DUCK 2 WAYS

June 30th, 2009

Duck is one of my favorite meats. Darker than chicken and slightly more “gamey” duck has incredible flavor and versatility. I like to slow-braise the legs and serve them with the breast seared medium rare along with some roasted potatoes & braised greens.

Ingredients (serves 4):

-4 Muscovy or Liberty duck legs

-2 Muscovy or Liberty duck breasts

-Extra virgin olive oil

-Salt and pepper

-1 bay leaf

-1 medium white or Spring onion, diced

-1 bottle dry white wine

-1 tablespoon or tomato paste

-1 tablespoon of fresh thyme or oregano

-1 cup green Casteltrevano olives (optional)

-2 pieces of orange peel

-Juice from one lemon

-2 bunches of dandelion or other favorite braising green

-1/2 pound of new potatoes, rinsed and cut into small pieces

-1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

-1 tablespoon herbs from O&Company (optional) for the potatoes

THE LEGS

Lay the legs onto a cutting board and carefully cut off any excess fat. Reserve the fat for rendering or discard. Salt the legs on both sides. Let sit for 30 minutes to come to room temperature. In a Dutch oven heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over high heat. When almost smoking insert the duck legs, skin side down. Sear without moving until deep, dark golden brown (2-3 minutes). Turn over and cook for 10 seconds. Remove to a plate to rest. Pour off any excess fat from the Dutch oven. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, lower the heat to medium and add the onion and bay leaf. Salt the onion so that it begins to break down. Be sure to sweat the onion. If it starts to brown add more olive oil and turn down the heat to low.

Add the tomato paste and allow to cook for 1 minute. Stir through the onions. Add the thyme, orange peel and olives. Stir through. Turn the heat back to medium high and insert the ducks legs, skin side up. Pour in the wine. Add enough to almost cover the top of the legs. Bring to a boil and allow the alcohol to burn off (5 minutes or so). Lower the heat to a simmer and put the top on the Dutch oven. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. When the duck legs are done, turn off the heat and set aside. Turn your oven on to 375 (we will finish the legs in the oven and slightly brown them before serving).

Meanwhile, take a large saute pan and add the butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the potatoes in a single layer. Saute over medium high for 2-3 minutes and lower the heat to medium low. Add the herbed salt from O&Co (optional) or just add a bit of regular sea salt and some herbs de provence. The herbs from O&Co already have salt so no need to add more. Continue cooking until the potatoes are brown on one side. If you happen to have any extra rendered duck fat lying around feel free to spoon in a small amount. It will give the potatoes even more flavor. Using tongs flip each one over and saute until brown on the other side. Set aside and keep warm.

Now take the duck breasts (be sure to take them out of the fridge half an hour prior so they come to room temperature) and salt them on both sides. Take a sharp knife and “score” the skin side of the breasts. Make a small incision all the way down the breast in a nice row. Repeat the other way so that you have a cris-cross along all the skin. This will allow the breast to remain flat while we sear it.

Now place your duck legs into the oven with the lid off. This will allow them to be re-heated and also brown the skin a bit. Leave them in for 20-30 minutes. When done they should look similar to this:

THE BREASTS

Place a cast iron pan (if you don’t have cast iron use a non-stick stainless steel pan) over high heat and allow to become smoking hot (do not add any oil to it). Pour a tiny bit of olive oil over your duck breasts and rub through on both sides. Once the pan is smoking hot place each breast skin side down into the pan. Saute over high heat until much of the fat has rendered off (4-6 minutes). Occasionally check with tongs to ensure you do not burn the skin. It should turn a nice dark golden brown. Flip and cook through on the other side (3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the breasts). If you are concerned about over cooking the breasts use a meat thermometer to check the temperature. The inside should read about 120-125 for medium rare. Once it’s at that temperature remove from the pan and let rest on a cutting board as it will continue cooking.

It’s important that the breasts rest for at least 10 minutes as they have just undergone high stress cooking over very high heat and we want them to be tender and juicy.

While the breasts are resting get another saute pan (or wok if you have one) going over high heat. Add a bit of olive oil and add your braising greens. Cook over high heat until cooked through. If things get too hot/smokey pour a bit of water into the pan. The dandelion greens cook very quickly but if you are doing something like collard greens you may wish to add more water and cover them to cook completely through. Add salt and the juice from one lemon at the very end.

TO PLATE

Carefully slice the breasts across the grain into pieces and arrange onto plates. Place one leg on each plate and spoon over the juices and sauce from the Dutch oven with the green olives, etc. Place a few potatoes and greens on each plate. Spoon over more sauce to your liking and serve immediately.

Buon appetito!

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