Duck

[Anonymous]

How is it?
How do you prepare it?
From where (e.g. grocery store) do you recommend buying duck?
What DC area restaurant has tasty duck?

[Anonymous]

I love duck. It's probably one of my favourite meats.
I prepare the breasts by scoring and pan roasting. Start in a cold pan skin side down, roast for a bit on the stove then in the oven.
I prepare the legs by confiting/sous vide (serious eats 36h recipe).
I buy mine from my local grocery store, but I'm not in DC. They sell legs and breasts and whole ducks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love duck. It's probably one of my favourite meats.
I prepare the breasts by scoring and pan roasting. Start in a cold pan skin side down, roast for a bit on the stove then in the oven.
I prepare the legs by confiting/sous vide (serious eats 36h recipe).
I buy mine from my local grocery store, but I'm not in DC. They sell legs and breasts and whole ducks.

I could have written the above!

(1) Duck breasts, exactly as above. I top with Helen Rennie's pomegranate molasses-based glaze and some fresh pomegranate arils.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjxoKWI5zPI&t=64s

(2) Confit duck legs. This "quick confit" recipe produces great results: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_duck_confit/ I add fresh thyme and garlic cloves.

I either serve the confit duck as is with sides, or I make it into a salad. For the salad, take all the duck off the bone and chop -- you get a mix of crispy skin and juicy duck. Make a vinaigrette. 1 tablespoon of sugar. 6 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Salt, pepper. Tons of minced shallot. Maybe a tablespoon of water. Maybe a tablespoon of olive oil. 2-3 tablespoons of the duck fat/olive oil left over from cooking the duck. Mix the duck and vinaigrette with a pile of arugula.

(3) Not in DMV either. My local independent grocery store often has D'Artagnan duck (whole, breasts, legs, already confit, etc.) in the freezer case. You can also order online: https://www.dartagnan.com/ (Years ago I ordered the Cassoulet kit from them for a special meal. It turned out great.)

[Anonymous]

I’ve bought smoked duck breast pieces from Whole Foods. For restaurants, I prefer Chinese styles of preparation to American or French. I’ve liked the duck dishes that I’ve had at Mei Wah.

[Anonymous]

Nue has honey lacquered duck stuffed with truffle rice and Chinese sausage. It is phenomenal.

[Anonymous]

Peking Gourmet duck or Peter Cheng; they are expensive but worth it!

[Anonymous]

I finally ventured to cooking duck breast a couple of years ago and this recipe of seared duck breast with red wine/ orange reduction has always been a huge hit. It’s easy to prepare and looks like something you’d get at a Michelin restaurant :

https://tasty.co/recipe/seared-duck-breast-with-red-wine-jus-and-orange-olive-oil-mash

And for a detailed step by step tutorial on how to cook duck breast, I use this resource:

https://honest-food.net/how-to-cook-duck-breasts/

Best of luck OP!

[Anonymous]

PP here. Also wanted to share some resources to purchase duck breasts:

Whole Foods has the best value per pound with Bell and Evans for $16.99 ($17.99 online through Amazon)

Giant and other supermarkets have Dartagnan for about $22/ lb

Safeway has 5 oz frozen individual portions of duck breast for about $7 each and they’re not bad actually

[Anonymous]

Note that different ducks will yield very different recipes:
You mostly eat Pekin duck, the mild, white-meat bird common in US stores and restaurants, but other popular choices for richer flavor include the lean, dark-meat Muscovy (also called Barbary) and the hybrid Moulard.

Wild duck is very different, greasy.

[Anonymous]

costco half duck very good

[Anonymous]

I used to prepare often when kids were into duck. Get it at a farmers market. Cut it up, brown and then roast in a Dutch oven with apples. The skin doesn’t come out crispy, but the meat is very juicy and the apples give a nice flavor. We then moved to goose, same way, but more meat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:costco half duck very good

+1. Not very gamey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Peking Gourmet duck or Peter Cheng; they are expensive but worth it!

Peking Gourmet changed ownership a few years back. They are terrible now IMO after several tries to give them a chance.
Q by Peter Change or the Duck and the Peach are wonderful. Also, the Duck Confit at Le Diplomat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love duck. It's probably one of my favourite meats.
I prepare the breasts by scoring and pan roasting. Start in a cold pan skin side down, roast for a bit on the stove then in the oven.
I prepare the legs by confiting/sous vide (serious eats 36h recipe).
I buy mine from my local grocery store, but I'm not in DC. They sell legs and breasts and whole ducks.

I could have written the above!

(1) Duck breasts, exactly as above. I top with Helen Rennie's pomegranate molasses-based glaze and some fresh pomegranate arils.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjxoKWI5zPI&t=64s

(2) Confit duck legs. This "quick confit" recipe produces great results: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_duck_confit/ I add fresh thyme and garlic cloves.

I either serve the confit duck as is with sides, or I make it into a salad. For the salad, take all the duck off the bone and chop -- you get a mix of crispy skin and juicy duck. Make a vinaigrette. 1 tablespoon of sugar. 6 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Salt, pepper. Tons of minced shallot. Maybe a tablespoon of water. Maybe a tablespoon of olive oil. 2-3 tablespoons of the duck fat/olive oil left over from cooking the duck. Mix the duck and vinaigrette with a pile of arugula.

(3) Not in DMV either. My local independent grocery store often has D'Artagnan duck (whole, breasts, legs, already confit, etc.) in the freezer case. You can also order online: https://www.dartagnan.com/ (Years ago I ordered the Cassoulet kit from them for a special meal. It turned out great.)

Pom molasses glaze sounds amazing!

[Anonymous]

Costco used to have 1/2 duck already cooked. Just heat and serve and it was amazing. We called it "emergency duck"" and it made for a nice dinner for two.