Results - Slow-Cooked Duck with Braised Red Cabbage and Hazelnuts

And now for the results, drum roll please........... ta dah!

I am very pleased with myself. On the weekend I attempted the slow-cooked duck, and the results were good! Visually, the meal was impressive, on a sensory level, smell = awesome and taste = good but not great. Mainly because my jus was a little salty.

But now to break it down. How did I find the experience and any hints or pointers I can add?

Firstly, the duck fat. The recipe called for 850 grams of duck fat, my first reaction was, where the hell am I going to find a duck fat enough to yield that much fat. Then I did a bit of searching on the net. You can buy "fresh" duck fat from a local poultry seller and render your own clarified duck fat, or you can buy duck fat already in a rendered form. I was hoping to buy my own fresh fat so I could do my own rendering; it seemed like a fun thing to do. And besides I had heard that already rendered duck fat was fairly expensive. So I set off to find my own little piece of white gold. I visited so many shops, and every time I asked the question, “do you have any duck fat?”, I got the same quizzical look. It was as if I was asking for some unknown material in a foreign language no less.

In the end I went to a poultry shop at Queen Victoria Market that sells large quantities of duck meat. When I asked for fresh duck fat, I was handed already clarified duck fat. I was a little disappointed. When I asked the sales person how much it was, I was expecting to hear an ungodly price, but in the end it was $6 for 220grams. Not bad. Since I was only going to make a half portion (I needed 425 grams), it seemed reasonable.

I still have a very strong desire to render my own fat. Some people have a desire to go for long walks, help people in need, me? to melt fat! I don’t think I'm normal. So I’m not going to give up on my quest of finding some fresh fat. I just think I need to look a little harder.

Now, the jus. Like I said earlier, it was a little salty for my liking, but I know exactly where Iwent wrong. I did not use salt free stock, I used a salt reduced stock. So after reducing, it was a little salty. Not intolerable, I just think it would have been better with less salt. I cooked the jus at 10pm at night, and I must say the smell from it was intoxicating. It filled my house and made all of us hungry. I was ready to forget about it all and just eat it with some fresh bread like a soup, but my better judgement stepped in. I did however keep the shallots after straining and made the most awesome spinach and cheese omelette in the morning. The spice and sweetness from the shallots set it off perfectly.

The braised cabbage was a little too acidic. With the duck I think the acidity was a little over powering. Some people enjoy that sharp flavour, but I found it a little too in your face. If I was to make it again I would use a little less red wine vinegar. But, on the next night we had some of the left over cabbage with continental sausages, and the acidity was great! They went together perfectly. I just think the duck flavour might have been a bit too subtle for the cabbage.

Overall, the meal was great. It is definitely on my 'cook again' list. Well done Massimo!

Slow-Cooked Duck with Braised Red Cabbage and Hazelnuts

Restaurant: Mub Bar and Restaurant (Tasmania)

Recipe from Chef Massimo Mele (appeared in Australian Gourmet traveller: August 2008)

2009 Rating: Did not make top 100

For my first attempt at a recipe from a restaurant, I’m trying Mud Bar and Restaurant’s Slow-Cooked Duck. This year Mud Bar did not make the top 100, and was not ranked in the top 10 of its State (TAS). However, last year it had a strong placing. I’ve chosen this recipe because a lot of restaurants have their own version of duck confit. I’ve never attempted to make confit before, so this will be an interesting learning curve for me.

Before I post about my failure or success, I thought I would make a posting about the recipe itself, so you will get an idea of what I’m facing in the kitchen. So here goes.

Begin this recipe a day ahead.

Prep time 25 mins, cook 4 hours 45 min (plus salting)

Serves 4

SALTING

500 gm rock sea salt

Rind from 1 orange and 1 lemon, removed with a peeler

6 star anise

10 cm piece of ginger, thickly sliced

6 garlic cloves, bruised

4 duck Marylands (about 300 gm each)

1 tbsp Chinese five spice

850 gm (4 cups) duck fat

Baby rocket and coarsely chopped roast hazelnuts, to serve

DUCK JUS

25 mL olive oil

4 golden shallots, thinly sliced

2 tsp honey

½ tsp Chinese five spice

300 mL old tawny Port

25 mL red wine vinegar

500 mL (2 cups) each of duck or brown chicken stock and beef stock

BRAISED RED CABBAGE

50 mL olive oil

1 onion, thingly sliced

110 gm (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

½ red cabbage (about 700 gm) thingly sliced

125 mL (1/2 cup) red wine vinegar

Method:

1. Combine salt, rind, star anise, ginger and garlic in a non-reactive dish. Place duck, skin side down on top of salt mix and rub flesh with five spice. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. Meanwhile, for duck jus, heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add shallot, honey and five spice and cook over medium heat until caramelised and sticky (7-10 minutes). Add Port and vinegar. Bring to the boil and cook until reduced by half (5-7 minutes). Add stocks, return to the boil and cook until reduced by half (30-45 minutes). Season to taste. Cool, strain through a muslin-lined sieve (discard solids) and refrigerate overnight. Remove fat from the top of jus and discard.

3. Preheat oven to 120C. Warm duck fat in a small roasting pan over medium heat. Remove duck from salt, brush off excess salt and place in warmed fat, ensuring duck is completely submerged. Cook in oven until meat is tender and almost falls off the bone (3-3 ½ hours). Remove duck and reserve 500 mL duck fat. Keep remaining fat for roasting vegetables.

4. Meanwhile, from braised red cabbage, heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic and stir occasionally over medium heat until soft (7-10 minutes). Add cabbage and stir occasionally until soft (8-10 minutes). Add vinegar and salt, stir to combine and cook until liquid is almost evaporated (20-25 minutes). Season to taste and keep warm.

5. Increase oven to 200C. Place a piece of baking paper in a large frying pan, add reserved duck fat, add duck skin-side down (take care as duck will spit) and cook over medium-high heat until skin is crisp (3-5 minutes). Remove duck from fat, blot with absorbent kitchen paper and serve immediately with braised cabbage and rocket leaves, scattered with hazelnuts and drizzled with jus.

The recipe looks like its going to take a long time, considering the long cooking time. But hopefully it will be very tasty. Stay tuned for the victorious results (fingers crossed).