Made two ducks for Mother's Day. One ballontine and the other was taken apart and used for confit, breast meat for pate stuffing, skin for crispy noshes, duck fat for the potatoes and the rest for stock.
Deboning a duck is different than chicken. Longer, stronger and tougher joints and bones, far less meat and all around trickier for a novice like me. It turned out great, though.
I modified this pate a good bit for the stuffing. Per the wife's request, no bacon, and added cherries soaked in cherry heering along with the pistachio nuts.
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Duck-Pate
Also modified this blackberry sauce. Used beef and chix stock instead of canned broth so I had to put in more fruit and other sweeteners. Needed a lot of roux to thicken it but the layers of sweet fruit and savory stock were rich and complex. Surprisingly nice:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Duck-with-Blackberry-Sauce-1265
1996 La Jota 15th Anniversary Release Cab is still showing nicely integrated tannins and acidity that stood up well to the duck. This was a winter meal in springtime.
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