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Duck

Duck-Fat Turkey Breasts with Green Onion Puree

Chef Sean Brock created this dish using quail, but the technique pairs equally well with bone-in turkey breast, creating a surprisingly juicy version of a much-maligned cut. Searing a turkey breast on the stovetop crisps the skin beautifully, while basting with thyme- and garlic-scented duck fat enriches the lean meat. Green onions stand in for the green garlic for a silky, fresh sauce that's a welcome departure from classic gravy. Be sure to use homemade vegetable stock or a clear canned stock to preserve the brilliant green color. You can find duck fat from many gourmet shops, or online from D'Artagnan.

Duck Breast with Sweet Cherry Sauce

Cherries form an addictive sauce for duck breast when stewed with tomato paste, cumin, red wine, shallot, and a host of other aromatics.

Duck Bigarade

This is a modern rendition of a nineteenth-century recipe that ultimately became the legendary duck a l'orange.

Goose Stew with Barley and Celery Root

I originally designed this recipe for wild snow geese, and because many of California's snow geese spend their summers on Wrangel Island, near Siberia, it seemed fitting to give the stew a Russian feel. But of course the legs of any goose or duck, wild or domesticated, will work here. It's important to remove the meat from the bones before you serve this stew, otherwise everyone will be picking through their bowls for small, sharp objects. It takes only a few minutes, and your family and friends will thank you for it. This stew keeps well in the fridge for a week, though the grain in it will continue to swell over time, absorbing moisture and making this more like a French potage. It also freezes well.

Duck Egg Cake with Rosemary

This is an insanely easy cake to make. It goes together in just minutes and tastes awesome: a touch ducky—more so if you use wild duck fat—sweet, but not overly so, with a little hit of rosemary to even things out. I originally made this as a sort of stunt, but it's so good I've put it into the regular rotation. If you like a sweeter cake, up the sugar to a full cup, and if you hate rosemary, skip it or sub in lemon verbena, sage, or winter savory. Serve the cake with fruit and maybe a little whipped cream. A sweet dessert white wine, like a vin santo or a Sauternes, is a perfect choice.

Basic Duck Stock

This is my standard duck or goose stock. It is the stock that I call for in the recipes in this book. In other words, you need to make lots. Every time you get a carcass, save it for stock. If you don’t have a lot of ducks around at one time, save them up for future rounds of stock making. You can chop up the carcasses before freezing, so they take up less space. Make this stock when you have a day off, as it takes all day. The good news is that you will be rewarded with 4 quarts or more of rich stock that is a perfect base for stews, soups, or wintertime risottos or polenta—or even eaten on its own as a clear soup.

Duck Confit With Spicy Pickled Raisins

The best part of making duck confit? All the rich fat you're left with. Use it to roast potatoes—it's an easy way to upgrade a classic. What ever you do, don't throw it away (it freezes great).

Duck Pizza with Hoisin and Scallions

This fusion pizza was inspired by one that Wolfgang Puck created years ago. Traditional Asian ingredients—Chinese five-spice powder, hoisin sauce, scallions, and black sesame seeds—are an excellent change of pace from your usual pizza seasonings. Bonus: At fewer than 150 calories per serving, these mini pizzas, or pizzettes, are a low-fat alternative to traditional tomato and cheese pies. Just 3 inches across, they are designed to be canapés or hors d’oeuvres, but you can, of course, easily bake one large pizza for a family-style meal.

Red Wine–Braised Duck Legs

These slow-cooked duck legs take several hours to braise, but the hardest thing about this recipe is waiting for the tender meat to finish cooking. Make this inexpensive yet elegant dish for a dinner party and watch as guests break into a smile after the first bite. Dried fruits and a hearty dry red give the sauce its rich appeal. Serve with buttered noodles, mashed potatoes, or fluffy quinoa.

Honey-Glazed Duck with Fig and Pistachio Red Quinoa

This is one of my favorite recipes in this book, mainly because of the fun evening I had developing it while visiting my dear friend Kevyn in New York City. I prepared it in his kitchen while he and our mutual friend Jennifer looked on, sipping wine. We enjoyed the meal with a bottle of Côtes du Rhône wine and then, with dessert, drank port left over from the recipe. This is one of the most elegant dishes in the book, and while it's by no means difficult to prepare, it's an indulgent recipe that is ideal for a special occasion or a dinner party.—JH

Crispy Roast Duck with Blackberry Sauce

While entertaining guests, the Earl of Grantham might perhaps offer a bit of hunting—should the weather permit. Although fowl such as pheasants or wild game like hare might be preferred, should a guest kill a mallard or some other duck, it would not go to waste. Mrs. Patmore could certainly use the duck in a fine recipe such as this one to offer the guests a taste of their own hunting prowess.

Duck à l'Orange

This spin on the classic preparation makes efficient use of a whole duck by breaking the meat into six pieces and making a stock with the remaining carcass. Have your butcher separate the breasts, wings, and legs for you.

Duck Breast & Zucchini Tournedos

With the little one's football team

Tagliatelle and Duck Ragù

When I have time and want a full-flavored pasta dish that reminds me of Sunday dinners at my grandfather’s house, this is the recipe I turn to. It will definitely impress your friends and family.

Duck with Pecan Pipián

Ground nuts or seeds are the singular ingredient in the sauces known as pipiáns, which are sort of like Southwestern pestos. Peanuts, native to South America, were first used, as were pumpkin seeds, but regionally, cooks would incorporate what was available—in the American Southwest, for instance, it could be pine nuts or pecans, or wild hickory nuts in other parts of the country. The richness of the duck is perfectly complemented by this rich, complex sauce that I created to use New Mexico pecans, a wonderful local crop. It’s very versatile, a great condiment for grilled satay skewers or as a sandwich spread or a party dip. It’s much easier to prepare than it sounds—a whirl in a blender, then a quick turn in a skillet to marry the flavors.

Duck Confit Filling

Duck confit is just one example of how leftover meat can be used to make savory fillings. Short ribs, osso bucco, or lamb shanks are other good options. Just make sure to chop the meat finely enough to be wrapped neatly within tender pasta (without tearing the dough). You can alter the flavorings to suit your palate or the type of meat, but the egg yolks are always required for binding. This filling is especially good with the spinach pasta (page 368), as shown for the agnolotti on page 370.

Roast Duck

This roasting technique is unique to duck. For the skin to turn crisp, the thick layer of fat that covers the breast needs to be rendered. That’s the reason for the slow roasting at a low temperature (300°F as opposed to 450°F for chicken). This allows the duck enough time in the oven to render the fat before the breast meat has finished cooking, producing a duck with crisp, golden skin. To offset its richness, duck is often coated with a tangy glaze. In this recipe, the classic duck à l’orange, which put French-style duck on the American map, has been updated with a glaze that combines the flavors of pomegranate, honey, and orange.

Duck Breast with Orange Gastrique

Duck breast, long considered a delicacy in French cuisine, is exceptionally moist and tender when properly prepared. The breast is small enough to cook in a pan (rather than having to roast the whole bird) and it needs no flour or added fat to develop a crisp golden crust. You do need to follow a few special rules, however, as duck has quite a bit of fat under its skin. Duck should always be cooked sufficiently to render out its fat, some of which is poured off and reserved for another use (such as roasting potatoes or sautéing vegetables). To render fat, the duck is cooked first on its skin side, then turned over to finish cooking through. The desired degree of doneness depends on whom you ask; some cooks insist that the breast meat should always remain pink, while others would have you cook it further (the USDA, for example, recommends cooking to 170°F). In the recipe that follows, the time given should result in a medium-rare (pinkish) interior after the duck has rested, so cook it longer if you prefer it more well done. The rich taste of duck makes it a fine partner for fruit, especially orange (think of the French standby, duck à l’orange). Here it is served with a sweet-and-sour sauce called gastrique, made by caramelizing sugar and then deglazing the pan with an acidic liquid, such as vinegar or citrus juice (this recipe uses both). This dish would pair particularly well with mashed or pureed turnips or sautéed bitter greens.