At this time of year most of the local farmers are processing the ducks that were raised this year. Once those ducks are sold locals must wait until next summer to receive local free-range ducks. This is the reason we decided to buy in bulk. Obviously, I have no intention of consuming three ducks at once, also I do not want to freeze them. That would defeat the purpose of buying locally sourced, freshly slaughtered ducks. I decided to take an old-world approach to my dilemma. Curing and implementing confit are methods not generally used today but these classic techniques are a great way to preserve food and create wonderful dishes.
When given an entire animal I do my best to utilize every part of it; that is a very simple task when working with duck. Every piece of this poultry (if handled properly) can be used to make something astounding. The bones can be used to make a rich flavorful stock, the skin can be rendered for its decadent fat, and the meat can be cooked or cured.
It is important to remember the breast and wings have a completely different texture than the legs or thigh of a duck; therefor each of these sections should be handled differently. The breast of this animal is generally never cooked above a medium rare temperature, doing so would result in a tough, chewy slab of meat with an unpleasant taste. The legs however need to be cooked for hours in order to breakdown to the desired fall off the bone texture.
Even the preservation methods performed on these meats are vastly different. The breast is generally cured then hung to dry into prosciutto. Duck legs however are cured then cooked for hours in their own fat, where they can remain for a few weeks until being deployed for various dishes.
I decided to use two of my breasts to create my Duck L’wineberry dish. Wineberries are a local wild berry native to New Jersey (you can supplement with a berry of your choice). This dish was inspired by the very popular dish: Duck L’orange; and employs the same basic concept. While Duck L’orange is generally topped with orange sugar, served with orange jus and garnished with orange supremes; my Duck L’wineberry is glazed with wineberry jam, garnished with fresh wineberries and served amongst a wineberry jus.
The remaining legs and breasts were cured. We made duck prosciutto and duck confit with a smoky twist. I used a sous vide to confit my duck legs because far less fat is required by using this technique, leaving me with extra duck fat to use for all sorts of yummy experiments. The bones and wings were smoked then used for stock. All the skin was used to produce crunchy duck chicharron. We utilized every bit of this animal, here is how we did it:
Duck Stock:
1. Bones of 3 ducks
2. 3 carrots, roughly chopped
3. 3 celery stalks, roughly chopped
4. 1 onion, roughly chopped
5. 1 bay leaf
6. 1 bunch of parsley stems
7. 5 green onion tops
8. ½ cup dry red wine
9. 5 qts water
Preheat your smoker to 300 degrees. Smoke bones for 4 hours. In a large stock pot sauté carrots, onions and celery until they begin to brown. Add red wine and let it reduce by 1/2 . Add bones, green onions and bay leaves to the pot. Pour in the water and bring to boil, turn the heat down to simmer and let cook for four hours. Strain liquid using a strainer and one layer of cheese cloth.
Duck Prosciutto:
1. 4 duck breasts
2. 4 qts kosher salt
3. 4 tbsp black pepper
In a container just big enough to store your duck breast (without them having to touch, sprinkle half of the salt onto the bottom of the container. Spread the salt until it covers the entire bottom of the container. Place breasts skin side down on top of the salt. Pour the remaining salt on top of the duck breasts. The breasts should be completely buried with salt without touching. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Remove duck breasts from the cure and rinse thoroughly. Heat your smoker to 50 degrees and cold smoke breast for 4 hours. Remove breasts from smoker, wrap breasts in two layer of cheesecloth and hang them (in a dry place with a constant temperature under 60 degrees) for seven days. Unwrap and enjoy.
Duck leg confit:
1. 6 duck legs
2. 6 garlic cloves, halved
3. 6 stems of rosemary
4. 10 sprigs of thyme
5. 1 cup kosher salt
6. ½ cup brown sugar
7. 1 bay leaf
8. ½ cup duck fat
Sprinkle salt and sugar onto duck legs, rub mixture into duck legs until each leg is generously coated. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Rinse duck legs thoroughly. Heat smoker to 50 degrees and cold smoke legs for 5 hours. Preheat your sous vide to 158 degrees. Place duck legs into 2 sous vide bags (3 legs in each bag), evenly divide garlic, thyme, rosemary, duck fat and lemon zest between two bags. Vacuum seal bags and submerge into sous vide heated water. Let cook for 16 hours. Remove bags from water and refrigerate. You can keep duck legs in sealed bag for up to 3 weeks.
Duck L’ wineberry
1. 2 fresh duck breasts
2. 1 confit duck leg
3. 8 wineberries
4. 5 tablespoons of wineberry jam
5. 6 cippolini onions
6. ¼ cup dry red wine
7. 1 cup duck stock
Add four tablespoons of wineberry jam and red wine to a saucepan on high heat. Let wine reduce by half. Add duck stock and reduce until you reach a thick sauce like consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Generously salt duck breasts. Place skin side down into a preheated cast iron pan. Reduce to medium heat and let fat render from breast for 15 minutes continuously remove fat from pan as it renders. Remove breasts from pan and place onto a sheet tray with a wire rack. Lather the hot skin with the remainder of the wineberry jam.
Preheat smoker to 250 degrees. In a cast iron heat rendered duck fat. Add duck leg and let sear on high heat for 3 minutes. Remove pan from stove and place into smoker. Add cipollini to pan and let smoke for 10 minutes. Add duck breast to smoker and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until breast is medium rare. Remove items from smoker. Separate the leg from the thigh and slice the duck breasts. Serve duck with the jus and smoked onions. Garnish with the fresh berries.
Wineberry Jam:
1. 1 qt wineberries
2. 2 cups brown sugar
3. 1 cup gin
In a saucepan add wineberries, sugar and gin. Reduce on high heat until contents thicken to the desired consistency. Place jam into a food processor and blend until all berries have broken down. Place jam into a sealed container and refrigerate.
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