22 February 2011 | Recipes
Duck is Delicious
Or, I guess I could say, “ducks ARE delicious.” Either way, the one we ate tonight was especially good. Not just because I cooked it perfectly- rendering all the fat down until the skin was crispy and the meat was still juicy- but also because I know it was a happy duck (everyone knows those are the tastiest…). How do I know this duck was a happy duck? Because I bought it from Grant Family Farms– an organic farm just a few miles north of town.
Anyway, back to dinner… we ate the breasts with a yummy blackberry chutney (recipe below). The legs and thighs are curing in the fridge — in preparation for the duck confit I will be making tomorrow.
If you’ve never had duck confit well….I didn’t like duck at all until I had duck confit. Basically, to confit something, you submerge it in fat (in this case: the duck in duck fat) and cook it for a long time at a very low temperature until it is literally falling off the bone. Sounds gross? Greasy? It’s neither. It’s the most tender and yummy way you could prepare anything (I’ve even had some vegetable confits). And yet, since culinary school, I haven’t once made confit. Sad, really. Hopefully I will make up for it with a perfect batch tomorrow. Mmmmmm.
Blackberry Chutney
- 1/4 onion
- 1/2 apple
- 1 cup blackberries
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (or to taste)
- salt
- dash cinnamon
- dash ginger
- pinch cloves
- saute onion in a little butter or oil until soft, add apple and blackberries and continue to cook a minute or two
- add vinegar, scraping up any bits stuck on pan, add salt and spices and cook on low heat until everything is soft and it tasted good