*post updated to include watermelon ketchup recipe- sorry, didn’t realize you’d lynch me if I didn’t share.

About six months ago the phrase “duck nuggets” entered my cerebrum and it hasn’t left since. These words have haunted me like many others that spring from the fecund ether that is my unconscious mind, and I’ve finally chosen to make something of them, Urban Dictionary be damned. No, really, you don’t want to know how the Urban Dictionary defines duck nuggets, it will spoil your ability to embrace the rest of this post. So don’t look. At the Urban Dictionary. Definition. Of duck nuggets.

And if you did, if you just couldn’t resist and you clicked over there like the hopelessly-curious cat that you are, just think of them as duck balls instead for the rest of this post. Surely no one has written anything appetite-thwarting about duck balls.

The reason duck nuggets bounced around my brain like wayward pinballs for so long before I did anything about them was because I had to absolutely nail them. You know, balls-to-the-walls perfection. So I masticated on the thought of balls for a good long while until I devised a way to pay homage to the classically-controversial Chicken McNugget in a way that would squash it firmly beneath the webs of a duck’s feet. Read more

I have a husband who won’t eat fish. This is especially painful because I am the type of person to desperately covet what I cannot have. If someone tells me something is unattainable I will hit the wall at the end of the internet looking for it. Usually I am victorious. Case in point: my doorbell is actually made from two wine glasses that sound like they are clinking together when a little spring-loaded electromagnet chimes them. I truly found it at the end of the internet and I’m pretty sure it was because someone told me I couldn’t. This long diatribe is all to say that Jonas’ lack of fish fortitude only makes me crave it all the more. Especially in summer. Strangely enough, he has one exception in the seaward realm: tuna. He will order ahi with abandon, despite its sustainability implications. I feel bad buying it given said implications, but when a girl craves fish and there isn’t another option, she’s gotta do what she’s gotta do.

Hence, I give you ahi poached in duck fat prepared l’orange. The whole l’orange thing came about because I was contemplating a way to tie my duck fat in with the dish and I decided adapting a classic duck preparation to fish would make an interesting juxtaposition. I was right. It was one of the most succulent slices of fish I have had in years. I did my poaching in the sous vide bath, thus enabling me to use far less duck fat than I would have needed had I poached stovetop in a pan. Because the poaching is for such a short time relatively speaking, however, you could probably get away with poaching in a food-safe vacuum-sealed bag on the stovetop in temperature-controlled water.

I was a little worried all the elements of the dish might not play nice with one another, but my concern was all for naught. The key players- ahi, duck fat, oranges, figs and translucent potato rounds- all clung together like star-crossed lovers about to be damned. The duck fat brought out a brilliant silken texture in the tuna that made biting through it a dream. The figs, from a neighbor’s tree, bathed luxuriously in the caramelly citrus sauce and lent a sense of cohesion between the potatoes and the rest of the dish. Who knew figs and potatoes paired so perfectly? I’m dreaming up a figgy gratin melange as I type… Pommes Maxim are a wonderful, and relatively simple, take away from The French Laundry. It’s a fun process that involves making 1/4” slices of potato on the mandolin, then using a 2” cutter to stamp them into rounds. They come together as wheels on parchment, then get pan-fried in (you guessed it) duck fat (my addition). It’s all you can do not to devour them straight from the pan when they develop a golden crust and fill the kitchen with their sweet perfume.

Ahi Poached in Duck Fat L’Orange with Caramelized Figs

Serves 4

• 1 lb block of sushi-grade ahi tuna (COLD)
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 4 tbsp duck fat- solid
• Juice of one organic orange
• 1 tsp organic orange zest
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp champagne vinegar
• 4 quartered figs
• 4 slices of orange or 8 slices of mandarin
• ¼ c duck stock (can use chicken if duck is not on hand)

1. Bring sous vide bath to 138°. Pat tuna dry, season with salt and pepper, and seal into food safe bag along with duck fat using a vacuum sealer. Poach tuna in water bath for 17 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a skillet just large enough to hold the tuna, reduce orange juice, zest, honey, and vinegar to thin syrup consistency. Be careful not to reduce too much or you will not have enough syrup to glaze the tuna.
3. Remove the tuna from the water bath and pour two tablespoons of the duck/tuna fat into the skillet. Heat the skillet to medium high and sear the tuna on all sides in the orange glaze quickly so as not to further cook the inside of the tuna block. Remove the tuna to a cutting board to rest.
4. Add the figs and orange slices to the skillet and coat with the remaining glaze. Add the duck stock, scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze, and again reduce by half. This should take two minutes. While the stock is reducing to sauce, slice the tuna into quarter inch thick rectangles. Arrange on a plate along with the figs, orange slices and sauce.

I’ve been steeped in French Laundry recipes so much lately I haven’t been doing much personal recipe development. Consequently I decided to devote my attention to one of my favorite things- confit de canard, known in these parts as duck confit. The irony of duck confit is that the cooking process is meant as a way to preserve the duck for later use, however the second I confit (preserve) a Pekin leg I am all over it like a lush on Lillet (that’s me too, this summer anyway).

I have been fascinated with the confit method for some time; a fascination which was exacerbated by my love affair with the Sous Vide Supreme. Since you need a low, ambient temperature to slowly cook the duck in order to render its own fat (I also augment it with a generous slather of already-rendered fat), sous vide is the perfect cooking method. Another benefit of sous vide is that you can use less additional fat (I’ve tried not using any and it works, though the depth of flavor is just not there) in the cooking process and turn out exceptional results.  This is my fifth attempt at defining just the right cure time as well as cook time and temp on duck confit, and I am pleased to confidently publish the results.

The zucchini tagliatelle and beet puree are suggested accompaniments that both sprung from my summer garden bounty. The beet puree adds a perfect hint of sweetness to counterbalance the salty duck and the consistency makes it more than addictive. I love that this preparation of zucchini elevates the classic garden staple to a sophisticated component of a decadent dish.

Duck Confit

This makes 2 duck legs and serves 2. Increase as necessary.

note: you will want to start this recipe the night before as the duck requires curing in the salt overnight.

The cure

• 1/3 c Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
• 3 fresh bay Leaves
• 5- 4” thyme sprigs
• 1.4 c fresh parsley leaves
• ½ tsp SMOKED GARLIC POWDER
• 6 black peppercorns
• Two tablespoons duck fat

Finely grind all cure ingredients (except for duck fat) in a spice grinder. Place two towel-dried duck legs in a food-safe bag and coat with the salt blend. Seal the bag using a vacuum sealer. Place in refrigerator to cure for 12 hours. Set the water temperature of your sous vide to 185°. Cut open the bag and gently rinse the duck legs and inside of bag. Pat dry. Put the duck legs back in the bag along with two tablespoons duck fat and reseal. Immerse in the water bath for seven hours. Remove from bath and let rest 15 minutes. Cut open the bag and gently pour off the duck fat into a container and place the duck legs on a paper towel-lined plate. Heat a film of canola oil in a medium skillet. Cook the duck legs skin-side down for 3-4 minutes, or until they slide freely in the pan and develop a dark-golden crust.

Zucchini Tagliatelle

• 1 large zucchini or 2 small
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• 1 tbsp  rendered duck fat from the duck confit

Using a mandolin, make long, thin strips of zucchini to resemble pasta ribbons. Spread them evenly on a clean kitchen towel and sprinkle with salt. Allow the salt to draw the moisture from the zucchini for a few minutes, then press the ribbons with another towel to remove the moisture. You can repeat this process several times for a firmer final texture (to resemble al dente pasta). Pepper the ribbons, then sauté in duck fat for a few minutes until just cooked. Do not overcook the zucchini or it will turn mushy. I like to use a round cutter form to plate the zucchini, that way it stays in a nice pile on the plate, but do as you wish. A squeeze of lemon goes nicely with this dish.

Beet Puree

• 2 medium beets (I mixed a red beet and a Chioggia beet to achieve the pink color)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ c water
• 1 tbsp rendered duck fat or butter

Chop the beets into uniform ½” cubes. Very gently boil them in the cream and water until they are soft- about half an hour. Strain the cream into a bowl and reserve. Pass the beets through a food mill, then a fine mesh strainer (use the back end of a ladle to get them through the strainer). This will give a perfectly smooth, airy texture. Place the beet puree in a small saucepan, and just before service reheat along with a tablespoon of the reserved cream and the duck fat/butter.