Duck, the Miracle Food

[Homme]

Spent 4 days in a cottage in the Dordogne region last week - duck and goose (and walnuts and truffles) are the go there. In sarlat, there are shops selling fg every 5 metres. Bought some duck breasts and some "sheep's feet" mushrooms from the local market, cooked them in a red wine sauce. Quick, easy and delicious.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by haganah

I hate duck. Am I the only one?

no, I'm with you.

 

[BrianVarick]

Originally Posted by haganah

I hate duck. Am I the only one?

I just had duck for the first time a couple days ago and I was not impressed. It wasn't bad, but I much prefer chicken

 

[Sazerac]

I usually roast a duck every year for Thanksgiving. Last year my Slovak mother-in-law suggested taking the trimmed off fat, liquefying it in a pan, and using it to fry the liver, bits of skin, and the other tasty bits. Sweet lord above, that was tasty.

 

[Douglas]

I haven't had much in the way of high-end duck... in fact, I'm not sure I've ever had duck in any meaningful Western preparation. I have had some Peking duck at supposedly top-notch places and left satisfied but not necessarily blown away. And I've never cooked with it, not even once, which is sort of surprising and sad.

Perhaps I will go out and try it. Is a duck confit hard to do? Sounds time-consuming, which is fine, but is an amateur going to be able to do it?

 

[haganah]

Originally Posted by edmorel

no, I'm with you.
Good. I'll also admit I dislike venison (not so weird, lots of people do) and, 9 times out of 10, lamb (people may find that strange too).

 

[edinatlanta]

Originally Posted by Sazerac

I usually roast a duck every year for Thanksgiving. Last year my Slovak mother-in-law suggested taking the trimmed off fat, liquefying it in a pan, and using it to fry the liver, bits of skin, and the other tasty bits. Sweet lord above, that was tasty.

Man, can Slovaks **** anything up? Answer: No.

People might as well start poasting their favorite duck recipes. Might have to get one this week.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by haganah

Good. I'll also admit I dislike venison (not so weird, lots of people do) and, 9 times out of 10, lamb (people may find that strange too).

yep, can't even look at venison and I don't get lamb, too gamy for me. Plus I don't like really rare meat and my understanding is that quality lamb (chops) need to be eaten pretty much rare.

 

[Manton]

I love all this stuff. Lamb is best MR, not rare. M is fine too.

The one game I had that I really didn't like was elk.

 

[gomestar]

Originally Posted by Manton

I love all this stuff.

+1. I made the duck breast from Ad Hoc a week or two ago and it was awesome. Super easy, too.

Lamb is great. As is venison. And cornish hens, poussins, pigeon, etc.

I'm 50/50 on rabbit. If it's overcooked just slightly, it's not great.

 

[haganah]

I'm done with really gamey stuff.

As for lamb, my worst restaurant memory was being at spago years ago with a girl, hating everything on the menu, and thinking how bad could green curry lamb possibly be? It was served on the bone with literally a dolop of green curry on the top. I stomached it to impress the girl, something I seem to do often, but every time I see wolfgang on tv, I remember throwing up that night instead - on the girl (which impressed my friends but not her).

 

[TheIdler]

Originally Posted by Douglas

Is a duck confit hard to do? Sounds time-consuming, which is fine, but is an amateur going to be able to do it?

Not hard at all--seriously, my special lady friend can do it and she can't even boil pasta right.

 

[haganah]

Originally Posted by TheIdler

Not hard at all--seriously, my special lady friend can do it and she can't even boil pasta right.
What is a special lady friend? Like a lady boy?

 

[gdl203]

In my experience it is not easy at all to make a good duck confit. With time, anyone can make it but to make one that is seasoned well is more difficult. Most common mistake is that it ends up too salty IME.

On the topic in general, I love duck when it's done well but mediocre duck is much worse than mediocre chicken, lamb, beef, etc.... Duck can be a major let down on a menu. In NYC, my two favorite duck dishes were an absolutely perfect "Peking duck" at Eleven Madison Park a couple of years ago and a highly satisfying "arroz con pato" at Nuela a few months ago.

The Nuela dish had duck 5 ways - btw, Manton, you forgot about the duck eggs in your OP

 

[TheIdler]

Originally Posted by haganah

What is a special lady friend? Like a lady boy?

She's got the standard parts; it's just that I'm just not comfortable with the term "girlfriend" yet, let alone "wife". We've only been together for three years.

And gdl, I don't know what to tell you...she puts the salt/herb rub on for a little less than 24 hours and always wipes everything off before pouring the melted fat over. They are consistently awesome.

One of my favorite rice dishes ever was a duck and artichoke paella at El Poblet in Denia, Spain. Yum.