Recipes and Tips

Always use a heavy pan to avoid burning. Cast Iron is a wonderful searing pan although no one promotes these pans because no one has a vested interest in selling them. Besides they never ware out if taken care of correctly. Every kitchen should have one or more.

Chef Notes: Winter Ducks typically are fattier than summer ones thus a chef is challenged on how to render the fat from the skin. In my experience of roasting crispy ducks for the past twenty years is to roast the duck at 375 degrees for about 2 hours convection and 2.5 hours conventional directly out of the freezer onto a wire rack in a hotel pan to catch the grease. Yes, that’s correct, rock hard frozen into the oven. This way by the time the duck is cooked in the middle the outside is a nice golden brown and super, super crispy. In my attempts to cook a fresh or thawed duck crispy, I found that by the time you rendered the fat from the skin the inside was overcooked and dry.

Yields: 2 Servings

Ingredients:

• 1 3lb young duckling frozen
• Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Method:

• Place the frozen duck on a wire rack inside a 2” deep hotel pan
• Roast at 375 degrees for one hour and twenty minutes
• After15 minutes pull legs apart and wrap in foil
• Let cool, debone leaving the leg bone and wing dummie (Humerus Bone) bone
• Using mirepoix, bones and gizzards simmer a nice duck stock to be used as the base for your sauce.

CARAMELIZED CHESTNUT-SAGE STUFFING

Yields: 6 Portions

Ingredients:

• 5 cups dried bread, cubed
• 1 cup caramelized de-shelled chestnuts
• ½ Cup of each chopped onions, celery carrots
• ½ Cup Fresh Sage chiffonade
• 1 whole egg
• 3 cups light chicken stock
• 1 tsp kosher salt & black pepper

Method:

Mix all ingredients. Bake in a casserole dish at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve hot. 

POMEGRANATE BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Yields: 6 Portions

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs Fresh Brussels Sprouts, washed and trimmed of outer leaves
• ½ stick of unsalted butter
• 1 tsp fresh garlic chopped
• 1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp white pepper, ground
• Method: Blanch Brussels sprout in salted water for one minute, toss in garlic, butter, salt and white pepper.
• Place in casserole dish, bake at 325 for 15 minutes, garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve hot.

CHAMBORD RASPBERRY SAUCE

Yields: 6 Portions

Ingredients:

• Bones of 3 ducks
• 3 cups mirepoix
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 Qt light chicken stock
• 1 TBSP tomato paste
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup Chambord Liquor
• 2 pints fresh raspberries
• Dash of Kosher Salt and Black Pepper

Method:

• Roast the bones from the ducks, roast at 375 for 20 minutes/ add tomato paste and continue to roast another 20 minutes
• Add roasted bones, garlic & mirepoix to chicken stock and simmer 2 hours
• Strain stock
• Make a roux with the butter and flour / thicken the stock with the roux
• Finish by adding the Chambord, fresh raspberries and season with salt and per / serve immediately