by Ed Yowell
On Sunday, March 20, 2016, a sell-out crowd of more than 100 friends of Slow Food NYC met at Jimmy's No.43 to join in the annual, delightfully delicious DUCK-OFF!– an all-duck, competitive chef "Quack Down." Dedicated "ducksters" enjoyed the delectable duck-dishes of nine chefs in a two-hour, walk-around tasting.
While the ducks were local, the dishes were global, demonstrating the delicious diversity of our favorite aquatic avian. Mouth-watering duck delicacies included Duck Bahn Mi, Smoked Duck Gumbo, Duck Breast with Lavender and Chinese Five-Spices, Yucatan Duck with Herbed Polenta, Char Siu Duck Sushi, and Crispy Roast Duck with Wild Rice!
The DUCK-OFF! panel of distinguished, duck-loving judges, included: Izabela Wojcik, of the James Beard Foundation, Kris Wheat, of the Hudson Valley Duck Farm, and, our own, Martina Kenworthy, SFNYC Board Vice-chair. In addition to the judges' judging, the assembled ducksters cast their (heirloom Ark of Taste) beans (provided by SFNYC) for the People's Choice Award.
The judges had a tough time doing their due duck diligence. In truth, the real winners were the 100 lucky ducksters who enjoyed the chefs' offerings, supplemented by delicious Hudson Valley Duck Farm charcuterie – Duck Salami, Smoked Duck Breast, Duck Prosciutto, and Duck Rillettes!
The winners were: Dianne de la Beaux, The Works Catering; Omar Tungekar, competitive chef and food writer; and Naxielly Dominguez, Culinary Arts, Kingsborough Community College Department of Tourism and Hospitality. Chefs Dianne de la Veaux and Omar Tungekar kindly offered their recipes (see below) for daring ducksters to try at home.
The DUCK-OFF! was sponsored by our very good friends, Jimmy's No. 43 (jimmysno43.com) and Hudson Valley Duck Farm (hudsonvalleyduckfarm.com). Prizes were provided by Wusthoff (www.wusthof.com/usa/). Proceeds from this event will support Urban Harvest, the Slow Food NYC program of good food education for New York City children, during the summer, on a tuition-free, educational Urban Farm in East New York, Brooklyn and, during the academic year, in 15 schools in the South Bronx and East Harlem, on the Lower East Side, and in Brooklyn (www.slowfoodnyc.org/program/urban_harvest).
RECIPES
Lavender-Fennel Seared Duck Breast with Parsnip Puree and Roasted Grape Compote
by The Works Catering - Pip Foster, Executive Chef and Dianne de la Veaux, Sous Chef
At The Works Catering, we offer this special spiced duck with whole roasted grapes as one of our seasonal fall entrees. In this recipe, we have added a creamy parsnip puree to make it a complete meal, perfect for a holiday or special weekend dinner. The duck needs to be brined and air-dried for several hours, so make sure to think ahead and start the night before. The parsnip puree and grape compote can also be made a day ahead and reheated.
Serves 4 as entrees
Ingredients:
- 4 6-8 oz duck breasts
For the brine:
- ½ cup salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ Tbsp fennel seed
- ½ Tbsp black peppercorns
- ½ tsp whole allspice
For the spice rub:
- ½ Tbsp salt
- 8 bay leaves
- 2 Tbsp fennel seeds
- 3 Tbsp lavender blossoms
- 2 Tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 Tbsp whole allspice
For the parsnip puree:
- 2 lbs parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 Tbsp duck fat
- ½ cup cream
- Salt and pepper
For the grape compote:
- 2 cups seedless red grapes
- 2 Tbsp duck fat
- 1 shallot
- ½ bulb fennel
- Salt and pepper
Procedure:
1. In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients for the brine with 1 quart water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Combine with 1 quart cold water or ice and pour over the duck breasts. Let brine in the refrigerator at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
2. Pull the duck out of the brine and onto baking racks, skin-side up. Score the skin with a cross-hatch pattern.
3. Using a spice grinder, grind and combine all of the ingredients for the spice rub. Generously rub the skin of the duck with the spice rub. If you have some of the mix left over, that's fine – we'll use it on the grapes. Let duck air-dry on the rack in the fridge for a few hours.
4. Meanwhile, make the parsnip puree: Boil the parsnips in salted water until completely tender, about 20 minutes. Drain off the water and put parsnips in a food processor with cream, duck fat, salt and pepper. Process until completely smooth and creamy, adding salt and pepper to taste. This can be made ahead and reheated in a pot over medium heat, with a little extra cream.
5. Then make the grape compote: Toss the grapes in 1 Tbsp duck fat and roast in a 375 degree oven until burst and a little caramelized – about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, thinly slice the fennel and the shallot and saute until golden in a pan with the rest of the duck fat. Coarsely chop the roasted grapes and add them (and their juices!) to the saute pan. Let everything simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened and most of the liquid is gone. Season with salt, pepper and duck rub spice to taste. This can be made ahead and simply brought to room temperature to serve, or gently heated in a saucepan.
6. To cook the duck: Bring duck to room temperature by taking it out of the fridge an hour before you start to cook. Heat a skillet (cast-iron is good here) to medium-low. Place the duck in the skillet skin side down and let the fat render for 10-20 minutes, pouring off the melted duck fat as needed. Once the skin looks deep brown and crispy, flip the duck over and cook for 5-10 minutes more until medium-rare on the inside.
7. Serve the duck sliced over the parsnip puree and top with the roasted grape compote. Enjoy!
Smoked Duck Gumbo
by Omar Tungekar
Ingredients:
For the spice rub:
- 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1/2 tablespoon paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 piece star anise, ground
- Salt
For the smoked duck:
- 4 lb. muscovy duck
- Hickory chips or smoking bag
- For the duck stock
- 1 duck carcass, neck, wings and backbone
- 1 1/2 quarts water
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 stick celery
- Bouquet garni
For the shrimp stock:
- 1 1/2 lbs. head-on shrimp, shelled
- 1 1/2 quarts water
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 stick celery
- 2 bay leaves
For the gumbo:
- 1/2 lb. andouille sausage, sliced
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup flour
- 2 cups diced onions
- 1 cup diced green pepper
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp. white pepper
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper
- 2 tsp. thyme
- 1 quart shrimp stock
- 1 quart duck stock
- 3/4 lbs. shrimp
- 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- Salt to taste
- Filé powder to taste
Procedure:
To prepare spice rubbed smoked duck: Combine spices and set aside. Prepare duck by removing backbone, neck and wings and reserving for stock. Rub spatchcocked duck with spices and salt, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Prepare smoker or place duck in smoking bag and smoke at 250 degrees for two hours. Let rest and when cool enough to handle, remove meat from the carcass and dice. Reserve meat for gumbo.
To prepare the duck stock: Place duck carcass, onion, carrot, celery and bouquet garni in large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about an hour. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
To prepare the shrimp stock: Shell the shrimp, reserving half the shrimp for the gumbo and the other half for another use. Place the shrimp heads and shells in a large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, add onion, carrot, celery and bay leaves and simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer or chinois, pressing the shrimp heads to extract the fat and juices.
To prepare gumbo: Slice andouille in 1/4-inch rounds and slice again in half-moons. Brown sausage in batches in a large pot over medium heat. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Prepare roux by whisking flour and oil in pot and heating over medium high heat, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot, until the roux is the color of chocolate, about 10 minutes. (To prevent scorching the roux, you can reduce the heat to medium low when the roux is the color of peanut butter and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until it reaches the desired color.) Immediately add the onions, green pepper and celery to roux and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the next seven ingredients and cook, stirring, until garlic is lightly colored and spices are aromatic, about a minute. Add shrimp and duck stocks, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add reserved andouille, shrimp and duck and simmer until shrimp is cooked through. Add Worcestershire sauce and salt to taste.
To serve, sprinkle the gumbo with filé powder and stir until gumbo is thickened. Serve hot gumbo with a scoop of cold potato salad.