Posted: 8/26/2007 8:38:43 PM EDT
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Got 2 fresh, farm raised ducks...just got done cleaning and plucking them...Sitting in the fridge now, waiting for a decision: How should I cook them 
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| Take a small metal pan -- a prep pan works great -- and mix dried currants, brown sugar, a splash of brandy, and some water (fill to the brim). Set on a steamer basket and pressure cook for 30 minutes. Mix and keep warm with some venison neck bone stock from last year. Wrap the duck in bacon and stuff with salt pork and raisins and commercial supermarket stuffing for turkeys (trust me -- it works fine) and bake it. Servie with the sauce. |
My mom roasts them at 500 degrees, and man, they are good. She rubs them down with whatever spices you want, then puts an onion in the cavity. Add a dab of butter on top, put them in the oven, and I'm not sure how long she cooks them. You don't want to overcook them though, because then you will turn people off to them. |
Have you been spying on me while I cook duck?  Best way to cook them IMO but I like a 50/50 zesty Italian/beer mix |
(I'm not much of a duck fan)|
I've used Alton Brown's method three times, and it's great. Quarter the duck and place the pieces in a heavy ziplock bag. Brine in orange and pineapple juice, garlic, peppercorns, thyme, and salt. Line a steamer basket with the pieces and steam for 45 minutes. Halfway through steaming, place a large cast-iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 475. Once steaming is complete, pull the hot skillet and add the leg quarters, skin-side down, pressing firmly. Put the skillet back into the oven and cook for ten minutes. Pull the skillet and flip the legs over. Add the breast quarters, skin-side down and cook the whole duck for seven more minutes. Great crispy skin, tender, juicy meat, and little fat. They're wonderful. The exact recipe is at Food Network's website. |
I like the breast meat seared, cooked rare. It's like roast beef on the wing. I don't have a recipe, but I'm sure you can find one by searching. Cook the legs as a confit (pronounced con-fee): From Wiki - Duck confit (French: confit de canard) is a French dish made with duck legs. While it is made across France, it is seen as a specialty of Gascony. The confit is prepared in a centuries-old process of preservation that consists of salting (with garlic and spices) a piece of meat (generally goose, duck, or pork) and then cooking it in its own fat or broth. Usually the meat is placed in a crock or pot, covered and poached or braised for up to nine hours in its own fat at a temperature not exceeding 250 degrees Fahrenheit/120 degrees Celsius. The cooking fat acts as both a seal and preservative and results in a very rich taste. Confit can be refrigerated up to 6 months. |
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Prick the skin with a fork on the fatty sections of the bird. Rub Soy Sauce over entire bird. (The skin gets crispy and has a great color when you roast it) Season the cavity with any all purpose seasoning. (You can fill the cavity loosely w/quartered apples & oranges) Discard the apples/oranges or feed the apples to the dog. Tie the legs togerther and fold back the wings. Put bird breast down on a roasting rack in a pan. Put in 500 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (It will sound like a war is going on in your oven) Take bird out and turn breast side up. Turn oven down to 350 and cook until done. (done depends on lbs. of bird or use a thermometer in the breast) You'll have lots of fat in the pan and you can baste the bird with it, make gravy or freeze it and have duck fat for cooking stuff. Enjoy |
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Save some for Kang-ped bhet-yang - thai roast duck red curry ----------------------RED CURRY PASTE---------------------- 5 Dry Hot Chili Peppers 1 tb Lemon Grass (Sliced) 2 sl Galanga 1 tb Coriander Seeds 2 ts Cumin 1 ts Fennel Seed 1/4 Ground Nutmeg 3 Small Onions 5 Cloves of Garlic 1 ts Shrimp Paste 3 Coriander Roots Zest from 1/4 Sm Kaffir -Lime 1 1/2 ts Black Peppers 1/2 ts Salt ---------------------OTHER INGREDIENTS--------------------- 1 Roast Duck 5 Plum Tomatoes 1/2 c * Small Thai Eggplants 4 Fresh Med.Hot Chili Peppers 4 Kaffir Lime Leaves 1/2 bn Thai Basils (Horapha) 1 ts Coconut Sugar 3 c Coconut “Cream” 5 c Coconut “Milk” Fish Sauce * Small Thai “eggplants” belongs to the eggplant family, but doesn't resemble any eggplants found here in the US. These are about the size of large green peas, and look pretty much the same. Regular green peas may be used as substitute. Put the ingredients for the red curry paste into a mortar and pound until well mixed into a paste. NOTE: You may use commercially available paste, if available. Adjust the amount to taste. Debone the roast duck, and cut up the meat into bite-size rectangular pieces (leaving the skin on). Cut the neck and wing into pieces. Place the coconut milk in a large saucepan and heat till boiling. Add duck pieces and cook till tender. Put the coconut cream into a frying pan, add red curry paste. Heat over fairly high heat, stiring constantly, till all the paste have mixed in and thoroughly heated. Add Kaffir Lime leaves, fish sauce (to taste), coconut sugar, and continue to heat (keep stiring all the time to prevent burning) until red oil starts to form on the surface of the “sauce”. Add the “sauce” to the saucepan of duck and coconut milk, and bring back to a boil. Add all remaining ingredients except the basils, which is to be added when the curry starts to boil. Remove from heat and serve with plain boiled white rice. |
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Draw and quarter em. lightly score the breast skin, without cutting all the way through the fat layer. Marinate them an hour in orangejuice/pineapple juice brine. Steam them for 45 minutes sear em in a super hot cast iron skillet in a 450-500 degree oven. Start with the thigh/legt quaters, then after 5 minutes add the breasts. Start em skin side down to get it crispy |