Duck boasts great flavour and utility. The breasts are mouth-water when sautéed or roasted. When braised to make confit, the legs add richness to stews and juiciness to salads. You can come out with a flavourful stock using the carcass and wings. And the rendered fat tends to lend depth to roasted and fried food. If you are looking to get the most of duck meat, look for the bread that fits the dish you want to prepare.
Different Kinds of Duck Breast
If you explore the duck market, you may find three kinds of duck breast. The white pekin duck features tender, mild-flavoured meat. It is available in supermarkets, inexpensive, and easy to work with. This tender breast needs to be sautéed. Muscovy duck breasts are slightly bigger, leaner, and more strongly-flavoured than white pekin. This deeply flavoured duck takes well to roasting or stewing. If you want to roast this meat, choose the smaller female. The gamey Mallard, a lean North American duck available in the market during the fall, has delicious breasts when wrapped in bacon and smoked to keep it moist. Moulard ducks are primarily raised for their livers; however, moulard breasts are a delicacy for people who prize their big size and steak-like qualities. Whatever type of duck meat you want to buy, check out Canards du lac Brome for your options.
How to Prepare Duck
Duck breast is best medium-rare. Rare duck is chewy and duck prepared well-done can have a livery taste. Duck can be pan-seared which involves air-drying the meat for three days in the fridge to eliminate moisture from the skin. This ensures it can crisp during cooking. Also, duck can be braised, particularly the legs. When braised in anything like red wine or aromatic stock, the meat will be infused with more flavour. Other ways to prepare duck meat include confit, grilled, and roasted.
What to Keep in Mind when Cooking Duck
When you cook duck, remember that domestic duck tends to be fattier than wild duck and most other kinds of poultry. The bird has a thick layer of fat under its skin, making the meat incredibly moist. Make sure to prick the skin before roasting or grilling a duck so the fat can escape. If you want to cook duck breast, score the meat in a diamond pattern before you season it, then cook with the skin side down. Don’t turn the meat until the first side turns brown and becomes crisp. If you have a four- to six-pound duck, roast it at 350 degrees F for around 1-3/4 to 2-1/2 hours.
