Thanksgiving Duck

[PolishedTopaz]

Ok all......

I want to do a duck this year for "turkey day" I was inspired by a place that we go to eat from time to time, we went there last night and I picked the owners brain on how to do it.

What she told me was; cook it with a "low and slow" [I figure 325?] method, turn it often, drain out the fat from the cavity from time to time and finish with a high heat [she said 500] to crisp up the skin. They serve it with a homemade la orange sauce made from the drippings, zest, orange juice, I think some ginger is in it too and S+P. The duck itself is seasoned with rosemary and S+P. How does this sound??? Does it look right to you??? What would you change and why???

TIA for your help!

 

[mudbug]

sounds like an excellent alternative, PT! I made duck on turkey day once, but it was years ago and I've forgotten exactly what I did.

Duck will render out a lot of fat, so I would place the bird on a rack in your roaster so the bottom doesn't get all mushy from sitting in fat. Save the fat for frying potatoes in, though. It's really good!

 

[kyles]

I agree that sounds delicious. I quite like duck, I used to hate it, it was something my dad cooked, and not very well - he didn't cook it long enough.
I'm considering having duck for Christmas.

 

[masteraznchefjr]

sounds good to me i love duck!! You can get like a duck for 10 dollars in taiwan from the street side vendors and its cooked already and prepared nicely with a bowl of soup noodles to the side with some tufu, a duck egg (those black eggs really good), its really good stuff.

 

[PolishedTopaz]

I plan on giving it a "test drive" before the day of reconing, I will let you all know how it turned out.

 

[pst1can]

Cooking Duck...

Last time I had duck my chef buddy barbequed it....it was wonderful meal...had sort of forgotten that....I need to go out and get some duck to "Q"...served with an orange sauce...was wonderful

 

[Otter]

That's pretty much how I make duck when I make it, but I only make it a couple times a year. It is quite fatty, so definitely cook it on a rack. Muscovy is good if you can get one of those. Be aware that duck is a lot less meaty than turkey and you aren't going to get a lot of portions out of one.

 

[tancowgirl2000]

My fatehr used to cook duck quite often, he was an avid hunter. I could care less for it. Too greasy for my tastes same goes for Kentucky Fried Chicken or prok sausage (breakfast links) The greasey makes me feel queasy.....yuk!!!

 

[kitchenelf]

My mom cooked duck for Easter. She always made it with a regular turkey stuffing but then it had dried fruit in it so help soak up some of the grease. It was REALLY good. Your dinner sounds great! A wild rice wtih some pecans in it would be good as a side - cook the wild rice in a combination water/orange juice/honey mixture and some pecans.

I wish we could have different things for holiday meals but my husband's family likes ham and finger foods - which is quite good, don't get me wrong - my SIL must spend days/weeks preparing stuff and it's all wonderful!

 

[GB]

The only thing I would change is your invitation list. Put me on it

 

[kitchenelf]

oh yea, me too - I'll PM you with the address...naw...you don't have to send an invitation - just count me in too

 

[PolishedTopaz]

I'm doing a "test drive" on Thursday, will let you know how it turns out.

BTW.....in this part of Long Island we have alot of duck farms, so the ones we get at the market are from 1 town away from me, looks to be a good sized one too.

 

[buckytom]

duck is deelish, but unless you have good ventilation in your kitchen, expect the whole house to smell like duckfat. i am not allowed to make it at home anymore, but i've been tempted to do it on a spit on the grill...

 

[Lifter]

Hey Buckytom, have you gone the expedient of using the old "turkey baster" to suck up some of the grease, periodically? (depositing it in a can or similar, so you can toss the grease and use the "drippings"?)

This might eliminate some of the smoke and smell, I'm thinking, and get you back on a nice treat that duck gives us all...opening windows and using the big fans to "clear the air" and blow some of it out the windows or doors is also a tactic...

Unless your duck is "wild" (ie hunted), whereupon there are other options, a bit more wasteful it might seem, but workable, nonetheless...

Lifter

 

[buckytom]

hiya lifter,

the last time i made duck was on one of those ron popeil electric rotisserie things, and i kept emptying the fat collection tray, but the whole house still stunk.

i've also had wild duck, which was much less fattier. a chef friend of mine made it using his own recpie. it was the best i've ever had, even better than peking duck, and duck l'orange.

alas, duck shall not be made in my house, nor liver or kidneys of any animal. sigh.

 

[Lifter]

Sorry for you Buckytom, as you are missing out!

On the other hand, if you ever won a lottery, for instance, my experience of wild meats was that "most of the meat was in the breasts, the leg and thigh, and "perhaps" the first wing link...(ie the "drumlet")...

If you get into "serious" butchering, you also go after the "oysters" on the back, but if you pull all this meat off the carcass, soak it 12 hours or more in, say, red wine, seasoning salts, and olive oil, then you can pan-fry duck and/or goose that tastes pretty fine, and since you will have pulled off the skin, the fat goes with it, and so does the smoking and stinking issues...and, while the bits and bites aren't quite the same as the roasted bird, they come out pretty good...

Our collective chloresteral issues demand that we "live without liver" for most things, but absenting kidneys from beef stew will be a sin that will follow you the rest of your life and into eternity! Just boil the "p" out of them, and they hardly smell at all....

With Deepest "Sympathy"

Lifter

;-)

 

[buckytom]

lol, thanks lifter. the oysters are the best part of any large bird. i'll have to try the removing the skin and soaking in red wine trick. what's the worst that can happen?

i miss kidneys, and i make liver (cow or calf) when i am home alone, with all the windows open, and all of dw's scented candles going. lol, i can picture her coming home early, and me jumping in the bathtub to make it look like i was taking one of those girly baths with all of the candles, so she won't get wise to the liver cooking in the kitchen.

 

[Lifter]

The worst that can happen?

HMMMM!

Getting caught before you have it cooking would be one....

Soaking it up in red wine, and doing an unintentional flambee that "spilled" and carried on to the rest of the stovetop....

Removing the skin on duck and goose really does kick where Elf doesn't want suggested, BTW! And of course is "healthier"...plastering it with Lowry's Seasoning, if you can get it there, and/or in the case of wild meat, a good soaking in MSG as well, and being "liberal" (keeping my head down on the political connotation!) with the red wine...you do sort of want to "crust" the meat, but you have to preserve the "juiciness" side of things, too, and not overcook...I like this with good venison, too, but goose breast...YUM!

Try lamb's liver, with "muchos" garlic, red wine, oil, and herbs, very slowly sauteed with a light dusting of flour, and not overdone...if you can find a butcher that processes lamb, the livers are usually dirt cheap, as people don't take them, and its far superior to beef, calf or pork...with something "sweet" like perogies (see "Ethnic" thread!) this is extra good...

Lifter

 

[kitchenelf]

Lifter - I bet there's nowhere I can get lamb liver - but I bet I try!!! Thanks.

 

[PolishedTopaz]

It's in the oven 325 on a bed of chicken wings, onion and garlic. The owner told me to do them on the wings and I added onion and garlic for flavoring of the sauce.