Duck Legs With Cabbage And Tomatoes Recipes

CRISP-BRAISED DUCK LEGS WITH AROMATIC VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Put duck legs, skin side down, in a skillet large enough to accommodate all ingredients comfortably; turn heat to medium. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brown duck legs carefully and evenly, sprinkling them with salt and pepper as they cook. Meanwhile, peel and dice vegetables.
• When legs are nicely browned, turn them over and sear for just a minute or two. Remove to a plate; remove all but enough fat to moisten vegetables. Add vegetables to skillet along with some salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Return duck legs to pan, skin side up, and add stock; it should come about halfway up duck legs but should not cover them. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil, and transfer to oven.
• Cook for 30 minutes, then lower heat to 350 degrees. Continue to cook, undisturbed, until duck is tender and liquid reduced, at least another half hour. The duck is done when a thin-bladed knife pierces the meat with little resistance. When done, duck will hold nicely in a warm oven for another hour. Serve hot.

RED-WINE-BRAISED DUCK LEGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. and season duck legs with salt and pepper.
• In a heavy kettle just large enough to hold legs in one layer, cook legs, skin sides down, over moderately high heat 10 to 15 minutes, or until skin in scrip and mahogany colored, removing fat from kettle as it is rendered with a metal bulb baster (or very carefully tilting the kettle and spooning off). Turn legs over and cook until browned on the other side, about 2 minutes, transferring to a plate.
• Pour off fat from kettle and deglaze with wine, scraping up brown bits. Boil wine until reduced to a syrup and add garlic, thyme and 1/2 cup dried fruit. Return duck legs, skin sides up, to kettle and add broth. Bring mixture to a simmer and braise, uncovered, in oven 2 hours, or until legs are very tender. Transfer legs to a platter and keep warm.
• Pour braising mixture into a 1-quart measuring cup and let stand until fat rises to the top. Skim off fat and pour liquid through a sieve into a saucepan, pressing hard on solids. Boil liquid until reduced by about one third and slightly thickened and add remaining 1/2 cup dried fruit. Simmer sauce until fruit is softened, about 5 minutes, and season with salt and pepper.
• Serve duck legs with sauce and noodles or roasted and mashed potatoes.

SLOW-COOKED DUCK LEGS WITH OLIVES

Steps:

• Trim all visible fat from the duck legs, then lay them in a large, broad skillet. They can overlap if necessary. Turn the heat to medium, and add the remaining ingredients except the parsley. When the mixture reaches a lively simmer, turn the heat to low, and cover.
• Check the mixture occasionally. It should be bubbling gently. Cook until the duck is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the duck to a warm plate, and cover (or place in a very low oven), then turn the heat to medium-high under the remaining sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced to a thick, saucelike consistency, about 10 minutes. Spoon over the duck legs, garnish with parsley if you like, and serve.

DUCKLING WITH CABBAGE

Steps:

• Disjoint the duck. Remove each leg with the full thigh attached. Remove the wings, then carve off each breast in one boneless piece. Set aside the breast and leg pieces and a two-inch square of easily removed fat. The remainder of the duck is not needed.
• Combine the pepper, thyme and bay leaf and rub the mixture into the flesh side of each duck piece. Set the pieces skin side down on a plate, cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside in a cool place for six to eight hours.
• At least two, not more than six, hours before serving, prepare the pickle. Select eight dark green, medium-sized leaves of Savoy and set aside. Core both kinds of the cabbage, then finely shred four cups worth of the Savoy and three cups of the green cabbage, loosely packed.
• Put the eight tablespoons of salt in a large, nonreactive bowl and add two cups of hot water. Stir until the salt dissolves, then add the rice vinegar and four cups of cold water. Dip the Savoy leaves in one by one and remove. Add the shredded cabbages and daikon, stir well, then hold the vegetables aside and put the Savoy leaves in the bottom of the bowl. Marinate one-and-a-half to two hours, or until the vegetables are translucent and limp but still firm to the bite.
• Scoop out the cut vegetables, leaving the leaves to marinate. Press the vegetables in a colander to remove all liquid, then refrigerate.
• Cook the duck legs at least one-and-a-half hours before serving. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Dice the reserved fat, place in a small, heavy skillet and cook over medium heat until the pan is well filmed with fat. Discard solids, wipe spices from duck legs and lay them flesh side down in the pan. Prick the fat in several places, cover the pan and bake for 45 minutes or until the meat is completely cooked.
• Drain and reserve the fat. Cool the duck legs to lukewarm, then remove the skin and bones, shred the meat and set aside, covered.
• About 10 minutes before serving, preheat the broiler. Drain the Savoy cabbage leaves, pat dry and use them with the red lettuce to line four large plates. Set aside.
• Combine the pickled mixture with the wood ears (if using), chives, tarragon and half of the radishes and carrot strips. Combine the shallots in a small bowl with the salt and vinegar. Add the walnut oil, mustard, creme fraiche and pepper to the shallots, stir well and toss with the vegetables.
• Wipe the spice mixture from the duck breasts, dry the meat and skin thoroughly. With a razor blade or very sharp knife, score the skin in small diamonds. Film a heated broiler pan with the reserved fat from the duck legs, place the duck breasts on it flesh side down and broil about four inches from the heat for six or seven minutes -until the skin is brown and crisp and the meat rose-rare.
• While the breasts broil, reheat the leg shreds in a small covered pan with one tablespoon of water.
• To serve, center a portion of leg meat on each leaf-lined plate and cover completely with the cabbage mixture. Slice the breasts on the diagonal into eight pieces each and arrange four slices on top of each bed. Decorate with reserved radishes and carrots, pour any collected juices over the meat and serve at once.

PASTA WITH CONFIT DUCK AND SAVOY CABBAGE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then sear duck legs, starting skin sides down and turning over once, until skin is golden and some of fat is rendered, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a cutting board, reserving skillet. When duck legs are cool enough to handle, remove skin and scrape off and reserve any visible fat, then cut skin into roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Return skin and fat to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and pressing down on larger pieces, until fat is rendered and cracklings are golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer cracklings with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• While cracklings cook, pull duck meat from legs into roughly 1/4-inch-thick strips, discarding bones and any gristle.
• Reserve 2 tablespoons fat in skillet, discarding remainder, then cook onions with 1/2 teaspoon salt over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Add cabbage and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring and turning occasionally with tongs, until cabbage is slightly wilted, about 5 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring, until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is very tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
• While cabbage simmers, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander.
• Transfer cabbage mixture to pasta pot along with butter and shredded duck and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until butter is melted and duck is heated through. Stir in pasta, parsley, and pepper until combined. (If pasta looks dry, stir in some of cooking water.) Season with salt and serve cracklings on the side (for sprinkling over pasta).