Braised Duck Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put duck legs skin side down in a skillet large enough to accommodate all ingredients comfortably. Turn heat to medium, and cook, rotating so skin browns thoroughly and evenly but do not turn over completely. Meanwhile, peel onion and carrots, trim celery and roughly chop them all.
• When skins are nicely browned, turn and sear the meat side just 1 to 2 minutes, and season with salt and pepper. Remove to a plate; remove all fat from pan except enough to moisten vegetables. Add vegetables and salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat, until they begin to brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Return duck legs skin side up to pan, and add stock; it should come about halfway up the legs but not cover them. Turn heat to high, bring to boil and transfer to oven.
• Cook 30 minutes, and turn heat to 350 degrees. Cook undisturbed until duck is tender and liquid reduced, at least 30 minutes or a bit longer. Serve immediately, or let rest in a 200-degree oven for up to an hour.

Steps:

• Rub duck with salt, soy sauce, brandy and garlic and marinate for 30 minutes.
• Heat oil and fry sliced onions until soft but not brown, remove. Add duck and brown all over.
• Put back onion, add water, cover and simmer for 1 hour, add marinade and simmer for 20 minutes more or until duck is tender.
• Dissolve cornstarch with a little water and add to gravy.
• Boil until gravy thickens and serve duck whole with gravy in sauce boat.

Steps:

• Salt and pepper duck generously on both sides. Place halves, skin side down, in large saute pan (preferably seasoned cast-iron or nonstick) or 2 medium saute pans. Wedge thyme and garlic under skin. Cover pan with lid or foil; place over low heat. Braise for 1 hour (duck should crackle and sizzle gently; skin should be golden and crisp; most fat should be rendered). Turn duck; cover pan. Braise for 1 more hour, until duck bottom is well browned and meat very tender.
• Remove duck to cutting board; cut halves in half. Reserve fat from pan. In clean saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons fat (if there is not enough, use canola oil) over medium-high heat. Place duck pieces skin side down, and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, just until skin is crisp and dark. Transfer to dish, and serve.

Steps:

• Salt and pepper the duck liberally on both sides.
• Place each half, skin side down, in a large, heavy-bottomed (preferably cast-iron) pan.
• Wedge the thyme and garlic under the skin.
• Cover the pan with its lid or with foil, and place it over low heat.
• Braise for one hour (duck should crackle and sizzle gently; skin should be golden and crisp; most fat should be rendered).
• Turn duck.
• Cover pan.
• Braise for another hour, until duck bottom is well browned and meat is quite tender.
• Remove duck to a cutting board; with a poultry shear, halve the halves.
• Place two tablespoons of the reserved fat from the pan into a clean saute pan, and heat the pan to medium high.
• Place duck pieces skin side down, and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, just until skin turns crisp and dark.
• Transfer to a dish.

Steps:

• Cut the duck in quarters and remove the drumstick tips. Season with 1 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper, rub all over with the garlic and place a piece of cinnamon stick on each quarter. Let sit at room temperature 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Transfer the duck to an ovenproof frying pan along with the chicken or other fat. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover with foil and transfer to the oven. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• When cool enough to handle, lift the duck from the fat and remove and discard the skin. Cover with a wet towel until serving time. To reserve, store the duck in the cooking fat and refrigerate up to a week.
• To reheat the duck, remove from the fat if necessary, and place on a rack in a tightly covered pan. Warm in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, to make the lime onions, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Saute the onions, stirring frequently, until just wilted (but not browned). Toss with the lime juice and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and l/2 teaspoon pepper. Keep warm. The onions can be made a day in advance and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.
• To serve, spread a bed of lentils on each serving plate. Top with a piece of duck and smother with the warm onions. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. and season duck legs with salt and pepper.
• In a heavy kettle just large enough to hold legs in one layer, cook legs, skin sides down, over moderately high heat 10 to 15 minutes, or until skin in scrip and mahogany colored, removing fat from kettle as it is rendered with a metal bulb baster (or very carefully tilting the kettle and spooning off). Turn legs over and cook until browned on the other side, about 2 minutes, transferring to a plate.
• Pour off fat from kettle and deglaze with wine, scraping up brown bits. Boil wine until reduced to a syrup and add garlic, thyme and 1/2 cup dried fruit. Return duck legs, skin sides up, to kettle and add broth. Bring mixture to a simmer and braise, uncovered, in oven 2 hours, or until legs are very tender. Transfer legs to a platter and keep warm.
• Pour braising mixture into a 1-quart measuring cup and let stand until fat rises to the top. Skim off fat and pour liquid through a sieve into a saucepan, pressing hard on solids. Boil liquid until reduced by about one third and slightly thickened and add remaining 1/2 cup dried fruit. Simmer sauce until fruit is softened, about 5 minutes, and season with salt and pepper.
• Serve duck legs with sauce and noodles or roasted and mashed potatoes.

Steps:

• Cranberries can be used instead of cherries. Place all ingredients in a crockpot set on low, a covered roaster in a 200* oven, or a large heavy-bottomed pot on a very low burner, for approximately 12 hours, until the meat falls off the bone. To speed things up, start the crockpot on high or the other pots on a medium burner until the liquid begins to simmer, then cook as directed. If your pot doesn't have room for all the ingredients, the cabbage can be cooked separately, preferably in the pot liquor. Goes best with potatoes or noodles, and would probably be wonderful with spaetzle.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prick the duck all over with a fork, then sprinkle it with salt and pepper and put it in a large, deep ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven that can later be covered. Roast the duck, checking occasionally to make sure it is browning steadily, for about 1 1/2 hours. (If the duck is barely browning, increase the heat by 50 degrees; if it seems to be browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly.) At that point it will be nicely browned and will have rendered a great deal of fat; pour off all but a few tablespoons of the fat and transfer the pan to the top of the stove. Don't worry if the duck does not appear to be fully cooked.
• Scatter the sauerkraut around the duck, then sprinkle it with paprika, moisten it with the wine, and tuck the bay leaves in there. Turn the heat to low and cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then stir and put some of the sauerkraut on top of the duck.
• Cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the duck is quite tender. Carve and serve.
• Variations
• As everyone knows from sad experience, a single duck provides skimpy servings for four people. You can make up for this with side dishes, but there are other solutions as well:
• Braise a piece of slab bacon and/or smoked or fresh pork along with the duck, after adding the sauerkraut; you'll have to increase the cooking time a bit.
• Peel and cut up some potatoes (or carrots, parsnips, or turnips) and cook them along with the duck and sauerkraut.
• Finally, you can simply cook more duck-start with 2 ducks or use a couple of duck legs or, best of all, sear a duck breast and serve the slices separately.

Steps:

• Season legs with salt& pepper.
• Heat a kettle large enough to hold legs in 1 layer, add legs fat side down, cook 15-20 minutes until browned.
• Turn over and cook 2 minutes more, remove to a plate.
• In fat add black beans, garlic, and ginger.
• saute 2 minutes.
• Add onion, carrots, celery, shiitakes, cook 3 minutes more.
• Add shaoxing and deglaze the pan.
• Add tamari, sugar, thyme and duck legs back to pan, fat side up.
• Add water to cover.
• Simmer 1 1/2 hrs until duck is tender.
• Remove legs to a platter.
• Reduce cooking liquid by one half until thickened.
• You may add 1 tbs cornstarch mixed with water if sauce isn't thick enough.
• Pour over legs.