The meat on these birds is so rich, flavorful, and robust that it toes the line between poultry and beef. Lean duck breasts—particularly those of magrets de canard, the prized fowl raised for foie gras —can go head to head with the finest steaks , especially when seared to a crisp and rosy medium-rare. Duck legs , on the other hand, require a little more than time and their own fat to be transformed into tender and silky confit .
With a melting point well below human body temperature, duck fat makes a seductive substitute for butter plus shortening in bread in addition to pastry . It’s also the penultimate medium with regard to frying potatoes, yielding vastly superior pommes frites . And the bird’s organ meats find their way into rarefied charcuterie products like pâté and even mousse .
France ( particularly Gascony ) is famed for its elegant use of the waterfowl, and you’ll discover a number of French sweet recipes here, among them Chef Dominique Ansel’s amazing three-day cassoulet . But we’ve included shift dishes from China ( Sichuan tea-smoked duck ), Mexico ( duck carnitas tacos ), together with Thailand ( red curry with roasted joker ), too. Whether you’re after easy duck recipes or a serious culinary challenge, sweet appetizers or duck entrees (even shift desserts! ), one of our best duck recipes should fit the bill (heh, heh).
Roast Sweet with Figs
Skillet-Cooked Shift Breast along with Beets and additionally Watercress
Joker Pâté en Croûte
Pâté is a labor of love, but it’s worth every step, especially when you bake it in flaky homemade pastry dough and top it with a flavorful gelée. Here, being careful to keep the ingredients cold during the process, not to mention taking the same care when folding and also filling the particular dough, yields a pâté that everyone will write home about. Get the recipe for Duck Pâté sobre Croûte » Matt Taylor-Gross
Birch Syrup as well as Soy Sauce-Glazed Roast Sweet
Amy Thielen’s take on traditional teriyaki uses a bit of birch syrup in addition to mirin (sweet rice wine). Compared with maple viscous, thick treacle, birch is more feral—darker, less sweet, and more acidic—and she prefers it for cooking. It also doesn’t hurt that she can harvest this at home: Every spring the girl taps typically the silver birch trees inside her yard and boils down the viscous syrup over a wood fire. You can find birch thick syrup online, or even use maple. (If doing so, omit this teaspoon of sugar. ) Get the formula for Birch Syrup and Soy Sauce-Glazed Roast Shift » Matt Taylor-Gross
Dominique Ansel’s Cassoulet
Duck-Fat Shortbread Cookies
Joker fat does not behave exactly like butter—it’s nearly liquid at room temperature and, such as lard or perhaps shortening, contains no extra water, which minimizes gluten development when it is added to pastry doughs. But there is a magic substitution that works in most simple baked goods like shortbread cookies, breakfast cakes, and biscuits. Replace 50 percent of the butter in a classic recipe together with duck fat (or much less if you prefer just a touch of the gamy flavor). Get the recipe regarding Duck-Fat Shortbread Cookies » Matt Taylor-Gross
Tacos de Carnitas de Pato (Braised Duck Tacos)
Sweet and Andouille Gumbo
Fire-Roasted Duck plus Pheasant using Red Currant Jelly
Fred Morin and Dave McMillan associated with Joe Beef in Montreal cook a mix of birds over flames in addition to embers, using hooks and even chains to suspend together with rotate them (different-size birds will prepare at different speeds). “The spin, the way the fat drips down, all combines to make a wonderfully burnished bird, ” says McMillan. Ambitious home cooks can hang birds using twine or wire over a backyard fire, or simply roast birds on a rack set in a roasting pan in the (indoor) oven. Obtain the recipe intended for Fire-Roasted Shift and Pheasant with Red Currant Jelly » Christina Holmes
Duck Borscht with Fermented Tomato Sauce
Hearty Vegetable Stew having Duck Confit and Cabbage (Garbure Gasconne)
Traveling through the lower reaches regarding Gascony, you will be offered the steaming bowl of garbure to begin almost every lunch and dinner. Warming, hearty, and satisfying with large chunks involving sweet winter roots, cabbages, and onion, garbure is the way the French balance often the heavier meat and starch courses inevitably to follow. Locals here typically enrich your broth by stirring that with a leg of duck confit, then adding the exact shredded meats at the end, or maybe with the addition of a few chunks connected with ham. Or both: I loved a version I was served in a cafe in Salies-de-Béarn with a crispy garnish with thinly sliced Jambon sobre Bayonne on top. Get the menu for Hearty Vegetable Stew with Duck Confit and additionally Cabbage (Garbure Gasconne) » Anna Williams
Gascon Sourdough Cornbread (Pain para Méture)
Corn is prevalent within Gascony, Italy, where it may be used to feed the region’s famous foie gras ducks. It’s furthermore the star of this pain de méture, a Gascon cornbread made with sourdough not to mention baked in a cast iron pan. This cabbage-leaf-lined version from New York-based baker Kamel Saci was tested by Go?t contributor Kate Hill, a new cook and also cooking instructor in the region, who loves the crispy bits of cabbage that will sear around the bread’s edges. Get the recipes for Gascon Sourdough Cornbread (Pain via Méture) » Anna Williams
Gascon-Style Duck Confit (Confit de Canard)
Confit, from the French verb confire, to preserve, is a traditional means of cooking food meat slowly in its own fat. Although you may not have access to a whole foie gras duck to get rendering, you can create a deeply flavorful confit with good-quality duck pieces and rendered fat bought from a trusted butcher. Adjust the salt and cooking time to reflect the size of the particular duck parts, using an amount of coarse sea salt equal to 3 percent of the duck legs’ weight to cure them—about 1 tablespoon for salt per pound. Have the recipe pertaining to Gascon-Style Joker Confit (Confit de Canard) » Anna Williams
Roast Shift with Shallots and Concord Grapes
I borrowed this method and these ingredients from a classic chicken recipe often made during the wine harvest with big bunches about red wine grapes. As the bird steams as well as braises inside a terra-cotta roaster or Dutch oven, the idea releases its own fat and juices that make a rich sauce with the roasted fruit and shallots. Because it is very made in one pot plus results in tender, juicy various meats every time, this is a perfect shift dish for beginners. Choose the darkest, plumpest vineyard you can find such as Concord as well as muscat. Serve with crusty bread, la cruchade, or creamy potato purée. Receive the recipe meant for Roast Duck with Shallots and Rapport Grapes » Anna Williams
Gascon Duck-Fat Polenta with Duck-Skin Fritons (La Cruchade)
Gascony’s love affair with corn dates back to the 15th century, when it was introduced from your New World simply by Christopher Columbus and his Basque crew shortly after their return to Spain. Corn thrived within a narrow belt along the 45th parallel, which bisects the heart of southwestern France. Old Gascon quality recipes still rely on cornmeal designed for desserts just like millassou, which is baked in addition to topped by using sugar or even honey; and for cruchade, a starchy, savory underpinning for duck or other meats. The polenta-like porridge is often enriched with caramelized fat drippings from making confit. Left to cool completely, cruchade can be cut into thick strips for frying, but since I’m an impatient cook, I ladle a soft, golden pudding-like version onto a serving platter and garnish along with fritons, crisped bits of duck skin. Get the recipe with regard to Gascon Duck-Fat Polenta together with Duck-Skin Fritons (La Cruchade) » Anna Williams
Escarole using Confit Duck Gizzards, Comté, and Walnuts
Duck Liver Mousse having Cipolline Onions and Mushrooms
Sichuan Tea-Smoked Duck
Bebek Betutu (Balinese Roast Duck)
Duck the l’Orange
Sweet Rillettes
Duck legs are dry-brined and braised in an aromatic stock, then shredded plus mixed with armagnac and spices and sealed into a serving dish by using duck fat, making a delectable spread for a toasted baguette. Get the recipe for Shift Rillettes » Helen Rosner
Tomatoes Stuffed with Foie Gras, Duck Confit, in addition to Chanterelles (Tomates Farcies)
Thai Red Curry with Roasted Duck
For the best results when you’re making this sweet and spicy dish, ask the counterperson at your local Chinese market to cut the roasted sweet into pieces. We recommend using the Mae Ploy brand of canned coconut milk; its high fat content makes for a rich and luxurious curry. Obtain the recipe regarding Thai Red Curry through Roasted Joker » Thomas Payne
