Pick up your duck game with these 6 recipes from Philly chefs

Serves four

1 5 to 6-pound duckling

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 carrots, diced

1 rib celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

½ fennel bulb, diced

Sachet of thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 ½ cups orange juice

4 cups demi-glace or chicken stock

5 strips of orange zest (about 1 inch by 3 inches each, avoiding pith

For the finishing glaze:

½ cup honey

½ cup orange juice

⅛ teaspoon cardamom

⅛ teaspoon pepper

⅛ teaspoon mace

⅛ teaspoon ground ginger

1-2 clementines, peeled into segments for garnish

Butcher the duck, removing the legs, and wing drumettes, and leaving the full split breast intact on its cage. (Note: Set aside the back of carcass and wing tips to make stock another day.)

For the braised legs and sauce: Remove the legs and wings and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet or roasting pan to medium high and sear the duck parts (not the breast!) until they are nicely browned. Remove duck and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. Add the mirepoix vegetables – carrot, celery, onion, and fennel– as well as the sachet. Add red wine vinegar and reduce until just a few tablespoons are left in the pan.

Add orange juice and bring to a simmer. Add enough demiglace (or chicken stock) to cover the legs and let them braise over a low flame until the meat is very tender, but not quite falling off the bone, about 45 minutes to an hour. Set aside to cool, covered loosely so they don’t dry out. Strain the liquid, and reserve the vegetables, which are to be food milled into a puree, passed through a fine sieve, and mixed back into the liquid to lightly thicken the sauce. Set aside.

Make the glaze: Combine honey, orange juice, and spices.

Cook the breast: Score the skin of the breast in a cross-hatch pattern across the fat with a sharp paring knife, being careful not to pierce the flesh. Heat a heavy cast-iron pan over high heat. Add the duck breast fat side down, and roll it across the pan to apply heat evenly to the skin. Once it begins to brown, lower the heat to medium, and let the skin continue to render until it is crispy and nicely browned and breast is partially cooked, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside onto a rack. (Duck can be cooked until this point and set aside for up to an hour before finishing.)

When ready to finish, heat oven to 425 degrees (or 375 if using convection). Place reserved legs and breast on a wire mesh screen over a baking sheet. Glaze with the honey-orange juice mixture and roast until the breast hits 135 degrees (for medium rare) or 140 degrees (for medium), applying glaze occasionally over the 15-20 minute roasting time. Be careful that it does not burn. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the meat to relax. Reheat reserved sauce, adding juices from the rested breast meat, and incorporate. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning. If it is too tart from the orange juice, add a little honey to balance. Warm the glaze, and add clementine segments to coat. Serve sliced on a platter with the sauce, glaze, and clementine segments for garnish.

From Pierre Calmels, chef and co-owner of Bibou.

» READ MORE: Craig LaBan picks up his duck game with recipes from Philly chefs

Serves 6-8

2 duck legs and thighs, plus wings (about 1 ½ pounds total)

1 onion, medium dice

1 carrot, medium dice

1 celery stalk, medium dice

1 garlic clove, smashed

¼ cup olive oil, divided

¼ cup butter, divided

5-6 sage leaves

2-3 rosemary sprigs

2-3 fresh bay leaves

1 quart dry red wine (Valpolicella would be ideal, but a white Friulano also works well)

1 quart duck stock (Note: May substitute regular chicken stock, or stewed with a duck carcass)

1 sachet of thyme, rosemary, parsley stems, bay leaves, and peppercorns

2 small Parmesan rinds, optional

Preheat a small rondeau or heavy, enamel-bottomed roasting pan (such as Le Creuset). Season the duck legs with salt and pepper. Add butter and olive oil to the pan and heat. Sear the duck on all sides to a dark brown. Remove the duck. Add in diced mirepoix and caramelize. Return duck to the pan. Deglaze with red wine and cook off until half reduced, about 15 minutes.

Add stock and sachet. Cover and simmer until meat is falling off the bone, about 90 minutes. Strain out the liquid and reserve. Separate all meat from bones, reserve meat and vegetables, discarding the bones. Remove Parmesan rinds and set aside for another use or discard.

Pass the stewed vegetables through the small die of a food mill, and mix back into the strained liquid. Fold the sauce back into the duck meat. Season and reserve.

Serve over a hearty long pasta like bigoli, pici, whole wheat spaghetti, tagliatelle, or pappardelle, using about 3.5 ounces (or 100 g) per portion.

— Recipe from chef Brad Daniels, modified from Le Ricette Regionale Italiane, by Anna Gosetti della Salda (1977)

Serves 4

1 whole duckling, about 5-6 pounds.

For the rub:

3 tablespoons gluten-free soy (such as Golden Mountain)

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 cup Pong Moo Yaang spice blend (also available premixed at Kalaya Market). :

For stuffing the cavity:

1 whole lemongrass bunch, cut in half and bruised with a mallet. Reserve one branch for glaze.

1 head garlic, cut in half

1 handful cilantro

Curry Glaze:

1 cup full-fat coconut milk

1 pandan leaf bruised, if available

3 tablespoons Pong Moo Yaang spice blend (about 1 tablespoon left from marinated duck wrapping, plus 2 tablespoons more)

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 stalk reserved lemongrass, tip bruised with a mallet

Alternate sauce, Tamarind glaze:

1 cup palm sugar

6 ½ tablespoons (100 g) fish sauce

½ cup tamarind puree

Make a paste with Pong Moo Yaang spices, soy, and fish sauce. (Reserve 2 tablespoons for glaze). Pierce the duck all over with a fork. Stuff with lemongrass, garlic, and cilantro. Rub the duck with the paste and then wrap it up tightly in several layers of plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or up to two days, which intensifies the flavor.

Unwrap the duck about one to two hours before cooking, dabbing it lightly with paper towels to dry. Save all the residual spices and juice from the wrapping to make your sauce. Let the duck come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roast it breast side up on a greased pan for 30 minutes to begin rendering the skin. Lower the oven to 350 degrees and cook until it’s done, about 45 minutes, when the juices from the thigh run clear or the temperature at the thigh reads 165.

While the duck is roasting, make the glaze. Combine the coconut milk and a bruised pandan leaf and simmer until it thickens, about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the spices and brown sugar, simmer to incorporate, and adjust the seasoning.

If making the tamarind glaze instead, combine ingredients and reduce over low heat until it gets syrupy and thick, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Glaze the duck once well with about 15 minutes left to cook, mopping on the curry or tamarind glaze with a stalk of lemongrass bruised at the end like a brush. If you start too soon, all the sugar in the glaze risks burning. Once the duck is cooked, remove and let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting it up. Combine the juices with the remainder of the glaze, and simmer for 2 minutes to incorporate and serve with long beans, cucumbers, and Nam Jim Thai dipping sauce.

— From Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon, chef and owner of Kalaya

Where I come from, you learn to cook gumbo with someone who is dear to your heart. That person could be a parent, uncle, grandmother, or neighbor, but it’s always taught by someone who cares about you. That is the most important thing about sharing. Gumbo is always a little different each time and can change from person to person. It’s that magic that captured my attention when I was young, so don’t be afraid to make this recipe your own.

Serves 6-8

1 cup duck fat (or vegetable oil)

½ cup butter, unsalted

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 pound smoked duck, roughly chopped

1 pound andouille sausage, medium dice

1 cup onion, small dice

1 cup celery branch, small dice

1 cup green bell pepper, small dice (no seeds or membrane)

¼ cup chopped garlic

1 cup green onion, whites for cooking, and green tops reserved for garnish

Fermented hot sauce, to taste

Lea & Perrins’ Worcestershire sauce, to taste

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 12-ounce Lone Star beer (any local pilsner can be used)

4 fresh bay leaves

3 ½ quarts, smoked duck stock (regular duck stock can transformed by simmering a smoked turkey leg or wing for an hour)

½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

In a heavy stock pot melt the duck fat and butter over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the flour until it resembles wet sand and continue to cook over medium heat. Watch the roux color change from blonde to deep chocolate but do not scorch, at least 20 minutes.

Stir in the andouille. As the sausage renders, about 2-3 minutes, the roux will appear shiny. Add the bay leaves, trinity (celery, onion, green bell pepper), green onion (the whites), and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, cook for 5-6 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.

Deglaze the pot with the can of beer and stir into roux mixture, cook for 1 minute.

Slowly add the duck stock in three parts, stirring to fully incorporate and to ensure nothing is sticking. Once the gumbo has come to a boil, reduce the heat, add Worcestershire sauce, and simmer for a couple hours, constantly stirring.

When the gumbo has reached the desired thickness, add the parsley and smoked duck. Taste and season with fermented hot sauce.

Serve piping hot with Carolina gold rice, saltines, green onions, and fermented hot sauce

— From Randy Rucker, chef and co-owner of River Twice