Duck, duck, duck, no goose...

Thursday I was down at an Asian market in Tukwila as a follow up to a quick Ikea visit. While there, I saw a nice pile of ducks ready to be cooked. I had visions of making duck sausage, duck stock, and or a patê with duck in addition to anything else duck I could think of. Friday I decided to begin working on it. I realized I needed more duck if I was going to make sausge or make a game patê, and I did not want to roast a duck. I admit I had been inspired on cooking duck after seeing Julie & Julia, but I was just not into making a forcemeat this weekend. I have yet to go through the process of boning any poultry, but I think with a nice sharp boning knife it would not be too hard.
Instead, I decided to break the duck down and grill the breasts, remove the legs/thighs and part of the wing to make confit, clean the fat off the rest, render it (to use for making the confit) and make a stock with the remaining bits and pieces. Ambitious yes, but with the right timing it might work.
Breaking down the duck was pretty easy, a cut here a cut there and it was ready, flesh, bone and skin all seperated and placed in its appropriate pile. I set aside the carcass in the fridge with some other thawed carcasses I had been saving in the freezer for just such an occassion. Then, using Chinese 5 spice and salt, I seasoned the duck breast and grilled - it tasted great and we at it with an eggplant salad and qinoa salad I picked up at the nearby PCC. Served with a youngish merlot and this was a combo that worked.
Today however was a little more work. I used the dark stock recipe for poultry from the CIA Professional Chef book. Pretty straightforward, but a little prep as needed. The best part of the work came next.
After popping the carcasses into the oven to brown, my daughter decided to offer her help. She was attracted by the smell of the rendering fat. She put on her apron, and she and I proceeded to finish the prep for the stock, chopping vegetables for the mirepoix. I held her hands and the knife and we cut together. She wanted to cut, and I wanted her to understand the correct way to hold a knife for cutting. She was a good student, listened and we chopped the veggies and were ready. We then prepared the sachet (parsley, bay, thyme, pepper, juniper, garlic) and began browning the veggies. She listened, did some stirring of the veggies then volunteered to clean-up. What more could you ask from a sous chef?
Confit was completed an hour ago, the stock is on the slow simmer, and I had a chance to cook with my daughter. This was a great way to spend a slightly rainy Saturday, I tell you.