#duck fat

[mayadawn]

~Duck Pasta Recipe~

Recipe by: 'A Full Living'

[nanxaimer]

The classic decadent French spread, duck rillettes, is made by Chef John and is excellent on bread, toast, or crostini.

[scr4n]

🍳 Hash brown breakfast - fried egg, stornoway black pudding, streaky bacon and pork link sausage, tomato chutney, white sour dough.

🍟 Duck fat fries - pepper sauce and tobacco onion

🍔 Halloumi burger - crispy halloumi, bbq sauce, alioli, shallots and leaves

☕️ Coffee - flat white

[potatoes-are-magic]

Liquid Gold, aka How to Render Fat

Duck fat is easily one of my all time, favorite ingredients to work with. It does absolutely magical things to sauteed vegetables and mushrooms. It was used to make the original french fries. It comes with a nice high smoke point, but a low melt point, so you can toss vegetable in this before you roast them. I also like to rub down chickens and turkeys in this instead of butter. As far as I'm concerned, it's earned it title of liquid gold.

Unfortunately, it also gets that name because if you try to buy it at the grocery store, it's super expensive. This stuff if made from the fat found around the duck's organs and kidneys and has a clean, neutral flavor that can be used for baked goods.

Luckily! If you don't mind some ducky-flavor or using a down and dirty method, you can make it yourself from duck skin. This latest batch was made using skin I trimmed from the neck and butt/thighs(?) of the ducks I grilled for Yule.

Ingredients:

uhh... skin? Trimmings? I feel like this part should be pretty self explanatory. You're looking for, well, duck fat

Steps:

Cut your duck skin/fat into small pieces. I usually cut them into 1-2 square inches

Throw them in a pot or saucepan

Add about a tablespoon of water. This will help keep the skin from burning when you first add head

Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally to unstick the pieces of skin from the bottom of the pan. Unfortunately, this step will take hours. But by the time it's done, the water will have evaporated, and you'll be left with lots of golden, rendered fat

Strain out the solid pieces of skin. If you want, you can put these on a paper towel or tea towel to drain and sprinkle salt on them. These are cracklings!

Pour the fat into a jar and let it cool on the counter before you put on a lid and put it in the fridge. Optionally, you can strain this stuff through something like cheese cloth if you want to get all the little bits out. I don't bother and just leave them in.

And voila! You have duck fat! This method also works to render lard from pig fat if you want real lard instead of the nasty, shelf-stable, hydrogenated stuff from the supermarket. Check the butcher shop around hunting season. A lot of them will sell pig fat for the guys making venison sausage.

Enjoy!

[fieriframes]

[AND HOW LONG IS THIS GONNA GO DOWN FOR? THREE DAYS. THEN WE'LL TAKE IT OUT, RINSE IT ALL OFF. YES. THOUGH WE WERE INNOCENT ONCE. THOUGH HOW COULD IT HAVE GONE SO BAD. MORE OF THE FRESH THYME. DUCK FAT. YOU SHOULD SMELL IT RIGHT NOW.]

[brattylikestoeat]

[chronic-mastication]

Duck Fat Fries

[askwhatsforlunch]

Spiced Cranberry Duck

Spiced Cranberry Duck may sound a bit fancy, and is a bit out of the ordinary, but it’s also ready in a flash -duck doesn’t need or want long cooking- and one of the seasonal lunches one can treat oneself to when one works from home! 

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 tablespoons duck fat

4 duck drumsticks

1 small onion

1 heaped teaspoon Mixed Spice

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 cup fresh cranberries, rinsed

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

4 tablespoons Cinnamon Syrup

1/2 cup water

Melt one tablespoon duck fat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Then, add duck drumsticks, skin-side down and brown, 2 minutes. Brown duck drumsticks on their other side, and transfer to a plate; set aside.

Peel and finely chop onion, and add to the skillet. Sauté, a couple of minutes. Stir in Mixed Spice and cook, one minute more. Deglaze with apple cider vinegar. Add remaining duck fat. When melted, stir in 3/4 cup of the cranberries, and cook, stirring often until they start popping. Return duck drumsticks to the skillet, and season with fleur de sel and black pepper. Drizzle with Cinnamon Syrup, and stir to combine. Stir in water. Cover with the lid, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, a dozen of minutes. Remove the lid and stir in remaining cranberries. Cook until they pop, a couple of minutes.

Serve Spiced Cranberry Duck hot, with Brussels sprouts or other greens.