“Why not a chicken?” – Chico Marx
It’s the start of the New Year, and most markets (super, and otherwise) are positively filthy with the sad, overpriced dross of gustatory celebration. A quick visit to my local store yesterday revealed something in the neighborhood of 18 rock-solid frozen capon (castrated rooster, good for soup or for roasting should you desire fowl with the consistency and flavor of balsa wood); a veritable flock of frozen turkeys (some doubtless left over from Thanksgiving 2008, and probably 2007); 2 whole rabbits (frankly too expensive to even discuss); 6 poussin (also overpriced); 3 lonely pheasant; 1 goose (still marked at an appalling $119); and 1 forlorn, sorry (but plump) duck, priced accordingly.
I chose the duck.
Why?
For one thing, there’s the fat. I pray that my physician isn’t reading this, but the fact is that if you pull off the thick, fatty cloak attached to the average duck, render it slowly in a heavy pot (see above), you will have something akin to gold: you can confit in it (as I’m doing in this picture), fry in it, saute in it, and do heaven knows what else in it. Better still, after you’re done, you can strain the remaining fat out through a fine mesh sieve, put it in an airtight container, and freeze it to use another day, more or less over and over again (assuming you don’t burn it, which makes it unusable). And this is a boon why? Because you can buy the stuff, pre-rendered, for about $7.00 a tub, or in the convenient 10-pack, for $65.00. Seriously.
My six pound duck was bought for $11.00. When I rendered the skin, I had enough for at least 2 or 3 8-ounce tubs. AND I still had the duck to do with as I pleased. You do the math.
So, what did I do with the now-naked, skinless duck? I made 2 meals, each for 2 people, each yielding leftovers. That’s 1 duck, for $11.00, divided by 4, or $2.75 a meal.
Meal 1
Asian Five-Spice Duck Rolls
1 six pound duck, naked, cut into 6 parts
2 teaspoons five spice powder
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 shallot, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon rice wine
a squirt (or two, or eight) of Sriracha
4 Boston lettuce leaves
cilantro, to taste
lime, to taste
1. Place the naked duck parts in a glass bowl, and toss with the next 6 ingredients. Cover tightly and marinate in the refrigerator for anywhere from 2 hours to overnight.
2. Remove from marinade and let come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Place the duck parts in a small roasting pan, and roast until the duck is cooked through, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 160 degrees F. (For all of you who like your duck breast pink, don’t yell at me. This is meant to be well-cooked, not rare or even semi-rare).
4. Remove to a platter, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bone, slicing it into slivers with a cleaver or knife. Serve with lettuce leaves, sprigs of fresh cilantro, and wedges of fresh lime. Deposit a few hunks of juicy duck in each leaf, top with cilantro and a squirt of lime, roll up, and enjoy.
Serves 2 with sizable leftovers
Meal 2
Duck Noodle Bowls
3 cups chicken broth
1 star anise
1 dried red pepper
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
8 ounces rice stick noodles, cooked, drained, and at room temperature
Leftover boneless roast duck
cilantro, to taste
lime, to taste
1. In a medium-sized sauce pan, bring the chicken broth, star anise, red pepper, soy sauce, and lime juice to a slow simmer, uncovered. Taste for seasoning, reduce heat and keep warm.
2. Heat two rice bowls. Place 4 ounces of noodles in each bowl, and top each with leftover duck. Gently ladle a smallish amount of broth over each–just enough to warm, soften, and perfume the noodles and duck.
3. Top with a few sprigs of cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
Serves 2
My wine of choice: Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Riesling, which is sweet and fruity enough to balance either meal, without being so cloying that your teeth feel like they’re going to fall out of your head. $10.99
Tomorrow: How to outfit your pantry with inexpensive stuff that will make you cook like a genius.
