Duck on the Cheap
I don’t quite have a roaster. Well, I have a graniteware roaster – you know them, they’re the speckled blue enamel stuff that looks like it was made for camping – and while that roaster (which still just costs 25 dollars new today) has a lid ( a feature even 300 dollar roasters are lacking), it doesn’t have a rack and I was unsure about attempting to roast anything in it, since it would end up sitting in it’s own juices. I did wander into the new Williams-Sonoma in the Mall to take a look at their roasters, and quickly decided that that store is really more about being fashionable than anything else. They have 300 dollar roasters and 500 dollar knife sets. Right-o. Lolz, someone pays 500 dollars for knives with plastic handles. Knife sets that come with sharpeners (uhm, hint, your average joe using one of those things is just going to ruin whatever hone is on there to begin with) .
OMG Knives
Long story short, like generations before me I used my Granitewear roaster, although I didn’t use the lid.
What did I use for a rack ? Well, my friend Karen suggested I just rest the duck on carrots and parsnip, so that’s what I did; came home from Giant with a pound bag of carrots, chopped half of that into pieces and threw them in, and cooked the duck on top of it. I used my 15 year old wood handled chef knive that we probably got at Walmart back then to do the chopping. It did fine.
I rubbed the duck down with salt and pepper, cooked at 450, turning twice (45 minutes, turn, 45 minutes, turn, 20-30 some minutes till it seemed right) .
I lost the recipe I was going to use for the sauce, and found a new one that was probably closer to what I imagined in my head ( a traditional German goose recipe) but here’s what I ended up doing:
take about 8 plums, push the pits out of them. I didn’t use a 30 dollar pitting tool either; I used the tube my meat thermometer sits in as a sheath, and it did a great job. Throw the plums into a saucepan ( a really cheap, ancient saucepan we’ve had for years that’s all warped and discolored from overheating), threw in a generous amount of brandy. then added about half a handful of some onion that was frozen, but which i had just chopped 4 days ago (still much better than frozen onion from the store). I tossed in a pinch of minced garlic, and about 8 chestnuts, and started reducing it. The brandy smell was incredibly strong, and I was afraid that it would be too noxious to the nose, so I added in some prune juice to mellow it. Reduced, recued until nice and thick and syrupy, then poored some onto the plate, capturing some of the prune and chestnuts with it and then sliced off a wing, leg and thigh for myself. Walked into the living room, sat down, and ….
… Dude. It was AWESOME. I was so excited that I must have sounded like a teenager girl at a boy-bandconcert. At one point my wife actually asked me “what does ‘oh my god ponies mean’ ? “ Seriously. The duck was incredibly moist and perfectly cooked, and the skin was golden and crisp and so savory with all the salt and pepper. The sauce ? To die for. Sweet, smoky balanced. I’m amazed at how much that little bit of onion and garlic added to it. It was straight up ponies and rainbows. The only thing I would do differently is chop the chestnuts so they can absorb more of the sauce.
As further testament to the duck, during the time it was cooling on the stove and I was frantically searching for that lost recipe, my wife had not only devoured her entire half of the bird (both sides), but was actually digging into the veg I had lined the roaster with as well. I didn’t even get a shot at the frond and forget deglazing. There was a clean line down half the roaster … in minutes. Granted, it was super late at night, but my god that duck just really turned out great.
And this was for my first duck. I didn’t have a scooby on roasting duck, having done my first turkey ever at Mother’s for Thanksgiving, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. This cooking thing just keeps getting easier and easier, and all with a roaster that probably cost ten dollars 15 years ago, and a knive that probably wouldn’t fetch a singe dollar at a yard sale. The carcass is already in the freezer (duck stock … mmm) and what little remains of the dinner is tucked away in the fridge. I stored it all in one container so the duck can absorb the plum sauce. I think I’ll review it all tomorrow by :
a) touching up the sauce with a little more of the fire and dandy, and plum juice. There won’t be much left for the prunes and chestnuts.
b) fry the duck in a seperate pan to crispen it again, possibly in butter, then
c) let the duck cook *in* the sauce a bit
Expensive fashionware be damned, I roasted me a duck on the cheap and it was right robin.
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