Home cooks, don't fear duck for the holidays. It's versatile, can be simple to cook, and is an alternative to the same old entree.
By Associated Press
Published December 21, 2003
The distinctive taste of duck can make a festive holiday meal a memorable occasion. It's pleasing for the host, too, because the duck can be simple to prepare and quick to cook into a tender, juicy main dish.
Duck Breasts Agrodolce, for example, has an Italian flavor, with its accompanying polenta and a sweet-sour sauce blending raisins and balsamic vinegar. Pine nuts add a crunch to the dish. Also included here is a recipe for duck appetizer.
About 95 percent of the duck sold and eaten today in the United States is of the white Pekin breed, a mild-flavored duck that adapts well to various cuisines.
Don't confuse white Pekin with Peking duck, that traditionally elaborate Chinese gourmet dish made by hanging and drying the bird to render the fat, and crisp the skin to a rich bronze. To further confuse the issue, most Peking duck is made with white Pekin ducks.
The American white Pekin duck (or duckling - the term is interchangeable because most ducks are marketed and sold when they are still young and tender) is descended from a breed domesticated in China at least 2,000 years ago.
White Pekins were imported to the United States in the 1850s, and from then until the 1950s, Long Island, N.Y., produced nearly all commercial ducklings in the country. That's why they're still often known as Long Island ducklings. Large-scale production then moved to the Midwest, where it is located today.
Unlike its poultry cousins chicken and turkey, duckling is a red meat, and when it's cooked to the appropriate internal temperature, it's pink and juicy to eat.
White Pekins are very lean. A 31/2-ounce serving of skinless duckling breast has only 2.5 grams of fat and 140 calories. Ducks' fat is almost all in the skin layer, not in the meat, so most of the fat can be rendered off during cooking.
Duck is versatile; home cooks can prepare it in many styles of cuisine, by many methods, including roasting, sauteing, grilling, broiling and barbecuing.
Duck Breasts Agrodolce
1 cup uncooked polenta (cornmeal)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Olive oil
4 duck breast halves (6 ounces each)
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (see note)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (see note)
Cooking time: About 45 minutes.
In saucepan over medium heat, simmer polenta and 3 cups water, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes or until polenta thickens. Season with salt and pepper.
Brush an 8-inch cake pan with olive oil; spread polenta in pan and smooth with spatula. Refrigerate, covered, about 2 hours or until firm. (This may be done up to a day ahead.)
When completely cold and firm, unmold and cut into 8 wedges. Place on baking sheet; brush tops of wedges lightly with oil.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. With sharp knife, score skin side of duck breasts in a series of parallel cuts 3/4 inch apart, without cutting into meat. Make a second series of parallel cuts perpendicular to the first to form crosshatch pattern. Season breasts with salt and pepper.
Place breasts skin-side down in heavy nonstick skillet large enough to hold them comfortably in one layer; do not crowd. Cook over medium heat about 8 minutes or until fat runs out and skin is golden-brown and crisp. (Some breasts may brown more quickly than others; remove each breast as it is done.)
Transfer breasts to baking dish or another skillet, skin-side down, and finish cooking in oven about 8 minutes for rare, 10 minutes for medium-rare and 12 minutes for medium, turning breasts onto flesh side after 6 minutes. Let breasts rest 3 to 4 minutes before slicing.
While breasts are in oven, pour off fat from skillet breasts were browned in. Add raisins, vinegar and sugar to skillet; simmer over medium heat until syrupy. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 1/4 cup water and pine nuts; simmer for about 5 minutes or until tomatoes have reduced to a saucelike consistency. Keep warm over low heat.
Brown polenta wedges under preheated broiler about 4 inches from heating element. Place 2 wedges, slightly overlapping, on each of 4 plates. Cut each breast crosswise on a slight angle into 4 to 5 slices about 1/2-inch thick; fan 1 breast on each plate next to polenta.
Spoon sauce over breasts and polenta, dividing it equally. Makes 4 servings.
White Pekin Duckling Spring Rolls
2 4-ounce skinless white Pekin duckling breasts
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil for sauteing cabbage and scallions
1 small Napa cabbage, finely shredded
2 scallions, finely diced
10 rice-paper wrappers
Marinate duckling breasts in soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Saute.
Remove from heat and chill briefly. Shred by hand for a "pulled" look. Briefly saute cabbage and scallions in sesame oil. Add chilled, shredded duckling and toss.
Brush each rice-paper wrapper with water. Place 11/2 ounces of duckling-slaw mixture in center of paper. Carefully roll. Slice on the bias.
- Source: Recipe courtesy of the Duckling Council.
For more information
Call the Duckling Council Hotline at toll-free 1-800-571-3466 or visit the council's Web site at www.duckling.org
