When I need something comforting I occasionally take a moment to page through the vast amount of cookbooks given to me by my grandpa. He was a very knowledgable man and going into his cookbooks is what I do when I wish I could call him. This time a recipe threw itself at me. Duck stew. It is a classic french recipe out of Glorious French Food by James Peterson. It is a basic stew with braised duck legs, mirepoix(onion, carrots, celery), red wine and chicken broth for deglazing the yummy goodness on the bottom of the pan from searing the legs and a garnish of parsley. Some of those words may have gone over your head, picture the best basic chicken stew. Same thing. But oooooooo so delicious. So let’s mess with this a little.
8 duck legs, pre-roasted(if you roast it yourself-place large slices of orange inside so the juice steams into the meat.)
salt and pepper.
2-4 Tablespoons of duck fat, butter or oil
-Season the legs with salt and pepper, then brown them in fat or butter over medium high heat in a heavy bottom pot that is large enough for all the legs to touch the bottom of the pan. If you are working with a smaller one, brown them in batches. Brown each legs for about 3 or 4 mins on each side. You just want them golden.
1 cup frozen carrots, sliced
2 stalk of fresh celery diced fine
1 cup frozen diced white onion
4 cloves of garlic, chopped coarse
-Remove the legs and add the veggies into the fat. Saute over medium heat until they are barely brown, about 10 minutes.
1 cup of nice red wine
1 can of diced potatoes
Pour in the red wine and potatoes, boil the wine down until only about 2 tablespoons of liquid is left in the pan. Should take about 5 mins. with constant stirring so you pick up all the meat pieces on the bottom of the pan.(Think as though you are making a gravy.) Put the duck legs, skin side up back into the gravy.
2 cups of duck or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon of thyme 1/2 teaspoon of Rosemary
Pour the broth in and bring to a boil. Add in the herbs and turn down to a simmer. Cover the pot and let stew for 11 mins over low heat.
One can of cresent rolls
-Prepare according to directions. I like to place a cresent roll in the bowl and pour stew over it or I break it up to pick up the gravy. All up to you.
