Duck duck duck

Most folks here would be familiar with roast duck, I hope! Skin slashed, fat crisped, rich flavor, yumm yumm.

When others have had duck, it might have been shredded and put into pancakes, or risotto, or other fine combinations.

Today we decided (a bit late for Bastille Day) to break down a duck in to shreds, sealed in duck fat, known as Rillettes in France.

I started with a whole duck, and I will avoid showing the gory parts, but I cut him into pieces (reserving the breasts for later) and put all the pieces into a container, along with orange zest, white wine, bay leaves, a few garlic cloves, salt, pepper and some coriander. That went into the refrigerator overnight.

Early in the morning I put the oven on to 250 F and poured the duck and the marinade into a cast iron pot. Here's how it looked after an hour.

Two hours, the fat is rendering out of the skin and flesh.

Three hours and it's almost done. Every part has given up its essence to the pot. Note there are a few pieces of bacon too, for some smoky salty taste.

Out of the oven and onto the table.

The liquid is strained into a large bowl, then poured off into a measuring cup where we later separated the fat (off the top) and the duck broth / stock.

My wife donned an apron and began to pick the meat off the bones and carcase.

We had a nice pile of duck meat at the end, and a pound of breast meat waiting for a different cooking destiny.

Following a French tradition, we seasoned the meat to taste, then packed it into jars and ramekins. Those went into the cooler until set, then the tops were sealed with duck fat.

Our duck is now aging in the refrigerator for a few days.

Except from some samples we just had to try on toasted baguette slices...

I hope you enjoyed this culinary adventure.