I had smoked duck for the first time this weekend at a pizza restaurant of all places! I ordered a wild mushroom pizza with thin slices of smoked duck and it was delicious. I was so impressed with its flavor that I had to do some experimenting...
Smoked duck is a good substitute for bacon. It's salty and smokey in the same way with an added meaty-woodsy flavor and it's leaner. The baby radicchio is a terrific match for smoked duck and they both pair nicely with the sweetness of orange. I also tried a variation on Eggs Benedict substituting smoked duck for Canadian Bacon (I'll print that recipe next).
Inspired by the old French recipe Duck a l'Orange, I came up with a lighter variation. The smoked duck is quickly pan fried to render the little bit of duck fat on the slices. Then orange juice is added to the pan and reduced. Whole raddiccio is braised lightly in the duck-orange sauce and served alongside the duck slices with some fresh orange segments. Any remaining warm duck-orange sauce is mixed with a little tarragon vinegar and olive oil to create a tangy warm vinaigrette. Add a few herbs et Voilà!
Smoked duck can be served raw too (like smoked salmon or trout) but I like it warm with the fat crisped up. If it's overcooked it will loose it's beautiful red color and some of it's flavor. Duck does not taste good over cooked. Most wild fowl doesnt, for that matter, it turns livery and leathery.
Hope you enjoy this recipe and can find smoked duck slices in the super market!?!? For the recipe click on "Continue Reading Salade de Carmine...."
Technorati Tags: carmine, duck, orange, radicchio, recipe, salad
Salade de Carmine Braisée à l'Orange et Canard Fumé
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 baby raddicchio or carmine
2 oranges
1 package smoked duck slices
2 tablespoons tarragon or red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Herbs to garnish
Fleur de sel
Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
1. With one orange create segments. Take the peel off carefully with a pairing knife by cutting around the orange like a corckscrew, starting at the top and working down to the bottom. Make sure all the skin is removed without any white skin remaining. With the same knife cut the segments out of the whole orange inbetween the pith.
2. Juice the second orange and reserve.
3. Heat a small nonstick skillet on high and quickly pan fry the duck slices. Remove slices and reserve in a warm place until ready to serve. If a lot of duck fat remains in the skillet keep two teaspoons and throw away the rest. Add the orange juice and reduce by one third.
4. Slice the baby radicchio in half vertically. do not cut the stem out until after or the leaves will fall apart in the pan. Braise for one minute each side in the duck-orange sauce. Radicchio should be warm and al dente. If it is braised too long it will loose it's color.
5. Plate the radicchio, duck, and orange segments. Mix the vinegar and olive oil into the remaining duck-orange sauce and drizzle over the salad.
6. Sprinkle a tiny bit of fleur de sel over the radicchio and freshly ground pepper.
Okay, this looks like something I could try my hand at...but, what do you normally serve it with? Should it be served on its own? Or should it be served as someone would serve bacon?
Also, can this be purchased in France?...sliced like so? :0l
Posted by: Mlle Smith | June 16, 2007 at 10:31 AM
Bonjour Mlle. Smith! I found the smoked duck presliced and packaged at Monoprix. It's hard to find whole which is too bad because I would have liked thicker slices. I served the warm salad for lunch but it could be a starter course too. It's a nice way to began a meal because it's light and the salty, sweet, sour, bitter flavors get your palate going.
If I was serving it for dinner I might follow with a main plate that also had a woodsy feel. Not necessarily heavy, but something that makes you feel like you just went foraging in the forest. Perhaps roasted coqulet or guinea fowl served on a bed of wild mushrooms (girolle are in season right now!).
Bises, Ms. Glaze
Posted by: Ms. Glaze | June 16, 2007 at 11:08 AM
Ms. Glaze, love this site. Smoked duck breast is $19.20 for 3 oz. at Amazon.com. très cher Would this be recipe be worth trying with a more affordable smoked meat?
Posted by: thereisnorule6 | June 16, 2007 at 05:50 PM
Smoked duck?? In the middle of Amish country, Ohio? bwahahahahha
I am with the person above me...is there a substitute?
Posted by: chocolatechic | June 16, 2007 at 06:24 PM
Oh la Vache!!!! $19.20 for 3oz???? That's like three small slices!!! I thought I had made this neat discovery, but it sounds like it's priced up there with caviar and truffles. It's no where near that expensive in France.
I'll have to think about a substitute for my bacon substitute because although I think smoked duck works in place of bacon, I don't think bacon aways works in place of smoked duck. I wouldn't sit down and eat a whole plate of bacon with radicchio. Okay, maybe I would, but I wouldn't advise it in any case.
You must move to France, it's the only answer. Either that or smoke your own duck breasts. Let me work on this and get back to you. Can you at least get duck in Amish country?
Bises, Ms. Glaze
Posted by: Ms. Glaze | June 17, 2007 at 05:02 AM
Nope....no duck in Amish country unless you kill it yourself, but that would open a whole new can of worms.
Out here they have beef, chicken, pork, and very rarely, lamb.
Posted by: chocolatechic | June 17, 2007 at 05:22 AM
CAT: Welcome to the kitty-cat snack shack. Fast food for famished felines. Now…let me see.. (Cat starts looking through a recipe book)…Casserole of Duck, Duck with
Cherries, Peking Duck, ah, here we are, Duck a l’Orange.
Ms. Glaze, how could you?!
Posted by: sara | June 17, 2007 at 05:57 PM
Listen here Lowbottom, Don't think I can't quote that show too! CAT: "You can play with your food, don't have to beat it....It's a crazy little game called lunch!..."
I can't believe you just graduated. You're so OLD now!!! Sniff, sniff...
Bises, Ms. Glaze
Posted by: Ms. Glaze | June 18, 2007 at 03:45 AM
In the US, can order a whole smoked duck from WisconsinMade for $20, or smoked duck breasts from Zaban's for $8/breast. Not a lot of Americans eat duck, so it's pretty much a specialty item here.
Posted by: SAS | June 18, 2007 at 06:21 PM
Great idea. I love smoked duck, and since it's readily available in a local market, I never have to go without. I actually used it in a quesadilla once -- that was a good and quick dinner. I don't suppose you'd ever consider eating it for breakfast with some eggs? It seems like a wonderful substitute for bacon.
Posted by: rob | June 19, 2007 at 10:09 PM
Hi,
the pizza sounds delicious. Can you tell me the name and address of the resttuarant? It's hard to find good pizza in Paris.
Posted by: richard | June 25, 2007 at 10:48 AM
Richard! Unfortunately the pizza place was all the way in the Loire Valley by Chateau Brissac. It's the only pizza place in town, so you won't miss it if you're out that way. I still have yet to find good pizza in paris and would also be interested!!!
Posted by: Ms. Glaze | June 26, 2007 at 03:14 AM
I live in Los Angeles during the year but in the Dordogne in France during the summer. Lots of smoked duck around here. In fact people are starting to complain about over-duck-ification. In LA I often consult with Barbara Tropp. Her Basics of Chinese Cooking cookbook is excellent and she gives a quite easy recipe for tea smoked duck or chicken. I've done it a couple of times and it's fabulous. Just use tons of foil to protect your pot. Of course, it's not the same as canard fume which is saltier, more like ham or bacon.
Posted by: peter | July 12, 2007 at 06:31 AM
Hi, A bit late with the post, but I bought a lovely smoked duck breast at a farmers' market yesterday and want to do something special with it--£7.50 for one breast! I like the pizza idea, and want to modify it to use the delicious all-butter puff pastry you can get now--I'm thinking make a tart crust with it, then caramelised shallots and raisins, the duck breast, and watercress (added after it's cooked). Two questions: do you think it would cook too much if I put it on the tart crust for the full baking time of about half an hour? And would you add cheese--feta? Gruyere? What would go? Thanks--this is dinner tonight!
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