DUCK, DUCK, DUCK




Duck, Duck, Duck at Morimoto NYC

One of the most famous recipes at Morimoto's restaurant is Duck, Duck, Duck.  It is a dish which consists of the leg and thigh of a duck, a "sandwich" which is sliced duck breast meat and scallions inside a Foie Gras Croissant, and a sunny-side-up duck egg. It is served with a Port Wine Reduction and an earthy Red Miso Sauce for dipping.  I've had the dish several times and it is, by far, a winner.


Since I have Morimoto's cookbook, Morimoto, the New Art of Japanese Cooking which publishes the Duck, Duck, Duck recipe, I have always wanted to try making it.
http://www.amazon.com/Morimoto-New-Art-Japanese-Cooking/dp/0756631238/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368533450&sr=1-1&keywords=morimoto+the+new+art+of+japanese+cooking
One morning after visiting a newly-discovered Asian market close-by, I saw that they were selling fresh duck eggs and fresh ducks.  Only one dish entered my mind:  Duck, Duck, Duck.  And since I had the medallion of D'Artagnan's Duck Foie Gras in my fridge, all I needed was the croissants and a few other produce items.  Also, in lieu of just serving a sunny-side-up duck egg by itself, I opted to make garlic and ginger fried rice with the sunny-side-up duck egg on top.  http://www.cece-corner.blogspot.com/2012/02/ginger-and-garlic-fried-rice-with-egg.html

Here is my own version of Morimoto's Duck, Duck, Duck:

Duck, Duck, Duck My Way

Morimoto's recipe calls for letting the duck sit overnight in the fridge with a dusting of five-spice powder.  The next day it is dipped in steaming water, then sits overnight again for another 24 hours before it is finally roasted.  Since I only had 24-hours, I rubbed the duck with five-spice powder and steamed it for 50 minutes.  I then let it sit uncovered in the fridge overnight.  The next day I roasted the duck at 400 degrees on a rack in the roasting pan for about one hour.   I made both sauces, the Port Wine Reduction and the Red Miso. The Foie Gras Croissants were store-bought croissants with the medallion of foie gras as mentioned above.
For the duck One duck, preferably fresh, about 4 1/2 pounds
6 Tbs. Five-Spice Powder
Port Wine Reduction Sauce (recipe follows)
Red Miso Sauce (recipe follows)
Foie Gras Croissants (recipe follows)
Garlic and Ginger fried rice
Duck egg, fried sunny-side-up

Wash duck and pat dry.  Rub five-spice powder all over the inside and outside of the duck.  Let duck rest for about 30 minutes.  Place duck on rack in a pan filled with about three inches of water.  Cover duck with aluminum foil.  Bring water to a boil and steam the duck for about 50 minutes.  After duck cools down, remove duck and rack from pan and place duck and rack on a sheet pan.  Refrigerate duck, uncovered, overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove duck from fridge about an hour prior to cooking.  Lightly coat the duck with olive oil before placing in oven.  Roast the duck on a rack in a roasting pan in the center of the oven until the juices at the thigh run clear when pierced, about one hour. 

Roasted Duck

Remove the duck from oven and let it stand for 15 minutes.  Carve, reserving duck breast for the sandwiches. 
 

Port Wine Reduction Sauce

I used plum wine in lieu of red wine for this and home-made turkey stock which I had in my freezer.  Also, I added some pink peppercorns.

2 Tbs olive oil

1/4 cup chopped shallots

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 cups ruby port

1/2 cup plum wine

1 sprig of fresh thyme

1/4 tsp black peppercorns

1/4 tsp pink peppercorns

2 cups turkey stock (or chicken stock)

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and cook until the shallots soften, about two minutes.  Add the port, plum wine, thyme sprig and peppercorns.  Bring to a boil over high heat until the liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup.

Add the stock and boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 30 minutes.  Strain sauce and set aside.  Keep warm.

 

Miso Sauce

Red Miso Sauce

This sauce was thick and sweet; thicker than I recall what the restaurant serves but it was very good and a nice complement to the entire dish.

 

1 cup red miso

3 Tbs. mirin

6 Tbs. sugar

1 egg yolk

In a stainless steel bowl, combine the miso, mirin, sugar, and egg yolk.  Wisk together until well combined.  Set over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from heat. 

 

Foie Gras Croissants

2 store bought (or home-made) croissants

Medallion of D'Artagnan's Duck Foie Gras (duck pate)

2 slices of roasted duck breast

1/2 Japanese seedless cucumber, thinly sliced

1 scallion cut into strips

 

Warm the croissants in the oven, about 5 minutes.  Slice them crosswise with a serrated knife.  Layer a slice of cucumber on each croissant bottom; spread on the duck pate and top with a slice of duck breast.  Top with the scallions and cover with croissant tops.

 

To Finish

Arrange pieces of duck on dinner plates; add a Foie Gras Croissant to each plate and serve with ginger and garlic rice topped with a duck egg and sides of Port Wine Reduction and Red Miso Sauce for dipping.

 

 

  

BALINESE DUCK ROLLS

Banana Leaf

This is a dish I made many years ago for dinner parties.  Recently, after purchasing a duck at our local market, I decided to revisit it. Originally, I adapted this recipe for Bebek Betutu which, in Balinese, is a duck smothered in a paste made with pungent roots, herbs and seasonings and wrapped in banana leaves, steamed and then roasted.  When the duck is done, the banana leaves are removed and the duck meat is shredded and served with the "stuffing" of the spice rub paste.  After I shred the duck meat, instead of serving it alone, I like to make Balinese Duck Rolls using rice paper as the wrapper.  In the past, I would heat the rolls in the microwave before serving.  But the other day I fried (me frying something?) them in grapeseed oil which added a bit of crunchiness to the robust flavor of the rolls.

BALINESE DUCK ROLLS

(4 1/2-pound) duck, washed and patted dry

Fresh Ginger

Spice rub paste:
8 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 cup shallots peeled and halved
3 stalks lemongrass, finely sliced
5 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
6 candlenuts, chopped
5 tablespoons ginger, peeled, and chopped
3 tablespoons fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped

Fresh Turmeric

3" of kencur root, or 3/4 tsp kencur powder (kenchur is a ginger-like root that has a unique camphor flavor – ½ tsp of powder is used in lieu of a one-inch piece of root)
1 teaspoon black pepper corns, crushed
5 bird's-eye chilies, sliced
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
2 teaspoons dried shrimp paste, roasted and coarsely crushed
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
Banana leaves (can use aluminum foil for wrapping but you won’t get that underlying “herbed” taste)
4-5 sheets of rice paper, 8-10 inches in diameter

Duck Smothered in Paste

The duck:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, puree the first 12 ingredients. Blend well. Then add the soy sauce and olive oil.  Process again to form a thick, moist paste.

Rub the inside and outside of the duck with paste.  

Wrap the duck in several layers of banana leaves (or foil). 

Duck in Banana Leaves

I’ll fill a roasting pan with about 6 inches of water, insert a roasting rack, then place the duck on the rack and cover the pan with a lid.  Steam duck for about 50-60 minutes.  After the duck is steamed, remove and transfer to oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. When done, remove from oven.  Let duck rest for about 15 minutes.  Remove banana leaves.  Shred and cut duck meat into small pieces combining with the spice paste stuffing for for the rolls. 

Finished Duck

 The rolls:
Have a bowl of hot water (110-120 degrees) and a clean kitchen (tea) towel ready.  Put rice paper into the water until it softens (about 20 seconds).  Then place it on the towel.

Set a full amount of duck/stuffing mixture in the lower third part of the rice paper and form a log. Slowly start to roll away from you while tucking in the filling. Fold in the sides of the rice paper and continue to roll until the complete log is formed. Next, roll the rice paper roll in a sheet of plastic wrap, making it tight.  Fold over the last part of plastic wrap in the opposite direction, forming a tab so it will be easy to unwrap.  Twist ends and store in refrigerator for several hours to set, or up to one day. 

Duck Wrapped in Rice Paper

Duck rolls could be served either heated in a microwave for about 30-45 seconds or fried in grapeseed oil.

For the microwave, trim the end of each roll with a sharp knife, then cut into 2-inch sections right through the plastic wrap.  Unwrap each section and place, cut side up, on a plate.  If rolls were placed in the refrigerator, let them return to room temperature, then place in microwave for about 30-45 seconds to heat through. 

Alternatively, remove plastic from rolls.  Heat grapeseed oil and fry duck rolls (uncut) for about 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned.

Serve with a plum dipping sauce, store bought or, preferably, homemade.

Bar Boulud and the NYT Review -Two, Stars or Too Stars?

For the past several months, I anxiously awaited Mr. Frank Bruni's reviewof Bar Boulud. It's here! It's after midnight on the eve of food-day (Wednesday) when his review will be published in print, and I'm reading it on-line and taken aback by his comments but also am quite pleased.

Apparently it's the charcuterie that swayed Mr. Bruni into giving the casual off-shoot restaurant from a four-star chef's new attempt at a gig into receiving the two stars versus the "other food selections" on the menu which, according to Mr. Bruni, are "not quite losers, but definitely snoozers."

Furthermore, Mr. Bruni states that Bar Boulud is "better during the day." Also, he finds more glory in "lunchtime sandwiches than in dinnertime lamb stew."

Need I say more?? Note my last comment in my review below. To reiterate, need I say more, or need I say more??

Bar Boulud – Better the Second Time Around

We visited Bar Boulud the first week after it opened and it was not a pleasant experience. The place was crowded and the service was poor. The food was not prepared very well. The escargot was unclean and gritty and accompanied with greasy undercooked potato croquets. The skate was overdone, shriveled and desiccated. My companion’s veal chop was cold. Since the restaurant was brand new, we figured there were several kinks that needed to be worked out.

Last week, we revisited Bar Boulud and were quite pleased this time. The restaurant was not overly crowded and the service was much improved. We had a better table selection, as well. During our first visit, we were seated in the crowded front of the restaurant. Our server had to maneuver between patrons waiting for tables and diners sitting in such close proximity that they had to move in their chairs so he could get through with our plates. This time, we were seated in a booth at the back of the restaurant closer to the stairway that leads into the kitchen. No cold food expected this time.

Pre-fix lunch, which includes an appetizer and entrée, was $29. First, we each started off with a weak bloody Mary. Then came the appetizers. I ordered a shrimp salad. My companion selected the pate grand-pere, which was a duck pâté, from the charcuterie menu. My shrimp salad consisted of an entire head of bib lettuce leaves, which looked extremely clean and fresh, bright green without any dirt or grit. In between all of the foliage, were several dime-size scatterings of tomato confit, which tasted like they were marinated in sherry vinegar, and four medium-size shrimps, which were not chewy or overdone. Along the outer layer of leaves, there was a slight drizzle of tasteless vinaigrette. My companion indicated that his pate was much better—more mature—than last time, where the pate tasted “young.”

Typically, I’m a bit hesitant about ordering certain fish dishes—salmon, in particular because if it’s not prepared properly, it becomes cat food. Hesitantly, I ordered the salmon scaloppini served with broccoli rabe and a ver jus. To my surprise, the salmon was prepared rare enough to my liking where the fish glistened and literally fell apart. Slivered almonds and the ver jus balanced the underlying sweetness of the salmon.

My companion enjoyed his entrée of duck hash that was made with potatoes, onions, and chunks of duck meat and a confit served under a soft-boiled egg. I tasted the hash and although it had a nice combination of flavors, thought it was a bit greasy. He didn’t.

In conclusion, Bar Boulud was much better the second time. And, to me, offers better service at lunch.