Well, we had a little duck disaster a few weeks ago, and I ended up with 7 ducks that were not too pretty. Of course, I could not waste all that meat. It was cosmetically challenged, sure, but the meat was fine. I had been wanting to try some duck breast prosciutto, so I searched the internet, compared several recipes and started out.
First, I cut the meat off of the carcasses.
I planned to make confit out of the duck legs, so I put them atop a layer of salt and covered them with some fresh oregano and more salt. Pretty much the same for the duck breasts.
I covered them up with a solid layer of salt and put them in the fridge for 24 hours.
Then I took the carcasses and skin and any fat that was left and put it in a big pot and cooked it very slowly to render out the fat.
The next day, I rinsed the salt off of the meat. It looked darker and felt firmer.
I put the legs into the crock pot, covered them with duck fat and some lemon and orange slices, and set it on the lowest setting.
About 6 hours later, I fished them out, deboned them and packed the meat into small jars. I covered the meat with the liquefied duck fat and put it into the fridge. It should keep in there for a few months, and we’ll savor it slowly.
The duck breasts were supposed to be wrapped in cheesecloth. That’s when I remembered I didn’t have any. I tried 3 stores and finally opted for a roll of gauze bandages. It worked great.
The duck breat had to hang for a couple weeks to finish curing. I hung them up in the extra fridge. In the end, we liked the confit more than we liked the duck prosciutto.
I love it! When life gives you duck, make prosciutto!
Still….sorry about your loss….
Good recovery though!
I have a recipe I use for Duck “hams” and it was a big hit recently. That recipe uses the ‘ham’ on corn cakes and finally topped with chutney. I used homemade persimmon chutney last time, but have made it with store bought mango chutney too. It’s a great combination of sweet, salty. Recipe below if you want try again.
Friday I made a ‘roasted duck & sausage cassoulet’ from one of your ducks. It sat in the fridge overnight and was delicious last night. French pork and beans, really. Cassoulet would be great use for all that confit.
For duck “hams”:
4 boneless duck breasts, preferably Muscovy, 12 to 14 ounces each
1 cup rock salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 bunches fresh thyme
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons crushed
black pepper
Cheesecloth and butcher’s twine
Remove skin but not fat from the duck breasts, then combine salt and sugar and place in a medium-sized bowl with duck breasts. Rub mixture evenly on breasts. Place breasts on a sheet pan, and spread remainder of salt sugar mixture over breasts.
Remove leaves from thyme sprigs, combine with peppercorns and coriander, and distribute over duck breasts. Cover with foil, weight down, and place in refrigerator overnight.
Remove breasts from refrigerator, scrape off seasoning, and sprinkle with crushed black pepper. Cut 16 rectangles of cheesecloth, 1 by 2 feet. Place 4 layers of cloth on top of each other, and put a breast, fat side down, on corner of cloth. Fold breast in half, so it has the shape of a log, then start rolling from the corner of cloth. Roll tightly, and when breast is 1/3 covered, fold opposite corners of cloth toward each other and fold tightly over breast. Tie with butcher’s twine, wrapping it around cloth from one end to the other, and securing ends tightly. Leave a few inches of extra twine at one end so you can hang the breast. Repeat process with other breasts.
Hang duck breasts in a cool, dark, draft-free place, and age for two or three weeks. When ready to serve, remove twine, unwrap, and slice thinly, as you would prosciutto.
Wow. I’ll have to try that with our next batch of ducks. Thanks!