It’s days like today I realize that I have no children, and can spend what equated to 5-6 hours cooking . . . . . . a sandwich. OK, full disclosure, I will get quite a few more meals from the efforts, but everything cooked was necessary for the sandwich.
I was watching an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and the chef at a little inn made these french dip sandwiches with duck instead of beef, with duck consomme dipping sauce and duck fat french fries that was topped with crunchy duck skin that tasted a lot like duck bacon. I had to recreate this.
I have cooked Duck Breast before, and used duck confit as part of a filling for ravioli, but have never prepared a whole duck before and is something I have been itching to try. I tackled this in true extemporary fashion, initial research to form a general plan, then heading to the kitchen to execute.
The Basic plan:
- Breakdown the duck. I saved the leg quarters and duck fat to make confit once I have two more legs.
- Make duck stock
- Render duck fat and fry duck skin (which turns out to be a single step)
- Grill duck breasts
- Make sandwiches and eat.
I have to say the end result was well worth the effort, and none of the plan was difficult to execute. Duck is a fantastic ingredient, and I recommend everyone try it. If you have eaten and disliked it in the past due to a rubbery or overly dry preparation, don’t blame the duck, blame the preparation. Done correctly, duck is tender, juicy with an almost beef like flavor. Every day is duck season.
Extemporary Eats 