Duck Duck Goose

 What does it look like when duck, duck, goose is a game you play in your kitchen? I remember an ill-fated Christmas dinner when I convinced my mother we should have roast goose.  It seemed so romantic and grand.  I was a sophomore in college, and was bringing my boyfriend home to meet my family.  There were about twenty things that went wrong that night, though strangely that boyfriend lasted for a few more years despite the events that unfolded.

Cooking goose is not something I recommend you do at home.  If you have ever cooked a duck, you know that there is so much fat that renders out, your home can fill with smoke, set off all your smoke alarms, and then, you have a much smaller bird than when you started, as a good deal of its original weight and size have melted into the roasting pan.  Goose is much fattier and larger than duck, so multiply all the negatives of cooking a duck by ten at least.  Then you eat the thing, which is still so rich and fatty, it is like sitting down to a plate of gamy butter…  

My mom was a very good sport about the whole thing.  Unfortunately I had too much to drink with the appetziers, took one bite of that overly rich goose, and had to lie down for the remainder of the evening leaving my guy to deal with my family alone, and my family to deal with the damn goose which I had insisted we have. Fortunately all involved forgave me and I got a lesson in what it really means to be sophomoric!

If you want to serve a nice,’fancy’ meal, I am still a big fan of duck.  Often people are afraid to cook it, and it’s not an ideal meal for a crowd, but if you’re planning a small dinner party, or a cozy dinner for two duck is well worth the minimal effort.  There are many ways to make it, from the classic duck à l’orange to Asian Peking Duck.  Duck breasts have become widely available, so much so,  that whole ducks are more difficult to come by, especially fresh ones.  This time of year however, you can get fresh, whole duck, and if you have patience and a good exhaust system, why not make one?

Crispy skin is the raison d’être for duck.  There are recipes for stewed duck, and braised duck, but these will not yield crisp skin, so I’m not as interested in them.  There are many schools of thought on minimizing the smoke when preparing duck.  Some recommend simmering the duck in water for up to forty five minutes before cooking, many people say to use the same method I use for roast chicken; dry it and leave it uncovered in the refrigerator for as long as four days to dry out the skin.  I don’t have the time to let the duck dry for days, so my method is to put water in the roasting pan.  

The side I most associate with duck is a wild and white rice pilaf, but you could make anything from plain rice to spaetzle, depending on how you season the duck, and if there will be a sauce.  Fruit is often used as an ingredient in sauces for duck because the tannins in the fruit cut some of the fattiness.  Duck can also stand up to a robust red wine for the same reason.  Though duck can take a while to cook, preparation won’t, and finishing up with a sauce can be pretty quick as well.  If you’ve always thought about it, why not try this simple recipe.

Roast Duck

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Ingredients

• 1 Duck (4-5 Lbs)
• 2 tablespoons Kosher Salt
• 1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
• 1 quart Water
• 1 Medium Orange (juice and zest)
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1/2 cup Dry Sherry
• 1 cup Dried Cherries
• 1 tablespoon Corn Starch

Note

Take any leftovers and shred them to serve as tacos, take small flour tortillas and spread them with hoisin sauce, and sliced scallions for a lunch treat!

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 300F Make small incisions in the skin of the duck on both the breast and back sides, taking care not to pierce meat

Step 2

Put duck,, breast side down on the rack of a roasting pan

Step 3

Liberally salt skin of duck ,and sprinkle with half the herbs, put water into bottom of roasting pan, use less water if duck touches it, and add more water as needed

Step 4

Cook for one hour and thirty minutes, remove pan from oven, turn duck breast side up. Apply salt and herbs to breast side of duck, add more water to pan (if needed) put back into oven for an additional one hour.

Step 5

Remove duck from oven and turn heat up to 400F. When oven reaches temperature put duck back into oven for twenty minutes to crisp skin.

Step 6

Cut duck into halves or quarters.

Step 7

For Sauce: To make the cherry sauce, place the orange juice and zest, soy sauce, lemon juice, sherry and cherries in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Mix cornstarch with 1 TBL cold water and make a slurry Stir slurry into sauce. Cook for another minute until the sauce thickens. Serve with the duck.