Butchering Duck for Duck Two Ways and Pan-fried Duck Breast
Have you heard of someone having champagne tastes on a beer budget?
That's me ...
So, instead of going to a fine restaurant and ordering the duck, I bought a small (4 pound) utility duck on sale for $8.20 and made a couple of dishes that taste delicious but aren't too hard to pull off. First, though, I had to butcher the duck. I ended up with 2 lovely duck legs and at least ONE nice breast. The other breast ... well, I blame my not so sharp knife and inexperience for the ragged trimmed skin. :) However, after a couple of cups of coffee and a bit of mess, I had the broken down duck in the refrigerator waiting for action.
Saturday, I cut up the excess fat and rendered it down. Then, cause I was greedy I added some more water (next time I WON'T do that as I overcooked the skin and it broke down too much) to the mostly rendered skin and turned it into cracklings. Not pretty big chunks of crackling ... but crumbled up bits of crackling. Still, it was cracklings and a couple of tablespoons more duck fat.
Duck, ready to cut up
Wings and breasts - The wing tips have been trimmed off and thrown in the pot to make stock.
Cross-hatched duck breasts (4 oz each) ready to season and then pan fry
Duck legs - ready to cure with salt and herbs
Legs, weighted down
Rendered Duck Fat - excess skin and fat cut off and then rendered over the course of about 2 hours
Duck Cracklings (1/2 cup) and some more fat
Roasted duck carcass and veggies ready to turn into duck stock
Making Duck Stock
Medium rare Duck Breast with Blackberry Coulis
