Carrs Drunken Duck Recipes

SLOW-ROASTED DUCK WITH MASHED WHITE BEANS, SIZZLED HERBS AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Cook the beans: Rinse beans and put them, along with the onion, bay leaves, cloves and garlic, in a large heavy-bottomed pot with a lid. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Add 2 teaspoons salt, reduce heat to low, and bring beans to a bare simmer. Cover, but leave lid ajar. Cook very slowly, adding water as needed, for about 1 1/2 hours, or until beans are soft. Taste broth and adjust seasoning. Remove onion, bay leaves, cloves and garlic, and discard. Let beans cool uncovered in the cooking liquid. (They may be cooked up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated.)
• As beans cook, prepare the duck legs: Lay them on a cutting board skin-side up, and use a skewer or the tip of a knife to prick the skin of each leg all over.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Season each leg generously on both sides with salt and pepper - don't go crazy, but don't be meek.
• Place legs in a roasting pan, in a single layer skin-side up. (Take care that the roasting pan is high-sided enough, as a fair amount of fat will be produced as legs cook.) Roast, uncovered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the meat is quite tender, nearly falling off the bone. At this point, check to see the skin is crisp and nicely browned.If not, raise oven temperature to 400 degrees, and roast for another 10 minutes, or perhaps more, until skin is crisped. Remove legs from roasting pan and keep warm. (An inch or more of liquid fat will have accumulated in the roasting pan. Let it cool a bit before pouring it into a jar for future use.)
• Bring beans to a boil in a pot over medium-high heat. Pull them off the heat, and drain in a colander, reserving liquid. Put three-quarters of the beans in a mixing bowl and use a potato masher to mash them. (Alternatively, you can purée the beans in a food processor.) Add bean broth as needed to loosen the mixture to the consistency of soft mashed potatoes. Stir in the reserved whole beans. Adjust the seasoning. Keep warm.
• Prepare sizzled herbs: Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add sage and rosemary until they're coated with oil. When all the sage leaves have wilted, keep stirring until the herbs begin to fry and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn heat to low, then swirl in the garlic and red-pepper flakes. Immediately add olives and warm through.
• To serve, pair one duck leg with a spoonful of mashed beans. Spoon some of the olive mixture over the duck and beans. If desired, dress crisp green arugula with just a few drops of lemon juice and a little salt, and serve alongside for a refreshing counterpoint to the rich, salty duck and beans.

ROAST DRUNKEN DUCK RECIPE - (4/5)

Steps:

• Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Rub duck inside and out with marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Soak mushrooms in warm water to cover until softened, about 20 minutes; drain. Discard stems; thinly slice caps. Place a wok over high heat until hot. Add oil, swirling to coat sides. Add ginger and garlic; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add onions and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and preserved vegetable; stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add wine, five-spice, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce; cook for 1 minute. Let cool. Place stuffing inside duck; use skewers to enclose. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place duck, breast-side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Bake until meat is no longer pink when cut near bone, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Increase heat to 475 degrees. Combine glaze ingredients in a bowl. Brush glaze over duck. Bake until skin is richly glazed, 5 to 7 minutes. This recipe yields 4 to 6 servings. If you live near a Chinese deli that sells roast ducks, you're in luck: You can enjoy a wonderful treat any time without running up a huge "duck bill"! Roasting duck the Chinese way is a real art. First, the birds are parboiled, melting away some of the fat. Then they're blown up with air and hung up to dry to tighten their skin. Finally, they're lacquered with a sweet glaze of honey, maltose, vinegar, and rice wine that caramelizes during roasting, making the skin crisp and brown. You can eat Cantonese roast duck at room temperature, or warm it in the oven. Serve it with the thin brown cooking sauce that's usually included at no extra charge, or shred the meat and use it to top a salad of greens tossed with a vinaigrette enriched either with a bit of the duck sauce, or with bottled plum sauce.