Jer: Ginger Braised Duck

A Tough Act to Follow (Chapter 7 in CFML) where Julie found the recipe for ginger braised duck is probably my favorite chapter in this wonderful book. It is a perfect snapshot of "meeting the parents of Mr. Right", one of those few meals in life that get ingrained deeply in our mental library. Like Elizabeth, Pete’s mom is a classic and wonderful cook with pans and tools that have been used for years, first to feed her family of eight and over the years to feed many more as husbands and wives and grandchildren were slowly added to the clan. The scene where Mr. Latte squeezes Ms. Hesser’s knee under the table when his mother brings out the almond cake is one I have experienced a number of times. Whenever we are having dinner at Pete's parent's home and his mom brings out her cherry pie, apple pie, or pumpkin ice cream pie, he looks at me and smiles with pure joy. And over the years as I have seen that same smile on his face when I make a repeat dish in our own home, it brings me pure joy. As an aside, I have made the almond cake a number of times and it really is as wonderful as described in the book.

Because of the difficulty Julie and Kaoru had in controlling the temperature of the braising liquid on the stove I decided to braise in the oven at 300. I first roasted the bird on the stove with some peanut oil and then built the braising liquid with just a few changes to the recipe. I added some crushed juniper berries and star anise because I really like the flavor those two spices bring to braises. I kept the dutch oven covered the entire time. I did not use soy sauce and instead of water I used chicken stock. Also, instead of a half cup of sugar, I used only a few teaspoons. The result was a bird with meat so tender and fragile that instead of taking it out of the braising liquid to cool I left it in the braising liquid overnight where it continued to absorb deep and perfectly spiced flavor.

The following afternoon I skimmed the fat (all of which I saved to be used for future risottos and roasted potato dishes), shredded the duck meat and reduced the stock with a healthy serving of some very good Barolo. Once reduced I added fresh cream and the shredded duck. The flavor was amazing and so I decided right there that making some fresh egg pappardelle was in order before I could serve the creamy braised duck ragout.

I made the pappardelle and tossed it in the sauce with some oven roasted sweet tomatoes, shredded basil and a generous serving of freshly grated pecorino romano. The dish was simply amazing. And the preparation was so easy that I will definitely make it for a future dinner party.

The following day we used the leftover shredded duck to make some pizza. We used fresh pita as the base with a schmear of baba ganoush, followed with a layer of basil, the shredded duck and topped with crumbled gorgonzola. In the toaster over for a quick warm up and voila, a fall lunch as delicious as the luxurious meal we had the night before.

Side note: in doing research on braised duck I found a similar recipe in Craig Claiborne's classic International Cook Book. If you don't have a copy on your shelf do go in search of a used one at swap meats or used book stores as it really is a wonderful reference guide. When I found the braised duck in this classic tome I thought about how life must have been for cooks like Elizabeth and Pete's mom in the 60s and 70s when this book, in addition to Ms. Rombauer and Ms. Child's classics were really all that home cooks had as a reference. I feel a bit spoiled today as I look at my bookshelves filled with so many sources of ideas and inspiration.

PPS: and here is a photo of Rachy cleaning up her braised duck pappardelle plate!