One of my favourite South African cookbooks are those of Marlene van der Westhuizen. In her book Delectable she has a beautiful ginger & thyme duck recipe that really is a lovely alternate to the traditional Duck a l'orange. We used this recipe on our plucked ducks - truly delectable!
DUCK PANCAKES
The easiest and tastiest meal or starter and almost everything can be bought pre-made at woolies (otherwise most supermarkets will have their own versions)
1 Sachet oriental sauce
1 Pack Duck breasts
1 Pack Soft tortilla pancakes
1 Packet Spring Onions
1 Cucumber
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Rub the breasts with salt, five-spice and some ginger.
Place the duck breasts in a roasting tray and put it in the oven.
Check on them regularly and spoon out any excess fat you can turn up the heat to get the skin really crispy.
While the breasts are cooking gently heat the oriental sauce in a saucepan.
Finely slice the spring onions and cucumber lengthways.
Heat the pancakes in a steamer, microwave or pop them in the oven for a few seconds.
Shred the meat off the breasts, two forks helps, then place a bit of meat, cucumber & spring onion in the middle of a pancake, drizzle the oriental sauce over. Roll up your pancake and take a bite! I often add fresh coriander or chilli to our pancakes but you can really make up your own versions.
If you want a more economical version then just substitute the duck with chicken breasts which you can pan fry, then thinly slice the breasts and gently simmer in the oriental sauce before placing it on the pancake.
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Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
PLUCK A DUCK
Pour boiling water into a large bucket, and add a dash of sunlight liquid (to help the water to cut through the feather oils). Dunk your duck in the water, and hold it there for about half a minute with a stick or large spoon. Your duck is ready to pluck when you can remove wet feathers by the chunk. Singe the leftover down / feathers with a kitchen blowtorch (we just used a lighter!) and pat clean.
When your duck is plucked clean, it's all downhill from there. Simply make an incision in the anal area, reach into the body cavity and pull out everything that's in there. If you like, save the heart, liver and gizzard for some good old fashion gravy or for your dogs (there will be a whole chapter on making your own dog food but that's another topic altogether!)
THE FAT DUCKS
A few months ago our austrian neighbour kindly handed 2 ducks over the fence. This is what happens behind the lentil curtain, bartering is a way of life. While we were really grateful and excited at the thought of roast duck the fact that we would have to pluck them ended up in them being hidden in the freezer for a couple of days till we plucked (not funny) up the courage to get stuck in, ok so we had a little help from some friends! I immediately took on role of photographer (wonder why!) so here are a few tips on how to and how not to pluck a duck and a few recipes that we have tried. Quack Quack.
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