Tag: Duck

Categories
SOUPS/SAUCES/CONDIMENTS

ROAST PIG’S HEAD AND DUCK GIBLET CONFIT PATé


LINEThis is one of the many dishes that can develop out of a roasted pig’s head

PIG'S HEAD PATE 2

For the pig’s head:
½ pig’s head (if you can only buy a whole head, ask you butcher to cut it in half for you and freeze the other half for later use)
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 stick celery, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 cloves
salt and pepper
1 liter/2 pts pork stock
½ cup duck fat, hot

For the duck giblets confit:
500g/1 lb duck giblets (excluding the liver)
salt and pepper
1 liter/2 pts duck fat

For the paté:
the cooked pork meat
the cooked duck giblets
a pinch of five-spice powder
1 tablespoon/15 ml rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons/30 ml spring onions, finely chopped

Remove any hair on the skin, paying special attention to the eyes, ears and snout, by using a blow torch.  Then scrub well in all the crevices using a vegetable brush.  If need be you will have to shave off the stubborn hairs but hopefully the butchery will see to that.  Rub the salt all over into the skin, fold a clean cloth (not plastic) loosely around it and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.

Rinse well with cold water and pat dry.  There will be lots of excess fat and it is better to remove as much as possible.  (It can be rendered down for use some other time.)  Place the head on a cake rack in the sink and pour a kettle full of boiling water over.  Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.

Rub salt and pepper all over the skin and underneath. I suggest that you cover the ears with some foil to stop it from burning.  I did not do it and the ears dried out quite a lot.

Prepare a baking tray big enough for the pig’s head to fit in and add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic and onion with the pork stock.  Place the head on top of the vegetables, then pour the hot duck fat over the head.  Bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours then lower the heat to 160°C/325°F and bake for an additional 2 hours.  When the head is cooked and browned nicely, remove it from the oven and cool until it is comfortable to handle.  Strain the pan juices and reduce to a syrupy consistency, removing as much of the fat as possible.

Carefully remove the skin so that you have quite a few large pieces and set aside.  Cut away as much as possible and separate the rest from the meat.  Finely slice the meat and moisten it with the reduced pan juices.  At this stage serve with a salad or on bread but if you want to continue with the recipe and add the Duck giblets to it, put it in a sealed container and refrigerate.

When the pork is out of the oven, lower the oven heat to 80°C/175°F.

Clean the duck giblets and cut away all the loose bits of fat and sinew.  Cut off the tough stomach wall and slice everything into small cubes.  In a small ovenproof saucepan, heat the duck fat to 80°C/175°F, season the giblets with salt and pepper and add to the fat.  Place the saucepan in the heated oven and cook for 3 hours.  Remove from the oven and let the giblets cool in the fat.

When ready to assemble the paté, remove the giblets from the fat and drain, trying to get rid of as much of the fat as possible.

Assemble the paté:
Mix all the ingredients together, check the seasoning and add more salt if necessary.  Put everything in a food processor and pulse until you have a rough consistency.

If you want a smooth paté, grind it longer until you are satisfied.

Pack the mixture tightly into ramekins or any other container in which you can serve the paté directly.  Keep in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours to give the flavors a chance develop.

Serve with thin slices of toasted bread, mango chutney and cornichons. Add some salad leaves if you wish.

Categories
GLOSSARY / METHODS

DUCK STOCK


This quantity of stock is made with the bones, trimmings and gizzards (except the liver) of one duck.  If you are lucky enough to get lots of bones, just increase the rest of the ingredients.

bones, trimming and gizzards (excluding the liver) of one duck
50 ml olive oil
½ medium onion, roughly chopped
1 small carrot, roughly chopped
½ cup/125 ml celery, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ cup/125 ml Shaoxing rice wine
1 teaspoon/5 ml ginger
1 star anise
1 tablespoon/15 ml Sichuan peppercorns, crushed

Heat the olive oil in a big enough saucepan for your stock and brown the bones, trimmings and gizzards, excluding the livers.  Add the onion, celery, carrots and garlic and lightly fry them.  Deglaze with the  Shaoxing rice wine and as soon as all the wine has evaporated, add cold water (about four times the volume of the solids), and bring to the boil.  Add the ginger, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns, then turn down the heat.  Simmer gently over low-medium heat, regularly skimming the brown foam that forms on the surface. After 5 hours, turn off the heat and cool to room temperature, then strain.  Do not press down on the solids as this will cause the stock to become cloudy.  Cover and refrigerate until cold, then remove the fat from the  surface.  Refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze in smaller containers for up to 3 months.  Discard the solids.

Categories
MAIN COURSE

Duck breast fritters with Basmati rice and roast peaches


If you wish to serve another vegetable,  cabbage, lightly poached in butter and seasoned with nutmeg, goes very well with this dish.

Serves 4

DUCK BREAST FRITTERS

The duck:
4 free-range duck breasts
2 tablespoons/30 ml shoa xing rice wine (available at Asian supermarkets)
1 tablespoon/15 ml szechuan pepper, ground (available at Asian supermarkets)
1 clove garlic, minced
salt
flour for sprinkling
2 free-range eggs, whisked
Japanese breadcrumbs (Panko breadcrumbs)
oil for deep-frying

The peaches:
1 tablespoon/15 ml sugar
1 tablespoon/15 ml butter
4 ripe peaches, stoned and quartered (use canned peaches if fresh ones are unavailable but cut down on the sugar)
2 cloves, ground
2 tablespoons/30 ml Peach Schnapps

The rice:
450 g/15.8 oz Basmati rice
4 cups/1 liter chicken stock
75 g/2.6 oz butter
salt

The garnish:
2 tablespoons/30 ml orange zest, grated
2 tablespoons/30 ml fresh chives, chopped

Score the breasts on the fat side with 2 cm/0.8 in space between each cut. Mix the rice wine, pepper, garlic and salt and rub onto the breasts on both sides. Set aside in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When ready to cook, wipe most of the marinade of the breasts, heat a non-stick pan and sear the breasts on the fat side only, until crispy (about 3 minutes). Remove the breasts from the pan and set aside to cool. Store the rendered fat in a container for another time to fry potatoes, etc.

When the meat has rested for at least ½ hour (it will be quite raw still), slice the meat into 4 thick slices across. Place each slice of breast between two pieces of cling film and with a mallet, flatten the meat until about 15 mm/1 in) thick.

Sprinkle each slice with flour, then dip it in the egg and finally coat with the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil in a large saucepan,  fry the crumbed slices in the hot oil until crispy — not longer than 30 seconds on each side. Remove from the pan and let drain on kitchen paper.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt the sugar and butter and saute the peach quarters in it for about 1 minute on each side, de-glaze with the schnapps, sprinkle over the ground cloves and let simmer for another 2 minutes or until just tender.

Add the rice, salt and chicken stock to a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, then cover with a tightly-fitting lid. Cook for 15-20 minutes then turn off the heat and leave the rice to stand, still covered, until about 5 minutes before serving. When ready to serve,add the butter and fluff up the rice with a fork.

To serve:
On each heated serving plate, spoon some rice and stack four duck breast fritters on top.  Divide the peaches and place around the rice and drizzle some of the peach juices over.