Re: Dinner in the year of our lord 20241031.

D wrote:

 
 
On Fri, 8 Nov 2024, Carol wrote:
 

jmcquown wrote:
 

On 11/7/2024 4:12 PM, Carol wrote:

jmcquown wrote:
No problem with the method.  Don cooks the bacon here and
sometimes saves the fat for me, but not always.  (sob!  I like
bacon fat fried potatoes!)
 

Well, I didn't grow up eating anything cooked in bacon fat.  And
it's definitely not good for my cholesterol so I don't save and
use it for anything.
 
Jill

 
I learned it later and love it!  Duck fat is even better!
Cholesterol here is most really high HDL so not an issue.  High
fish diet seems the cause of it.
 

 
Duck fat is the Donald Trump of fats! A good confit de canard is a
heavenly dish! =)
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_confit .

You might like these.  Tells a bit of a story.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Xxcarol's Simply Ducky
 Categories: Xxcarol, Duck
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      1 ea Whole dressed Duck, 4lbs
    1/3 c  Jufran brand banana sauce
    1/3 c  Thai 'Hot-Sweet' sauce
    1/4 c  Datu Puti brand soy sauce
      1 ea Large white onion, 'sweet'
 
  I've been wanting to cook a Duck since I was in college but my skills
  at the start when I moved out from home were not up to that and the
  price was beyond college student means.  For years though it's been
  in the back of my mind as a 'wanna try that'.
 
  About 3 weeks ago in the cooking echo, I saw a lovely recipe and
  mentioned that Duck is pretty hard to find here but I kept it in
  mind. A week later, one of the rare times when they have Duck at the
  commissary occurred and I got one.  It's a touch over 4 lbs.  It sat
in
  the freezer while we contemplated recipes.  My initial intentions
  were to put it in the rotisserie with a dry rub but it turned out to
  not fit my unit, being about 3 inches too long.
 
  Next I went to plan 'B' which was to line my biggest baking pan with
  opened cans as I didn't have a rack to raise it out of the grease with
  here and Duck I was told is a very greasy meat.  I was all setup to
  do it that way when Don went to the exchange and got me a mother's
  day gift of a real covered unit (Pyrex bottom, metal lifting rack,
  metal lid) that just perfectly fit the duck.  Yippiee!
 
  After perusing many recipes, we settled on a simple adaption.  I
  normally try a new food the first time, in a simpler cooking style.
  Having not even tasted restaurant Duck in 10 years, I had little
  memory so was going on other's experience and what they used.  I
  decided pre-steaming was probably a good idea but a bit too much for
  a first time duck experiment.
 
  Using ideas from many other recipes, we settled on a simple way using
  things I have here and didn't have to go out shopping for.  The Datu
  Puti brand soy sauce is considerably lower-sodium than Kikkoman Lite
  and tastes much better.  In fact, all their line of sauces are lower
  sodium but none are marked 'low sodium'.  I've found all of them to
  be excellent. I also find all the Jufran brand products to be lower
  sodium and extremely tastey, so the 'hot-sweet' sauce here was Jufran
  brand as well.
 
  Mix the 3 sauces in a plastic bowl and let sit while washing the duck
  out. I set the duck in a suspended strainer that has adjustable sides
  and sits at the top of the sink.  It seemed 'drying the duck' was
  used in almost every recipe so I let it dry for 1 hour.
 
  Once ready, I heated the oven to 425F then slathered the sauce on all
  sides and cooked it with the lid on the roaster, for 30 mins 'breast
  up'. I cut the onion in 1/2 and stuffed the cavity with that.
 
  I then reduced the heat to 375F and flipped it over, re-saucing it
  well on all sides then baking another 30 mins.  I raised the temp to
  425F and did another 20 mins 'breast up' and re-sauced.  At the end,
  we took the lid off the roaster, and re-sauced the top (breast) and
  let it 'crisp' another 15-20 mins.
 
  The sugars in the sauces made for a lovely dark flavorful skin that
  was somewhat crispy at the topside.  We let it sit on the top of the
  stove to 'set' for about 15 mins then started picking off favored
  parts.
 
  Perfection for a family where we all love dark meat <grin> and white
  meat gets used mostly in chicken salad.  I said 'feeds 6' above as an
  estimate but we don't eat that much meat so for us, it would be more
  like 10 servings.  There's plenty of drippings and fat rendered out
  which is currently smothering the leftovers in a sort of 'confit'
  type of arrangement.  There's a perfect duck carcass in the freezer
  awaiting being made into duck soup.
 
  The giblets went into a pot of water with just Chinese 5 spice added
  and the broth has Don in rapture's.
 
  We served it with sticky rice and green beans.  The onion got all
  eaten up as a side nosh.
 
  From the Sasebo Kitchen of:  xxcarol on 14May2007 From: Carol
   Date: 05-14-07
 
MMMMM
 
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Xxcarol's 'Donald Duck'
 Categories: Xxcarol, Duck
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      1 ea 5-6 lb whole duck
    1/2 c  Hot sweet thai chile sauce
      3 tb Soy sauce
      2 ts Mirin
    1/2 tb Honey
 
  Ok, Donald won the chance to make our second time at
  making a duck so here is 'Donald Duck'!  (Heck, I got to make the
  first one so it was his turn!).
 
  The Thai sauce is a hot-sweet 'dipping sauce' with a bit more kick
  than sweet and sour.  We used 'Flying Horse' brand, others think well
  of Mae Ploy.  Both have lower sodium than standard USA versions.  For
  the soy sauce, we use Datu Puti brand which is much lower in sodium
  than Kikkoman lite and much thicker and more flavorful.  Mirin is a
  Japanese rice based cooking wine.  You can use sake in it's place or
  in this case, a dry sherry will do fine.  If you prefer to cook with
  no alcohol, a little wine vinegar can be used in it's place.  You
  will need a covered roasting pan with a rack to keep the duck out of
  the fat as it cooks.
 
  Mix all the above together and marinade the duck for 1 hour (longer
  will be fine).  Preheat the oven to 425F and put Duck in breast side
  up.  Keep the marinade at the side to use for basting. Use a covered
  roasting pan.
 
  After 30 mins, flip the duck on it's breast and re-baste, then reduce
  heat to 325F. Bake 30 mins at 325F then flip it over on it's back and
  re-baste. Bake covered another 20 mins, then take off the cover to
  crisp the breast. Raise heat this last stage back to 425F and it
  should be ready in about 15 mins.
 
  If you have a much bigger bird, do an extra flip for 30 mins at 325F
  before the final uncovered crisping stage.
 
  Let rest in the pan for 15 mins before carving.  Save every drop of
  the fat and drippings!  They are fantastic in many other dishes.  Due
  to the flavor of the duck fat, a little will go a very long way so
  it's actually good stuff for a somewhat fat reduced diet.
 
  Optional additions:  You may want to cut an onion in half and stuff
  it in the cavity.  Use a sweet or red one if so.  Dried raisins or
  dried figs also work well.
 
  Serving suggestions:  Goes well with a glass of wine (can stand up to
  a decent red due to the robust flavors of the duck), a crisp lettuce
  salad with a vinegar based dressing, and a baked sweet potato.
 
  From the Virginia Beach kitchen of:  xxcarol 5March2008
 
MMMMM
 
BTW, Stateside I have not seen a duck under 6lbs.