Page 10 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
Winter Holiday Section
December 21, 2015
Roasted duck is easier —
and more delicious — than you think
By Sara Moulton
The Associated Press
he prospect of roasting a
duck strikes many a home
cook as a mountain too
high, but I’m not sure why.
It’s definitely no more compli-
cated than cooking a whole
turkey, and I think it tastes far
better. Some folks surely suspect
that duck is gamey, but that’s
only true of some wild ducks. It’s
not true of the kind known as
Pekin (or Long Island) duck, the
domesticated product most wide-
ly available at supermarkets.
Other folks shy away because
they’ve heard that duck is too
fatty and rich. Sure enough, there
is a fair amount of fat in duck, but
most of it is in and under the skin.
The meat itself actually is quite
lean. And — surprise! — duck fat,
unlike beef fat and most kinds of
poultry fat, boasts some of the
same healthy attributes as olive
oil.
So this holiday season why not
roast a duck? As noted, it’s pretty
simple. However, you do need to
set aside enough time to let the
bird cook properly in the oven,
just as you would when roasting a
T
TIMESAVING & TASTY TATERS. Glazed spicy sweet potatoes are prepared in
a skillet in Concord, New Hampshire. No room in the oven? You can cook these delicious
sweet potatoes on top of the stove in about 10 minutes flat. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)
No room in the oven
for sweet potatoes?
Take them topside!
By Sara Moulton
The Associated Press
ne of the biggest chal-
lenges of producing a
holiday meal is figuring
out how to cook all the various
dishes and land them all on the
table at the same thrilling
moment.
It’s not easy, especially when
there’s a big roast of some kind
hogging the oven for hours. The
part that annoys me most? It
forces my glazed sweet potatoes,
which require 45 minutes in the
oven, to sit on the sidelines. Well,
not anymore. You can cook these
delicious glazed sweet potatoes
on top of the stove in about 10
minutes flat.
But let’s talk about the sweet
potato before tackling the
method.
These days, there’s usually
quite a selection of sweet pota-
toes at the supermarket, many of
which are mistakenly called
yams. True yams are indigenous
to Africa, Asia, Latin America,
and the Caribbean. They are mild
in flavor and starchy. How they
became confused with sweet
potatoes is a long story, but
suffice it to say that if you’re at
the supermarket in search of a
sweet potato that is indeed sweet,
you’ll probably be all right
O
whether it’s labelled sweet potato
or yam.
As noted, one of the great
things about this recipe is that
the potatoes don’t need to spend
45 minutes in an oven. Instead,
they’re cooked in water in a large
skillet. The recipe’s most time-
consuming step is peeling and
slicing the potatoes, though you
certainly can do that ahead of
time, then park them on the
counter until you’re 10 minutes
from dinnertime.
Cooking the potatoes takes so
little time because they’ve been
sliced fairly thin. Another perk of
this recipe: Adding the spices to
the water in which the spuds are
boiled ensures deep flavor. And
the glaze? All you have to do is
boil down the cooking liquid and
add some butter and brown
sugar. Simple!
Happily, this method works
equally well with carrots and
butternut squash. It’s a sure-fire
way to conjure up a stress-free —
and mouth-watering — side dish
for your roast turkey or ham.
Editor’s note: Sara Moulton was
executive chef at Gourmet magazine
for nearly 25 years, and spent a decade
hosting several Food Network shows.
She currently stars in public television’s
“Sara’s Weeknight Meals” and has
written three cookbooks, including Sara
Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners.
Skillet-Glazed Spicy Sweet Potatoes
Start to finish: 35 minutes
Servings: 4
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, halved, or quartered
lengthwise, and sliced crosswise 1/3-inch thick
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, whisk together 1 1/2
cups water, the cumin, paprika, cayenne, and about 1 teaspoon of
salt. Add the potatoes, then cover the skillet and bring the liquid to
a boil. When it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the
potatoes, covered, for three to five minutes. Remove the lid and
prick the potatoes with a paring knife. If they are almost tender,
remove the lid and increase the temperature so the liquid boils. If
they are not almost tender, cover the potatoes and cook, covered,
for another minute or so, then remove the lid.
Boil the liquid until it only comes up the side of the skillet about
1/4 inch. Add the butter, brown sugar, and lemon juice, then
simmer, stirring gently, until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.
Season with salt and serve immediately.
Nutrition information per serving: 210 calories (50 calories from
fat, 24 percent of total calories); 6 g fat (3.5 g saturated, 0 g trans
fats); 15 mg cholesterol; 580 mg sodium; 38 g carbohydrate; 6 g
fiber; 11 g sugar; 3 g protein.
DECADENT DUCK. Roasting a duck is no more complicated than roasting a turkey,
and this recipe has a French-style sauce. Pictured is Bistro-Style Slow-Roasted Duck. (AP
Photo/Matthew Mead)
turkey. The goal is a bird with
crispy skin and moist meat. The
easiest way to make it happen?
Roast the duck low and slow,
pricking the skin every so often to
drain out the fat. (Do be careful,
however, not to prick the meat;
you don’t want to lose any juices
from the meat.)
At the end of the process, the
duck is treated to a final crisping
in a high-heat oven, then retired
for a nice long rest to let the juices
redistribute before the bird is
carved.
The slow-roasting process
provides you with ample time to
make a succulent sauce from the
bird’s giblets, neck, and wings.
Those parts are browned in a
saucepan along with onions,
carrots,
and
garlic,
then
simmered in red wine and
chicken broth, and finally
finished with green peppercorns
and Dijon mustard. (You’re
welcome to lose the peppercorns if
they’re too hot for you.)
The end result is a wonderfully
tasty duck swimming in a
French-style sauce. Fancy! And
much more interesting than
turkey. Your guests will think
you are a culinary genius.
Bistro-Style Slow-Roasted Duck
For a video demonstrating how to prepare a duck for
roasting, visit <https://youtu.be/K7w0sDBT-0Y>.
Start to finish: 4 hours, 50 minutes (50 minutes active)
Servings: 4
5 1/2- to 6-pound Pekin (Long Island) duck
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons drained bottled green peppercorns, packed in brine
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Heat the oven to 250º Fahrenheit. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the duck, pat dry,
and reserve. (Save the liver for another use, such as sautéing and serving on toast.)
Cut the last two joints of the wings off and reserve. Remove the excess fat from the cavity of the duck
and cut off the flap of skin at the back end of the duck. (You can save the skin and fat to render into duck
fat for future use.) Rinse the duck under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
Using the tip of a paring knife, prick the duck all over, in 1/2-inch intervals, inserting the knife at an
angle to pierce just the skin, not the flesh. Make sure to prick the skin around the leg thigh joint
thoroughly, as there is a lot of fat stored there. Season the duck well with salt and pepper. Place on a rack
in a roasting pan and roast on the oven’s middle shelf for 3 1/2 hours, removing the roasting pan after the
first and second hour of roasting to re-prick the duck skin.
After the duck has roasted for 3 1/2 hours, carefully pour off all the fat at the bottom of the roasting pan
(reserving it for other uses, such as sautéing potatoes), and increase the oven temperature to 450º F.
Return the duck to the oven and roast it for 10 minutes. Transfer the duck to a platter, cover with foil,
then let it rest for 30 minutes before carving.
While the duck is roasting, cut the neck and wings into 1 1/2-inch pieces. In a large saucepan over
medium-high heat, warm the vegetable oil. Add the neck, giblets, and wings. Cook, stirring often, until
golden brown, eight to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, carrot, and garlic.
Cook until the vegetables are lightly browned, five to eight minutes.
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for one minute. Add the wine and bring to a boil, stirring to
pick up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Boil until most of the wine has evaporated. Add the
celery, thyme, bay leaf, broth, and one cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, skimming
off any scum that rises to the surface and adding water to the saucepan if the liquid dips below the bones,
until the duck is ready to come out of the oven.
While the duck is resting, strain the stock and discard the solids. Measure the liquid. You should have
about 1 1/2 cups. If you have more, boil the liquid down. If you have less, add water. In a small bowl,
whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup water. In the saucepan, bring the duck stock to a boil, add the flour
mixture in a stream, whisking. Bring the mixture back to a boil and simmer four minutes. Stir in the
green peppercorns and mustard, then season the sauce with salt and pepper.
Carve the duck and serve each portion with some of the sauce.
Nutrition information per serving: 980 calories (670 calories from fat, 68 percent of total calories); 75 g
fat (25 g saturated, 0 g trans fats); 210 mg cholesterol; 850 mg sodium; 10 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 2 g
sugar; 50 g protein.