Roasted duck, pate, and duck fat

Roasted duck, pate, and duck fat

http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/02/11/the-best-way-to-roast-a-duck-hello-crispy-skin/


I am not posting the recipe as it is quite elaborate. Click on the link to Hungry Mouse for details.


As we this year did not celebrate Thanksgiving (we were in Argentina), we postponed a big bird dinner until the spring. As spring approached, we no longer wanted frozen turkey, but fresh duck! Ducks are very small, about 5 pounds a bird, two would suffice for a party of 5. We picked up two fresh birds from the "Let's Meat on the Avenue" in Alexandria, VA. It was about $25 each.





We wanted duck liver pate for appetizers, which require liver, garlic, salt, pepper, butter or duck fat. All we needed was a couple of tablespoons. The tail was the perfect place to get it.





Our fear was that we would have difficulty identifying liver amongst other organs. We performed a "that is NOT a liver, and that could be a liver" method of separation. Our second step was to smell it. I think we did OK.



I regret not having photographs of the pate, but as you can imagine, it looks like bile. I must say that it tasted delicious and it was incredibly easy to make. I am confident I can get livers from the local butcher and whip up a great appetizer for the next dinner party. Note that we increased the ratio of fat to liver to prevent it from tasting too 'livery'.


We then cut off loose fatty skin and rendered it with a bit of water.



With extra skin from two birds, we yielded about 1.5 cup of duck fat. We store it in the freezer and use it to flavor roasted vegetables for a little extra kick.




To make sure we really got the skin crispy, we utilized the heat gun, which also doubles as a embossing heat gun.