Duck To-Go

I have been wanting to roast a duck for quite some time. For really no reason other than to "check it off my list". Plus, I love duck, so I wanted to cook one for myself.
But after calling Six grocery stores, all of which had No Ducks,I was starting to think it was not going to happen. At least not today. Then I said "I'll try one more place..." and I called Wegmans. And Low and Behold, they had ducks. Lots of them, and they were fresh! (which was great, because I had no time to deal with a frozen one). So I drove out to Wegmans (it's about a 20 minute ride), got my duck and a few other things, then headed back home to start cooking. Although, I won't finish cooking at my house, because I am going to bring this all to my parents and have dinner with my dad. so we'll start here, then take it "to go".

Today's cast of characters includes the following (in no specific order):
Duck, dried figs, balsamic vinegar, potatoes, garlic, spinach and shallots.

 Let's begin with the duck. Now, ducks, if you did not know, are very fatty. So, cooking it for a long time at a lower heat seemed to be the best way (in my mind) to render off the most fat. And I also thought that if I pierced the skin, that would get more out too. So I made some cuts (in a very pretty diamond pattern) in the skin, making sure to Not go so deep that I hit meat.

 Then, into the oven it went. 300* for one hour, breast side down (not as pictured).

While that was cooking, I got to work on the potatoes. Peel, chop, boil, mash. We all know the drill. However, today I wanted to make garlic mashed, so I added 3 large garlic cloves to the mix. I like to boil the garlic with the potatoes, then mash them all together. Seems to work out pretty good.
Oh, and here's a quick tip- if you need to peel garlic, the easiest way to do it is to pull a clove off the bulb, lay a wide-blade knife on it, then whack it with the heel of your hand. Just be careful not to whack the blade and cut yourself. The result will look like this: perfectly "peeled" cloves:

 Add those to a pot of water with the potatoes and boil.

While those were cooking, I started the sauce for the duck. Fig & Balsamic reduction. I have been wanting to try and make this for a while, and I thought it would be great with the duck (let's hope!).
The ingredients are simple: dried figs and balsamic vinegar. The figs get chopped, put in a pot with the vinegar and get brought to a boil. As soon as it boils, reduce the heat and let it simmer until it is reduced to the consistency you like.

When that was done, I ran it through a metal strainer to get out all the fig chunks. (I saved them though, to use for something real good later on). That's it! And I must say, it is pretty phenomenal!!! I can't wait to use it on other things- maybe a dessert...

Now, back to the potatoes. I drained them into the food mill, then worked them through it. Then I just added a little milk and a little butter, and they were done.

OK... now, back to the duck. after the first hour, I flipped it over, and cooked it for another hour. After that, I flipped it again, and cooked it for another hour. Did all that one more time, then after the 4th hour, I upped the temperature to 400 and cooked it (breast side up) for about ten minutes, just to get the skin a little crispier. The first picture below is after one hour. The second is after four.

 

Next I chopped some shallots to have with the spinach. I like shallots better than onions sometimes because they are a little sweeter. 

After I chopped these, I packed everything up and headed to my parents to finish cooking there...

First order of business at their house: cook the shallots. A little oil and a lot of heat for about 2-3 minutes. Then I added two bags of fresh baby spinach (one bag at a time). Fresh spinach cooks down significantly, so even though it seems like a lot, it won't be after its cooked.

Ok, I think we are ready to get everything going now!
The spinach only took about five minutes, and the rest of the food was still hot (thanks to tin foil and my insulated food bag), so all that's left now it to serve it all...

 I must say, I am pretty proud of myself for this one. And Dad totally loved it too!!! So much so that I let him keep the leftovers to have for lunch tomorrow.

Until next time, thanks for following!!!