Pasta With Braised Duck

Pasta With Braised Duck

I remember a couple of years ago, I bought a frozen duck. I was planning on roast duck for dinner. When I got home, I realized I didn’t buy a duckling, but a mature duck. They can be a little tough when they are roasted. I grabbed my braising pan for this.

This takes a little effort, but it is worth it. I’m always amazed by people who don’t venture beyond the familiar beef, chicken and pork. For many people, exotic would be having fish for dinner. Most people find anything beyond that, a little extreme. 

I can hear them now:

     Lamb? Nope, too gamey. 

     Turkey? It’s not Thanksgiving. 

     Cornish hens? Too cornish. 

     Quail? Yikes, no way! 

     Rabbit? Um, ... gag... No!

And here I am suggesting duck. I suppose there’s not much chance that you'll try this, is there? Well, if there ever was a recipe for trying duck, this is it. It takes a little time to prepare. Taking off the skin and cutting the meat off the duck takes patience, but I think it's worth the effort.

Many groceries carry frozen duck. If you are willing to venture out of your norman routine, give this a try. It is one of my favorites.

1 mature (stewing) duck 

2 large onions
water for stock
4 slices of bacon

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

14 cloves of garlic, peeled but whole 

1/2 cup of flour
Cajun seasoning

Poultry seasoning 

Thyme
1 tbs. wine vinegar 

1 cup red wine

1/2 lb. shiitake mushrooms
1 can of tomato paste
Fresh rosemary, sage and oregano 

Wide noodle pasta like pappardelle

Preparation

The first thing you need to do to make this is to remove the skin from the duck using a sharp knife. (If you forgot to thaw out the duck, you’ll have to put it in the refrigerator and order take-out because you won't be making this tonight). 

After getting most of the skin off, separate the leg quarters and set them aside. Slice off the the breast meat and any other meat you can remove. Coarsely chop the meat and set that aside with the legs along with the giblets and keep cold.

Grab a stock pot and place the duck bones and the neck in it. Add a large onion cut in half. Add water, enough to cover the bones, along with a little thyme, cajun seasoning and poultry seasoning (not too much, about a half teaspoon each). Bring the water to a boil and reduce heat. Let it simmer for an hour. While that is simmering, go pick out a good book and read for about 45 minutes.

When the hour is almost up, heat you braising pan and cook the bacon. Remove the bacon, chop it and set it aside. Take a zip lock bag and to it add the flour and a teaspoon each, of Cajun and poultry seasoning. Shake the duck legs, breast meat, giblets and any other meat in the seasoned flour. Add these to the bacon fat. Brown the meat on all sides and remove.

Add the second onion, chopped, along with the two smashed/minced garlic cloves and let those cook down a minute. When the onion has softened, add the vinegar and wine. Scrape up anything that has stuck to the pan. Bring the wine to a boil and let it reduce for a couple of minutes. 

Now add the 14 whole garlic cloves, the shiitake mushrooms (halved). Add the tomato paste and stir to blend. Chop the giblets and add those along with the rest of the duck and the bacon. Add about 4 cups of the stock that you made, enough to cover the meat. Bring it all to a boil. Cover the pan and place it in a 325º oven for one hour.

After an hour, add about a palmful each of fresh rosemary, sage and oregano chopped. Remove the duck meat from the legs, chop it and return it to the sauce. You can return the leg bones back to the sauce too. I like to nibble on them. Cover and return the pan to the oven for another half hour. By that time the sauce should have thickened nicely. Take the sauce out of the oven and let it rest for about ten minutes. Cook the pasta while the duck sauce rests. 

Serving

Serve a large pile of the pasta, smothered in the duck mixture, on your plate. Grind some fresh ground black pepper over it and then give it a light sprinkling of Cajun seasoning. All you need now is a nice romaine salad, fresh bread and a good Petite Sirah. I dare you to eat this and then tell me you don’t like duck.