Cooking duck (was Re: [Sca-cooks] Entertaining stories for everyone)

[Gorgeous Muiredach]

>There's the story of my first (and so far, only) duck.

<SNIP of much interesting material>

>Someday I'll try another one -- I've got a different set of
>instructions to try this time.
>(poke holes in the skin, then steam it before roasting) But the first
>one DID eat pretty good.

Ahhh, were it me, I'd not worry about steaming it.  But!  I'd make sure to
have a deep roast pan, and a raised rack in the pan, so all the fat can
drip without overflowing all over.

Actually, were it me, I'd not do roast duck, as I think it's probably the
best way to kill the thing.  Duck meat (well the stuff you can buy anyway)
is a fairly subtle flavour.  Roasting it forces you to make it well done
and hence cook a lot of the flavour out.

Were it me, I'd bone the breasts out, and the legs.  I'd then either confit
or roast the legs, which really don't suffer medium to rare cooking, and
I'd pan fry the "magrets" (or breasts).  Remove some of the excess
skin/fat, score it while making sure you do not cut into the meat.  Then
heat up a thick pan to very, very hot, with very very little fat (rendered
duck fat works great for that).  Put the magret in, skin side down.  Let it
crisp up and melt up the rest of the great, then flip over to cook that
side a little bit.  Remove from the pan and let it sit a couple minutes to
let the juices flow back in a more relaxed manner within the meat (makes
for more tender piece of meat, and this works with all meats).

Boning a duck is just about like boning a chicken, except that the shape of
the bone structure is a little "flatter" and longer.

Maybe I'll buy a duck today and bone it, taking pictures at each step, then
post that on the web...  Sounds like a fun project for a rainy weekend.


Gorgeous Muiredach the Odd
Shire of Forth Castle
Meridies
mka
Nicolas Steenhout
"You must deal with me as I think of myself" J. Hockenberry