Asian Roasted Duck

On December 9, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes5 Comments

We love duck, but it isn’t the easiest thing to prepare and have it turn out to be moist and tender. After doing some research, we found that either simmering or steaming the duck, prior to roasting it, renders out the fat and produces a moist duck with crispy skin. We decided to go with an Asian influenced recipe and the flavor couldn’t have been more delicious. It took a little work, but really wasn’t too difficult and well worth the effort. We adapted our recipe from one that we found from Tyler Florence, which called for the duck to be steamed and, based on the results, we’ll use this method every time going forward. This recipe turned out to be extremely tasty and one that we hope that you’ll enjoy.

Ingredients

1 Whole Duck (5 – 5 1/2 lbs)
1 tbsp Chinese Five-Spice Powder
2 tsp Granulated Sugar
2 tsp Salt
5 Large Slices of Fresh Ginger
3 to 4 Garlic Cloves
4 Green Onions
1 Tangerine Peel – cut into large strips
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
1/2 cup Honey
1/2 cup Soy Sauce

Chinese Five-Spice, Sugar, and Salt

Aromatics

Instructions

Remove the giblets from the duck and cut away any excess fat from the neck and cavity area. Wash the duck inside and out and pat completely dry inside and out with paper towels. Combine the Chinese five-spice, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Rub the spices over the entire duck, inside and out. Stuff the duck cavity with the aromatics, the ginger, garlic, green onions, and tangerine peel. Fold the wings under the back, this will keep the tips of the wings from burning. Tie the legs together with some kitchen string and then poke the skin of the breasts and thighs several times with a skewer or knife. This will allow the fat to escape as it renders as well as allow the seasonings to flavor the meat below.

Duck with Dry Rub and Aromatics

Tie the Legs and Tuck the Wings

Place the duck onto a rack, breast side up, and into a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with water until it is almost touching the bottom of the rack with the duck. Cover tightly with foil. Place the roasting pan over a large burner on the stove and turn the burner onto medium heat. Once the water starts to boil (you’ll have to listen to it or peek inside the foil), turn the burner down to low and steam the duck for 45 minutes, checking occasionally to see if you need to add water. Steaming the duck allows some of the fat to melt away and shrinks the skin.

Sweet and Savory Glaze

Simmering Glaze

While the duck is steaming, combine the vinegar, honey, and soy sauce in a small saucepan. Cook the glaze on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly, then set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the roasting pan from the burner and remove the foil. Remove the rack with the duck from the roasting pan and pour out almost all of the liquid, leaving about an eighth of an inch of liquid in the pan. Put the rack with the duck back into the pan and liberally brush the duck with the glaze, ensuring that the skin is well coated. Put the roasting pan with the duck into the oven and roast for 1 hour, basting periodically with the glaze.

Steamed Duck with Fat Rendered

Asian Roasted Duck

Herb Roasted Game Hens with Pancetta

On November 25, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn RecipesLeave a comment

When entertaining, we will often serve game hens so that everyone can have their own hen. For this recipe, we served them whole, but when having guests over, we will usually cut the hens in half so that it is easier to eat and is a smaller portion. This recipe is really easy and the flavor of the hens was sensational. It would even be good as a holiday meal and works great for a special occasion. The vegetables soak up the flavor from the hens and the pancetta, making them decadently delicious. Rice Pilaf or stuffing would make a great accompaniment or you could add potatoes to the vegetables for a simple one pot dinner. We only cooked two hens since it was just the two of us, but we’ve provided the recipe for six people.

Herb Roasted Cornish Game Hen with Pancetta

Ingredients

6 Cornish Game Hens (approximate 24 oz each)
1 Onion – roughly diced
6 Stocks of Celery – roughly diced
36 Baby Carrots (or 6 Large Carrots – roughly diced)
2 Large Red Peppers – roughly diced
3 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tsp Fresh Rosemary – finely chopped
3 tsp Fresh Sage – finely chopped
3 Garlic Cloves – minced
1 tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
2 tsp Kosher Salt
6 Thin Slices of Pancetta

Vegetables

Herbs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Combine the onion, celery, carrots, and red pepper in the bottom of a roasting pan or baking dish. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Set the hens on top of the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, rosemary, sage, black pepper and salt. Rub the herb mixture over the hens until well coated. Lay a piece of pancetta over the breast of each hen and secure with wooden toothpicks. Roast the hens for 15 minutes. Decrease the temperature to 350 degrees and continue to roast the hens until fully cooked, 45 to 60 minutes. Let sit at room temperature for 3 to 4 minutes before serving.

Hens on Bed of Vegetables

Herb Rubbed Hen

Pancetta on Hens

Roasted Game Hen with Pancetta