4-hour duck with potatoes and sage; the effortless, perfect meal.
I don’t know about you, but some days I need to cook something well. I need it to come out exactly as planned, without much effort, and I need not to be harried, or hurried, but calm, confident, and cool as a cucumber. I need duck, that’s thrown in the oven and four hours later your fiance tells you it’s the best meal he’s ever had–period. Not my best meal, mind you, but the. Screw Daniel Boulud, Jean Georges Vongerichten, Eric Ripert. This duck. Jim’s best meal ever.
The effortless, perfect meal is something that I’m in search of. I’ve got my broiled fish and green beans, and red-cooked pork belly with rice, and tava, but I’m always on the lookout for more, especially (desperately) now that people actually pay me to cook for them. It was something I badly needed after a meal I made for clients that didn’t turn out as good as I had wanted. Cooking in someone else’s home is stressful enough, but the stress increases ten-fold when I come to realize, halfway through the cooking, that it might not come out perfectly. Even if it makes a nice dinner and my people are happy, I’m not; I hear dissatisfaction in the air, or maybe it’s just in my head, and I badly need to make something effortless and perfect, to build my repertoire and soothe my nerves, asap.
That’s how I felt the other night—plus I needed freshly rendered duck fat. It’s far and away better than any duck fat you can buy. And it makes potatoes crispier than any other fat can, and it smells delicious. And it’s not that bad for you, though the amount of potatoes cooked in duck fat that you’ll be eating once you have the stuff, well, that’s another story.
This duck and potatoes dish is as effortless and perfect meal can get. All you need is a roasting pan with a V-rack and some time to kill. Put the duck upside-down (breasts down) into the V-rack, and cook at 250F for three hours, while you go about your business. After three hours, take out the duck, spoon or pour the fat into a mason jar (this is easiest as a two-person job), turn the oven up to 350F, find an oven-proof skillet or pan and add to it a pound or two quartered potatoes and some of that glorious fat, and put both the duck and the potatoes back in the oven for 45 minutes or so.
The result will probably be the best meal you’ve ever had. Certainly the best duck. And while I’m sure our duck was the best duck, being from my favorite farm and all, this recipe is fool-proof, I promise. The flavor of the meat is intensified through the long cooking, a bit gamey, which I consider a good thing. But the texture is where it’s at: the meat is soft and tender, reminiscent of pate, and the skin is crackly crisp, with a layer of unctuous fat beneath the surface. When you add crisp potatoes with creamy insides, and maybe a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, there’s hardly words to describe this meal, though sublime comes close.
Four Hour Duck with Potatoes and Sage
serves 2-3
- 1 whole duck (peking, muscovy, or other)
- salt, pepper
- 1-2 pounds red-skinned new potatoes (I use red-skinned because I think they look pretty against the reddish meat of the duck, but whatever’s available)
- sage, optional
If possible, salt your duck the night before and leave it, uncovered, in the fridge overnight.
Turn on your oven to 250F. In a roasting pan set with a V-rack, set your salted duck in, breasts side down (upside down) and cook in the oven for about 3 hours. Meanwhile, clean and quarter potatoes.
When the 3 hours are done, take out the duck and turn the oven up to 350F. Using caution, pour out the duck fat that has drained into the bottom on the roasting pan, reserving in a jar. Use a spoonful or two to baste the duck, and add a few spoonfuls into a heatproof skillet or smaller roasting pan. Then add the potatoes to the skillet and mix up so that they get coated in fat. Put potatoes into the oven and the duck back into the oven and cook for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, your duck will be done but your potatoes will still need time to crisp up, so remove the duck to a cutting board and let it rest. Check on your potatoes every few minutes and let them cook until they are crisp and golden to your liking, about 20 minutes more. Carve your duck and set the pieces in a serving dish (the duck should be tender enough that you can remove the legs by pulling on them). Once the potatoes are done, add them over the duck pieces to warm everything up. Fry a few sage leaves in the oil remaining in the bottom of the potato skillet, optional. Serve.
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August 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 am
This is a beautiful meal! I wish I had this last night for a Sunday supper. Delicious.
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Cooking professionally seems to be extremely stressful, I guess that’s why they all yell at each other.
We’re trying to lose a few pounds here, but obviously if this is the best meal Jim has ever had in his life, then I’m going to have to cook it, or die trying.
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Two points, because I take this best meal business seriously:
1) We’re going to have to make this someday with a duck that isn’t from Podero; we need to see how much that contributes to the “best” effect before we assure people who don’t have access to such ducks that they will be able to make food, in their kitchens, better than all the other food I have ever had — because I have had some good food.
2) The duck should be served with a fruit compote. It doesn’t really matter what kind.
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I can’t even imagine how delightful those potatoes were, all fried up in duck fat goodness. I wish I could have dined with you guys over some damn good wine!
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Ummm this is too good! I would have loved to be a part of your dinner party!
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
However did you keep the kitten from crawling all over this scrumptious dish?!
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Wow. My mouth is watering.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Oh gorgeous! Definitely going to make this when the weather cools down…
August 4th, 2009 at 5:14 am
Jamessal: people who don’t have access to such ducks
Most parks have ducks.
August 4th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Oooh! My type of dish! Love these long slow cooked meals…especially if it involves duck fat!
August 4th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Lady, you are my hero.
August 4th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
It makes a perfect (and romantic!) Sunday meal, for sure. :D
August 4th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Cooking professionally seems to be extremely stressful, I guess that’s why they all yell at each other.
That would explain all the yelling at Jim I do when we’re at client’s and he’s got dish duty.
August 4th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Wow, this is one of those you don’t eat but would want to really badly. I just had duck confit last week, but no potatoes. Potatoes seem to be a must.
August 5th, 2009 at 3:37 am
I can’t believe that such an effortless meal can have such an elegant outcome. I am very anxious to try this. What a great recipe!
August 5th, 2009 at 7:34 am
I love the sound of this meal! I can’t wait until it is cooler out and I can even think about baking something for 4 hours.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:06 am
This is definitely on my list of foods to try. I will try anything that I think my twins will eat, and this sounds perfectly delectible.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Wow, this looks amazing!
August 5th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Wow. This is the kind of recipe that screams simple amazingness and shows how delicious things like duck and potatoes can be on their own with just a little sage and seasonings. Awesome. AWESOME.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Luckily, most producers of duck are pretty high-end to start with, so while I’m sure Podere makes it taste better, it’s probably marginal. But I agree we need to test that theory. Sunday night?
And yes, fruit compote. I’m not a fruit compote lover, so forgot to mention it was on the table. I made it with peaches and blueberries and a shaking of five-spice powder and orange honey. I also like this duck with sweet pickled red onions.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
We would have loved that, too, Meeta!
August 5th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Amanda, we’ve got to make sure that happens someday!
August 5th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
And we may be out in your parts soon, too, if we can manage it. Jim’s brother’s going to be a daddy.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
By locking him in the other room. ; ) He got to it later, though…
August 5th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
:::blush:::
August 5th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Yes, a must. And they must be cooked in the duck fat. ;)
August 5th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I’m still flabbergasted, too, Elizabeth. Let me know if it’s as wonderful to make and eat for you as it was for me.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I know, it’s crazy to have your oven on in the dog days of summer! The things I’ll do for this duck, though….
August 5th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Ohh, do let me know how they like it. My sister just had her first baby (!!!!!) and I can’t stop imagining all the food I’ll make for my niece someday!
August 7th, 2009 at 8:41 am
À propos nothing, I’d be interested to read what you guys thing of Meryl Streep’s Julia movie.
August 7th, 2009 at 9:21 am
If we can manage, we’ll get to see it tonight. I’m *very* excited for it.
August 7th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
You do make it sound easy. Now if only I had someone to impress.
Though I’d need to get my brother-in-law to weld me a rack first.
Could I use common mallard? Or goose if I have company? (Not that I have ready access to geese anymore.)
August 10th, 2009 at 5:35 am
I’m on tour right now, and I have a list of meals to make with my boyfriend in September once I return. This just bumped the others… I must have it!
August 10th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Congrats on your new niece. My best friend is expecting her first child, a girl, too. Her baby shower is next week, and I’m think of compiling some easy recipes for slow cooker and freezer for her because I know her mind will be on the little one instead of planning meals for her and her husband.
August 12th, 2009 at 10:17 am
On my way out to buy the muscovy duck right now.
August 12th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
You could use any kind of duck, I guess, and certainly a goose (though it can get dangerous roasting a goose uncovered in your oven—make sure to poke holes all over the skin.) Fresh goose fat is even better than duck, too.
August 12th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Hurrah!
August 12th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
It’s very bump-worthy, I promise. Thanks for reading, Sean, and best of luck with your tour!