Some time ago I was
given a brace of Mallard, I tucked them in to the freezer and forgot
about them,until yesterday. Needing to make room for the incoming
beef I rearranged the freezer ( we have three, one of which holds the
fruit and veg crop) and there they were in among the chickens,
leaving them out to defrost overnight I considered,during a sleepless
night what to do with them.
By morning my plans
were laid and I set about dealing with the birds by first removing
the breasts and then the legs. The carcasses went straight into the
stock pot for five hours,by which time a wonderfully rich stock ,well
reduced was ready to use.
The four legs were a
little more difficult as the amount of meat is not great. Eventually
I decided to make a confit by cooking them very slowly,about five
hours to be exact, in fat kept a a temperature of no more than 150
oC . The pan is then removed from the heat and left to cool
,refrigerated the confit will keep for a month.
Some recipes suggest
salting the duck for 24 hours and rubbing in a dry marinade, perhaps
for a dinner party I might put myself to the trouble but as I will be
using the meat as part of a family dinner the easy way is just fine.
The four breasts gave
me quite a nice amount of meat and so I rubbed them with with
Chinese five spice and roasted them for thirty minutes then sliced
them and popped then in to the wok with a bag of stir fry
vegetables, fresh of course and some fresh egg noodles and sugar snap
peas from the freezer. Parsnip and pumpkin crisps finished the dish
which was well received by the boys.
Of course I could have
served then roasted with the usual trimmings but this way has given
not only three meals for us but a nice big dish of cooked duck flesh,
for the cats, gleaned from the bones left in the stock pot.
After that lot I am ,I
confess, shattered and my throat is still very sore,yet I think I am
on the mend, fingers crossed.
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