Only On a Tuesday; My Duck Experience!

The flowers in todays post were salvaged from the Thanksgiving bouquets I made up.Today I ambitiously ventured out to purchase a whole duck. I'd hoped that I could find just the duck breasts at any local grocery store but after some web research and phone calls, I realized that it wouldn't be possible (one girl at Sobey's told me I might have better luck finding it at a different location that sold exotic meats...I wasn't aware that duck was exotic. I'd always thought of it as being quite local! lol!). So I grabbed my keys and my reusable grocery bag and hit up Smokin' Iron Farms!

The duck was frozen but only took a few hours to thaw in a cold water bath. I made sure I picked the smallest one, only four pounds, being as this was my first duck. I found a website ( http://www.imafoodblog.com/index.php/2009/01/27/how-to-quarter-a-duck) that helped me seperate the pieces. For a first go at it I don't think I did too bad (although I don't have anyone else to compare to, a seasoned chef would likely say I butchered it - no pun intended).

First I had to remove the back bone...
...and then I seperated the legs, and then cleaned off the breasts.
I put everything in tuperware in the fridge, with one of the breasts wrapped seperately in plastic wrap for tonight's dinner.

I got the risotto on the go. First I started simmering chicken stock in one pot and sauteeing a finely chopped white onion with grapeseed oil in a seperate large, deep pot. I added some garlic to the onion and then added 2 cups of Arborio rice and toasted the grains until they started to become translucent. At this point I started to add the hot stock one cup at a time, constantly stirring as the liquid is reduced and absorbed by the rice. I did this until the rice was al dente. Then I added half of the roasted pumpkin from Sunday night (see earlier posts). I made sure the soft chunks got broken down to as I mixed it in. Then I added a ton of parmigiano reggiano, a bit of salt, and some fresh thyme. It would be at this point that I would add 1 cup of dry white wine, but I didn't have any. This would also be the time that I could add a tablespoon or two of butter, but again, I didn't have any (probably for the better). I did, however, warm up a small amount of milk in the pot with the stock and added that to give the risotto a bit more creaminess (normally I would never add milk though).

Half way through this I added the duck breast to a hot pan. Back when I had prepped the duck, I had scored the skin so that when I fried it the fat would render out. I fried it skin side down for about 8 minutes and then flipped it, drained the fat, and stuck the whole pan in the oven at 400 for another 5 minutes. I tried to check the temperature but both of my meat thermometers weren't working, and when I pierced the skin with the thermometer blood came out so I put it back in the oven for a few more minutes. Next time I make this I will make sure the have my thermometers working because I ended up overcook the breast (in my opinion).

After I took the meat out of the oven and set it on a cutting board to rest I fried the remaining chunks of pumpkin in the same pan. They got all brown and crispy on the outside! Mmm! I also made sure to mix them with the crispy bits of thyme that came from the cooking of the duck breast. After a quick pan fry, I removed the pumpkin and then deglazed the pan with a white balsamic vinaigrette. While this was reducing I sliced the breast and then added it to the balsamic reduction to add some flavor and restore some moisture.
When I got a bit of the duck and the pumpkin together....mmmmmm. It's like I could taste them falling in love! ;)
After dinner I made sure I started the Confit that I plan to finish on Thursday night. I started by adding salt, shallots, garlic and fresh thyme to the bottom of a tupperwear container.
I then added the duck flesh side down so that it rested directly on the seasonings. On top of the skin I added another layer of the seasonings and then closed the lid and stuck it in the refrigerator to give everyone some time to get to know each other. In about 1-2 days we should all be great friends and we can finish the confit!