Guest Blogger: Hitchy's Famous special Duck Recipe (My Dad)

Hi All,

 

Down here in the Southern Hemisphere, we dont see much duck in recipes.  I guess that is because in our democratically, environmentally, serendepity thinking society (like Canada's I guess), duck shooting has become a socially less desirable pastime, and we need to buy our duck from reputble butcher shops. Only in recent years has duck become more available to the average household.

 

There is one butcher shop just down the road from where I live in the Wild Oaks Supermarket, and they offer duck and quail which is 'not too bad'.  Down here, when we say "not too bad" in describing anything, that really means we think it is very good.  We are a funny mob (by the way, "mob" means group of cattle, sheep, or people), in using these terms as we always tend to 'downplay' in our everyday use of the Australian vernacular.  That is the way we are.

 

Now on to the duck recipe: Hitchy's famous special duck. Serves 3 , 4 or 5 people, somewhere in that range.  One of the funny things about serving sizes that I have found over the years is that the quoted servings in a recipe are never quite right.  For example, one of my golf playing friends always eats twice as much as anyone else!

 

Hitchy's Famous Special Duck Recipe:

 

1.  Get some duck ( 2 pieces of Maryland style duck breasts is a good way to go), and pan fry it with skin on in olive oil with chinese 5 spice, cinnamon and salt and pepper.  Work out the spices for yourself, and for interest I have been adding a bit of finely chopped sage lately when I am cooking poultry.

 

2.  Chop into quarters: half a dozen baby potatoes and brussels sprouts.  Steam or microwave these with some butter and cracked pepper and long enough until a fork easily slides though them. Set them aside for a while.

 

3. Chop up some onions, bacon, garlic and about 2 CM (that means centimetres), of fesh, peeled ginger. Throw all this into a small frypan and gently saute.

 

4. When the duck is medium rare cooked, bring it on to the chopping board and tent it with foil.  Go and listen to music, read your favourite book, or watch TV.

 

After an hour or so, chop the duck into bite sized pieces and throw the whole lot of ingredients together in  a casserole dish.  Gently warm the mixture in a casserole dish, either in the oven or in the microwave. Smells great.

 

Either eat it yourself and freeze the leftovers, or invite friends.  I think it is a really great, light hearted winter dish.  You can do soup as entree.  I  served lamb and barley soup.  I didn't do desert.  But we did enjoy a classy Australian shiraz.

 

NEH