRY GLAZED BOK CHOY

Steps:

• Using a fork, pierce the duck skin all over to allow the flavor of the marinade to penetrate and the fat to drain. Combine honey, soy sauce, coffee, ginger, miso and brown sugar together in a bowl, stir well to dissolve the brown sugar and miso. Squeeze the citrus juice into the marinade then stuff the cavity of the duck with the citrus halves. Place the duck in a 2 gallon freezer bag, then pour in the marinade. Seal and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• The next day, remove the duck from the marinade and pat it dry with paper towel. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Place the duck on a rack in a roasting pan. Fold the wing tips back and tie the legs together. First, roast the duck for 20 minutes, the high temperature will caramelize the sugars on the outside of the duck and set a rich mahogany color. After 20 minutes, drop the temperature down to 325 degrees F and roast for 1 hour. Duck heaven baby!
• You can start the bok choy when the duck has about 10 minutes left in cooking. Preheat a large skillet on medium high. Add peanut oil.
• Saute cut side down for about 1 minute until golden. Discard the oil. Take the back-side of a knife and give the ginger a good whack. Bruising the ginger will release a ton of flavor. Add the ginger to the pan with bok choy then add the mirin, soy, and chicken stock. Stir in the miso, careful not to damage the food.
• While you have the spoon in your hand, stir in the cornstarch mixture, then let the sauce simmer and thicken for a few minutes. Finish with the fresh cherries, a pinch of salt, and fresh cracked white pepper.

STEAMED AND ROASTED WHOLE DUCK

Steps:

• To reduce the fat and produce a crispy skin, begin by trimming the excess fat from the neck and body.
• Rinse the duck, inside and out, and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels.
• Combine the Chinese five-spice, sugar, and salt in a small bowl.
• Rub the spice mixture all over the duck, inside and out.
• Salt and five-spice powder makes a fragrant dry marinade, which draws some of the moisture from the duck so that the spices penetrate.
• Stuff the duck cavity with the aromatics: the ginger, garlic, green onions, and tangerine peel.
• Fold the wing tips back under the duck and tie the legs together with kitchen string.
• Poke the duck breast a few times, piercing the skin.
• Place a roasting pan on the stovetop over 2 burners and fill with 2-inches of water, turn the heat to medium.
• Set a V-rack insert inside the pan and lay the duck on the rack, breast-side up.
• Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
• Steam the duck for 45 minutes, checking the water level periodically.
• Steaming the duck first melts away some of the fat and shrinks the skin.
• In a small saucepan combine the vinegar, honey, and soy sauce over low heat.
• Bring to a boil and simmer and stir for 15 minutes until sauce thickens.
• The duck will be lacquered with the sweet glaze, which caramelizes during roasting, making the skin crisp and brown.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Take the foil off the duck, remove the rack with the duck, and pour out the water and all the fat that has rendered out.
• Put the rack with the duck back inside the roasting pan.
• Baste the duck with the vinegar mixture, until all the skin is completely coated in the glaze.
• Stick the whole thing in the oven.
• Roast the duck for 1 hour, basting periodically with any remaining glaze to set in a deep mahogany color.
• Tent the breast with some foil if it gets too dark.
• The legs will wiggle easily when it's done.
• Carve and serve.

TEA-BRINED MAHOGANY DUCK

Steps:

• To make the brine, combine the water, tea leaves, ginger, and star anise in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let steep for 30 minutes. In a large nonreactive container, combine the steeped tea, soy sauce, and honey and stir until the honey is dissolved. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Add the bird(s) to the brine; refrigerate ducks for 4 hours, chicken for 6 hours. Keep the bird(s) submerged by placing a plate on top to weight down and at a temperature of not more than 40°F. Remove from the brine 1 hour before cooking. Rinse and pat dry.
• Prepare a medium-hot fire (400°F) in a wood-fired oven or cooker.
• To make the basting sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until the honey is dissolved.
• To roast in a box roaster, place the bird(s) breast side down on a wire roasting rack in a roasting pan or clay baker and baste with the basting sauce. Light the charwood once the bird(s) is in place. Roast, covered, with indirect heat for 1 hour. Being careful not to pierce the skin, turn over, baste, and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in a thigh registers 175° to 180°F.
• To roast in a wood-fired oven or ceramic cooker such as a Big Green Egg, place the bird(s) breast side down in a roasting pan and baste with the basting sauce. Roast for 1 hour. Being careful not to pierce the skin, turn over, baste, and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in a thigh registers 175° to 180°F.
• Let sit for 10 minutes before carving and serving.

HONEY-LACQUERED DUCK WITH SOUR CHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Put 10-12 sage leaves into a small saucepan with 1 cup of water and bring to the boil; simmer for 7 minutes and remove from heat; remove leaves and allow to cool.
• Wash the duck out and pat dry with paper towels; season generously with salt and put on a plate in the refrigerator to air-dry for 1 hour (2 hours is even better ;-) ).
• In a small saucepan, combine sage infusion, honey, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce and bring to the boil; boil at medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes until mixture becomes slightly syrupy and is reduced to 2/3 of a cup; pour 1/3 cup+ 1 tblsp into measuring cup and keep remainder in saucepan.
• Preheat oven to 415F°.
• Put duck in roasting pan, breast-side-down and roast for ½ an hour (drain fat off, retain); turn duck breast-side-up and roast ½ an hour longer (drain fat off again, retain); brush duck with the honey glaze and continue roasting 15 minutes; after the 15 minutes, turn duck so that it is breast-side-down again and brush with more honey glaze, do this once more after 15 minutes then turn duck breast-side-up again, brush with glaze and roast for a final 15 minutes; in all, the duck will have roasted a total of 2 hours and have had 4 glazings, 1 up, 2 down, and the last one up again; remove roaster from oven and allow duck to stand for 10 minutes while you finish the sauce.
• Pour off the fat you have retained into a small container (duck fat is great for frying potatoes!) and pour any accumulated duck juices into the saucepan containing the remaining honey glaze; add the cherries and any accumulated cherry juices as well as the cinnamon and bring to a boil; boil for 7-8 minutes, or until cherry sauce has become slightly-thickened and syrupy (if you want your sauce slightly thicker, you can sprinkle 1/2-3/4 tsp of cornstarch over cherries).
• Carve duck (in our case, this just means quartering the duck), and serve with the sour cherry sauce.
• Note: I have a special double-lined roaster, with one inclined tray with a hole in it fitting over a classic pan, this allows the fat to drain off the roasting meat, drip through the hole, and gather in the pan underneath; if you do not own this type of pan, use a classic roaster but drain fat off roasting duck more often.